It is Monday morning and already the work week has assaulted me. My 'to do' list seemed to procreate over the weekend and I opened my email to many demands.
It was a weekend full of family and life, which made the news of the Orlando shooting in a nightclub even more poignant. Having been off grid, I didn't receive the news until yesterday afternoon. I then purposely stayed off grid, fearing that people would once again use tragedy to justify political messages. Such are the times that we live in.
"Senseless violence" we call it, even as we try desperately to make sense of it. Sons, daughters, friends, co-workers were all killed in a premeditated rage. Pundits pund, talkers talk, politicians politicize - but none of that really helps.
It's into this chaos that the Psalms of David speak. They speak with authority and grace. They are written with full knowledge of the human condition; with full understanding of how fragile we are; with deep belief in God's love and comfort. These Psalms talk of grief and rage, of depression and sorrow.
It is into sorrow and tragedy that the Psalms speak most beautifully, most poignantly. And so I go to them, and they do not disappoint.
The healing Word speaks. And if we stop and bend an ear, we will hear. Softly, lyrically, with grace and great love the Word continues through generations.
Do you hear it?*******
The video below is a beautiful conversation on the Psalms between the singer, Bono, and Eugene Peterson, a thoughtful author of many books.. If you have the time, take a look. You will not be disappointed.
"Why do we need art? Why do we need the lyric poetry of the Psalms? Because the only way we can approach God is, if we're honest, through metaphor, through symbol. So art becomes essential, not decorative."