Daily Devotion September 11, 2014 Psalm 50:16 “Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall honor me.” Do you remember where you were and what you were doing thirteen years ago today? I bet most of you reading this do. I do. I remember Marie calling and telling me to turn on the television. I was at work and we thought a terrible accident had happened. Then a second…and a third…and a forth…the chaos…then…the world changed forever, or so it seemed. I remember being numb and unable to comprehend what was going on. We were witnessing something live that had not happened, on our soil, for forty years. I sat in the same place at work all day. The phone never rang. No one came through the door. The country seemed to be suffering a kind of group paralysis; we were gripped by the events unfolding before our very eyes. We all just stopped, and stared, and wondered, and cried, and prayed. The people who gave us the Book of Psalms are a people who have suffered through numerous 9/11’s in their long existence. Their story is a story of slavery, captivity, domination, forced eviction, attempted extermination, and continued attacks from all sides. They have survived, they have stared death in the face, more times than I can count, yet they prevail, yet they survive. The constant in the lives of the Covenant People, the one thing that has allowed them to persevere is the presence of God. The gospel for today, from John, has Jesus entering the town of Bethany and engaging with Martha and Mary. Jesus knows what has happened to Lazarus and we know what Jesus will do at the tomb. But this engagement is about the two sisters and it is about us. We know the story. Jesus calls for Mary who has not come out, but before that he and Martha have a conversation about eternal things. Jesus’ words are about honoring God’s presence and believing that in the midst of death there is life. The world seems a frightful place, but no more frightful than that fateful day thirteen years ago. We are confused, concerned, some are even frightened. We think that the end is near, yet two thousand years ago Jesus said it was only the beginning of the birth pangs. Remember the words of the psalmist and call on God “in the day of trouble” and God “will deliver you”. It is our faith in that fact that will see us through. When the world seems the darkest, the Light of Jesus will break through because we know that “the darkness did not overcome it.” Peace, Fr. Reid
Posted on: Thu, 11 Sep 2014 12:27:16 +0000
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