Christmastide

January 5, 2022

Scripture Reading: Psalm 29

Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings,
   ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory of his name;
   worship the Lord in holy splendor.

The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
   the God of glory thunders,
   the Lord, over mighty waters.
The voice of the Lord is powerful;
   the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.

The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;
   the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon.
He makes Lebanon skip like a calf,
   and Sirion like a young wild ox.

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!

A year ago today, I got my first COVID vaccination. A few days later, a friend asked if I had had any reaction, and I had to stop and think about it. The answer was no, I did not believe I had any response to the shot, but I really would not know. The next day was January 6, 2021, the day a crowd of people stormed the US Capitol and tried to stop the certification of our recent election. I spent the day watching it all unfold on TV, and yes, I was sick, sick at heart, and sick for our country. Since that time, I have tried to understand why that happened and what was going on across our land.

I do not have the answer, but I have paid a lot more attention to the prophets’ writings because they saw the same reactions among the peoples of the land of Israel. They eventually split and were overrun by other countries. The House of Israel was dispersed, and the House of Judah was ultimately taken into exile. I do not think anyone wants that to happen to us. I honestly do not think we know what we want. We seek wealth and power and privilege and try to out-religion each other. Yet our needs are not met.

Bob Dylan wrote a song that addressed this issue, The Answer My Friend is Blowing in the Wind. Jesus put it this way, The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.‘—John 3:8. We, indeed, are looking in all the wrong places when the answer has been with us since creation. Perhaps the time has come when we must ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us for looking in all the wrong places for what you provided from the being. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.