Today's Meditation
Read Psalm 69:1-3, 34-36
1Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck.
2I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me.
3I am weary with my crying; my throat is parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God.
34Let heaven and earth praise him, the seas and everything that moves in them.
35For God will save Zion and rebuild the cities of Judah; and his servants shall live there and possess it;
36the children of his servants shall inherit it, and those who love his name shall live in it.
Departing from the Lectionary Reading this morning, I want to offer you a part of Richard Rohr's meditation today. He writes about John of the Cross, a Carmelite Priest from the 16th Century who endured poverty, exclusion, and imprisonment by his own faith leaders. John of the Cross speaks of the dark night of the soul.
John of the Cross testifies to a God who is pressing in to meet, to change, and to fill us in our deepest need....Love changes people, and John's witness to God's love may help us to trust and to be brave.
Richard Rohr writes, "A generous God is fine when things are running smoothly. But what about when they are not and darkness is invading? What about when trusted patterns have broken down, or we feel too far gone to bother even trying? We dwell at outer limits, and some events in life - loss, failure, stress, sin - remind us of the threat of chaos.
That is where John of the Cross stands: at the threshold of uncertainty; and he assures us that what dwells beyond is not simply chaos. The darkness bears the Spirit of God, who broods over the waters of death and has power to work a resurrection....In our darkness, he finds Jesus' darkness; and what he echoes is the impact of Easter..."
In my humble understanding of what both John of the Cross and Richard Rohr are trying to say and connect with is that the impact of Easter is our own resurrection to new life. It is God's way of breaking through the "dark night" and bringing us into the light of God's love and grace. We can not dwell in the night when God's resurrection in our lives pulls us into the light.
Psalm 69 begins with a plea for God's salvation and ends with a thanksgiving for all that God has done. Perhaps you can begin with a plea today. Where does God need to take control and show his light in your life? And then, where can you find thanksgiving for all that God has done for you?
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