Joy

Third Week of Advent
Monday December 16, 2013

 Read: Psalm 42 

As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When shall I come and behold the face of God?
My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me continually,
‘Where is your God?’—Psalm 42:1-3 

Many years ago I worked with a group who was producing a documentary on the plight of poor children in Oklahoma. One interview has been indelibly etched in my memory. A ten year old girl was asked leading questions by the interviewer who was particularly insightful and kind. He asked her to tell him about anything that scared her. She recalled the night the police came to their apartment door, pounded on it, and called out her father’s name. Her mom motioned for her and her younger siblings to be very quiet. No one answered the door. Suddenly a loud thud rang out and the door fell to the floor. Armed police rushed in surrounded her father and with guns aimed at him dragged him from the room. She had not seen him since. The mother and four young children stayed awake the rest of the night, huddled back away from the now broken door and cried until they had no more tears. Later, her mom told her that her dad had gone to some place called prison and he would not be back for a long time.

 These children and their mother were thirsting for a Savior as much as a disparate deer longs for water when there is none. We know what our Savior would have done. Are we following his example or are we like the people in our Psalm taunting them calling out ‘Where is your God?’

 I have no idea what the nature of the crime was for which the father was convicted. The arrest had occurred a few months before the interview. The mother applied for welfare, received it, and by the time of the interview had gotten a job and a different place to live. She no longer received a welfare check but she did received food stamps, child care, and Medicaid to supplement her meager income.

 The interviewer asked the ten year old, “If you had a thousand dollars what would you do with it?” She replied, “I’d get my mom a car so she wouldn’t have to walk so far to work.”

 Prayer: Savior, empower us to be doers of the word so that all children can experience the joy of your love. Amen.

All scripture passages are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version.