August 12 Week Devotional Notes

Sunday August 12 Ps.130-I can think of few better lament openings than “out of the depths.” Prof. Anderson named a book on the psalms after that line. It oucl dmean depth of feeling ro thought or spirit, or the depths of dark depression, I suppose.It could be the depths of despair or the surprise of a new perspective on one’s place in teh world. Out of those depths, the deep Divine One hears us. From those depths, the steadfast love of God enters in. If need be, it lifts us to a higher place, filled with light. Monday-We had not one but two flats on I-70 recently.It is a mark of being a minister that my thoughts ran to times in our lives when our spirits get two flats on the same same strtch of road.We all face frustrations on our spirutal road. Sometimes, we need roadside assistance, in the form of a helping hand or good word, or listening ear. We may wish that our prayers get answered with the alacrity of On-star, but often our prayers cannot receive instantaneous help. Tuesday-All you can eat buffets are a challenge to both my appetite, perhaps gluttony, and my frugality where I want “to get my money’s worth.” In communion, we get just a little, but we hold that it is more than enough. That bit of bread and cup represent a spiritual banquet. Why? the very life of christ enters into our lives. We are incorporated into the very life of Christ.That little taste of the elements is enough to taste the very love of God. Wednesday-Jocelyn and I saw Moonrise Kingdom, an odd film. One of the hardships of ministry is that as soon as i see a movie I start making spiritual connections. One is that Bruce Willis is gifted at portraying someone lost and depressed and that made me think of he pain of loneliness for so many.It is a look at the intensity of love, maybe puppy love, of twleve year old pen pals who want to run away to a ne wlife. We just read Jonah 1 where he is off to Tarshish, a sort of Shangri-La. where would that be for you? Thursday-Jocelyn and I went to Cahokia, as we were fairly close that day. It is a challenge ot the imagination to picture a huge complex there less than a thousand years ago, that the Monk’s Mound was topped with a temple and the lodging for the chief.It’s probably a lot closer to the early Israelite kingdom that our movie-inspired views. It made me also think of the fragility of great power and kingdoms, so that mounds of earth are all that is left. Friday-At breakfast recently, a woman started to unload her struggle that her adopted daughter had gone to see her birth mother as she was soon to turn nineteen. She was so afraid that she would lose favor in the sight of the girl she raised from a little child. Her eyes brimmed with tears as did mine, when she spoke of her gratitude that the birth mother gave her some of the baby pictures. Saturday-On her visit,Jocelyn and I saw the King and I. I had forgotten the struggles of the king as expressed in the song, It’s a Puzzlement. it is so hard for us to try to absorb the shock of the new.I is just as hard for us to admit our puzzlement and uncertainty.Just like the king, we have trouble absorbing the rush of innovation and the protection of deeply held beliefs and values. What features of contemporary life are difficult to handle? Which ones do you embrace easily?