this psalm has been in my thoughts a lot this week. the text is most of psalm 55.
My heart is in anguish within me;
the terrors of death have fallen on me.
Fear and trembling have beset me;
horror has overwhelmed me.
I said, “Oh, that I had the wings of a dove!
I would fly away and be at rest.
I would flee far away
and stay in the desert;
I would hurry to my place of shelter,
far from the tempest and storm.”
Lord, confuse the wicked, confound their words,
for I see violence and strife in the city.
Day and night they prowl about on its walls;
malice and abuse are within it.
Destructive forces are at work in the city;
threats and lies never leave its streets.
If an enemy were insulting me,
I could endure it;
if a foe were rising against me,
I could hide.
But it is you, a man like myself,
my companion, my close friend,
with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship
at the house of God,
as we walked about
among the worshipers.
As for me, I call to God,
and the LORD saves me.
Evening, morning and noon
I cry out in distress,
and he hears my voice.
Cast your cares on the LORD
and he will sustain you;
he will never let
the righteous be shaken.
... as for me, I trust in you.
-----
The other day we met before our morning lecture to process some of what we have seen and heard during our week in the West Bank. A lot of us are angry at the US and at the Israeli government for the unjust policies that are really negatively impacting normal Palestinian families. A lot of us are shocked at how the occupation works; at how the reality of life here doesn't match up with what we have heard on the news; a lot of us are reeling at the thought of leaving our families on sunday and entering Israel. We sort of feel like we are being thrown all around, having to make sense of it all. And it is very hard.
Linford said something that morning that I think is really wise, and something I want other people to hear. He said - we have been taught, in America, in our Christian faith, that if we are following God we will either not have problems, or we will be able to solve our problems.
He paused and let us think about that, and then said - neither of those ideas are true.
---
It hurts to think that, doesn't it? But it is true. The way to fix Israel/Palestine is to go back in time: back about 70 years would be a good start, but the crux of the matter is a lot further back. whenever it was that people first had a break in their relationship with God is the root of it all. what is the occupation, after all, besides selfishness, malice, lies (expressed on a large scale)? don't i suffer from the same soul sickness as the settlers? or - oh, here's a thought - don't i suffer from the same soul sickness as the suicide bombers?
---
I am a Christian. I follow the teachings of the Christ, the Messiah - Jesus. I love the world God created. Despite all of that, I must admit that there are problems in the world - there are problems in my life - and I can't fix them. Oh, that is hard ~
and look at the psalm. It says, "if an enemy were insulting me, I could endure it...but it is you, my close friend..." The psalm says that the situration is unendurable. And then it concludes I will trust in you.
My prayer as I leave Palestine is for faith to trust in the face of all these things.
Amen.
My heart is in anguish within me;
the terrors of death have fallen on me.
Fear and trembling have beset me;
horror has overwhelmed me.
I said, “Oh, that I had the wings of a dove!
I would fly away and be at rest.
I would flee far away
and stay in the desert;
I would hurry to my place of shelter,
far from the tempest and storm.”
Lord, confuse the wicked, confound their words,
for I see violence and strife in the city.
Day and night they prowl about on its walls;
malice and abuse are within it.
Destructive forces are at work in the city;
threats and lies never leave its streets.
If an enemy were insulting me,
I could endure it;
if a foe were rising against me,
I could hide.
But it is you, a man like myself,
my companion, my close friend,
with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship
at the house of God,
as we walked about
among the worshipers.
As for me, I call to God,
and the LORD saves me.
Evening, morning and noon
I cry out in distress,
and he hears my voice.
Cast your cares on the LORD
and he will sustain you;
he will never let
the righteous be shaken.
... as for me, I trust in you.
-----
The other day we met before our morning lecture to process some of what we have seen and heard during our week in the West Bank. A lot of us are angry at the US and at the Israeli government for the unjust policies that are really negatively impacting normal Palestinian families. A lot of us are shocked at how the occupation works; at how the reality of life here doesn't match up with what we have heard on the news; a lot of us are reeling at the thought of leaving our families on sunday and entering Israel. We sort of feel like we are being thrown all around, having to make sense of it all. And it is very hard.
Linford said something that morning that I think is really wise, and something I want other people to hear. He said - we have been taught, in America, in our Christian faith, that if we are following God we will either not have problems, or we will be able to solve our problems.
He paused and let us think about that, and then said - neither of those ideas are true.
---
It hurts to think that, doesn't it? But it is true. The way to fix Israel/Palestine is to go back in time: back about 70 years would be a good start, but the crux of the matter is a lot further back. whenever it was that people first had a break in their relationship with God is the root of it all. what is the occupation, after all, besides selfishness, malice, lies (expressed on a large scale)? don't i suffer from the same soul sickness as the settlers? or - oh, here's a thought - don't i suffer from the same soul sickness as the suicide bombers?
---
I am a Christian. I follow the teachings of the Christ, the Messiah - Jesus. I love the world God created. Despite all of that, I must admit that there are problems in the world - there are problems in my life - and I can't fix them. Oh, that is hard ~
and look at the psalm. It says, "if an enemy were insulting me, I could endure it...but it is you, my close friend..." The psalm says that the situration is unendurable. And then it concludes I will trust in you.
My prayer as I leave Palestine is for faith to trust in the face of all these things.
Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment