Eastertide

May 11, 2022

Scripture Reading:

Psalm 148

Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord from the heavens;
   praise him in the heights!
Praise him, all his angels;
   praise him, all his host!

Let them praise the name of the Lord,
   for he commanded and they were created.
He established them forever and ever;
   he fixed their bounds, which cannot be passed.

Kings of the earth and all peoples,
   princes and all rulers of the earth!
Young men and women alike,
   old and young together!

Let them praise the name of the Lord,
   for his name alone is exalted;
   his glory is above earth and heaven.
He has raised up a horn for his people,
   praise for all his faithful,
   for the people of Israel who are close to him.
Praise the Lord! Psalm 148:1-2, 5-6, 11-14

I, in general, do not like campaign ads. They often dwell on issues that rankle emotions but rarely explain a candidate’s plan to address the problem. I particularly pay little attention to ads not sponsored by the candidate and that do not disclose who sponsors them. In one ad I heard recently, the candidate stated he would protect God. An omnipotent, all-powerful God does not need to be protected, an idol might. Therein, perhaps lies the problem within our society. We would need to protect any god we create. We are made in the image of God, not the other way around.

This might be a good time to review Isaiah or some of the other prophets because I fear we are stumbling through life following gods of our own making; we think we must protect like the Jews were doing before they were taken into exile. Our ancestors in faith maintained those prophets’ words so we could learn from them and not make the same mistakes.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us for forgetting who we are and whose we are. 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.