Devotions Week of Oct. 14

Sunday October 14-Ps. 22 is a lament. Jesus echoed its words as he was dying on the cross. Jesus was so imbued with scripture that even in utter distress tis words could ocme to him. Please consider using this psalm as a template for you own laments. Consider rewriting it in your own language and condition. Few things contribute as much to learning candid truth in prayer. Monday- A new biography of the poet/songwriter Leonard Cohen is on the shelves now. One of his most famous songs is the dense Hallelujah, covered by many artists, perhaps best by KD Lang and Jeff Buckley. He was torn between two endings: “it’s not somebody who’s seen the light/it’s a cold and it’s a broken hallelujah” or the upbeat one preferred by Dylan: “even though it all went wrong/I’ll stand before the Lord of song/with nothing on my tongue but/Hallelujah.” Hallelujah means praise God. Tuesday-.This is World Food Day, and I am at least partially ashamed that I had no idea about it until preparing this. It started with a UN declaration at its founding. It also asks us to examine our agricultural policies even in the midst of the miracle of the green revolution for crops, as they rely extensively on petroleum products. Perhaps this day, as you give thanks in a prayer of grace before meals, consider the source of our food. After all, the elements of Communion are food and drink. Wednesday-We have so many days and weeks to observe, and domestic violence is on the agenda this week. Our local shelter has given us pamphlets on the issue. to the church’s shame we have used Scripture to support abusers over the protection needed by their family members. It is perhaps the great example of the chilling biblical prediction of the sins of a generation carried over to the third and fourth generation in the awful cycle of violence that persists. Thursday- We just finished Amos in Bible Study. The same book that envisions justice flowing down like a mighty stream has at the end sweet wine flowing down the mountainside. So often, we hear about end times theology and hear only destruction, but the Bible envisions a new beginning, or a time of restoration, of abundant love filling the cosmos. Friday-I just saw something that made me think in this political season. When should we be silent out of being polite, but when does silence connote agreement? When Still, when does silent, or even polite disagreement give added room for injustice? Both sides think they have the moral high ground, they tend to act as if they can say anything they wish but are being victimized when they are on the receiving end of even polite criticism. Saturday-When I was little, I, for some reason, got fascinated by Beethoven’s Sixth Symphony. I think I was taken by his trying to tie music to the weather. So, I treated myself to the cheap seats for the STL Symphony. It is a pastoral symphony, of rural pasture, but also the word for the shepherding task of the Christian pastor. Perhaps the liturgy’s great task is to create the pastoral setting of psalm 23 for the souls who fill the divine pasture called the sanctuary.