Living in the Spirit
May 23, 2018
Scripture Reading: Psalm 29:7-11
The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire.
The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness;
the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
The voice of the Lord causes the oaks to whirl,
and strips the forest bare;
and in his temple all say, ‘Glory!’
The Lord sits enthroned over the flood;
the Lord sits enthroned as king forever.
May the Lord give strength to his people!
May the Lord bless his people with peace! –Psalm 29
The Psalmist writes using what we call natural disaster metaphors to describe the power of God. We who live on the Great Plains are well acquainted with wind uprooting trees and floods. This year we have particularly been besieged by fire. Draught has left our earth very vulnerable. When the earth is vulnerable so are the people who inhabit it.
Yet it is this All-Powerful God that gives us the strength to recover, rebuild, replant. We also learn from such experiences to practice prudent prevention. After seven children were killed by a gigantic tornado in one of our public schools five years ago, many districts have taken steps to improve their storm readiness.
God is also with us in the unnatural disasters as we once again hear of a young man shooting classmates and teachers. This time in Santa Fe, Texas. The TV showed pictures of him performing in a church program just a few weeks ago. What are we not getting? How do we reach our children to make them feel safe? How do we instill the love of God throughout our communities so that no one finds killing a way to self-worth? What kinds of prudent prevention do we need to practice regarding unnatural disaster?
What are we so angry about? What are we so fearful of? We turn to God when there is nowhere else to go but we seem to leave God there when the TV cameras are gone, and we have buried the dead. We return to futile pursuits targeted at definitions of success that are void of the love of God. Until we turn that around we will continue picking up the pieces of unnatural disasters.
Prayer: Holy One, forgive us for turning away from you. Help us to see your will and follow your way until we learn to live in the light of your love. Amen.