September 25

Today’s Readings: Psalms 36 & 73; Hosea 4:11-19; Luke 12:32-48; Revelation 22:16-21

While I have been an avid supporter of the arts over the years, I have to confess that I connect with some forms of the arts more than others. For instance, ever since I was a child I strongly connected with music of almost all types. One form of the arts I had difficulty connecting with over the years, however, was poetry. For someone whose mind is as concrete as mine, I had a difficult time connecting with the abstractions of poetry. Consequently, for years I had a hard time appreciating the Psalms. It wasn’t until I hit seminary – and had a wonderful ritual and worship professor named Tom Troeger – that the Psalms came alive for me. Through his class, I came to appreciate the many ways in which the Psalms capture the depths of our relationship with God: the joys, the fears, the thanksgivings, and the frustrations. Today’s reading from Psalm 36 is a great example of this. For two-thirds of the way through the Psalm, the psalmist gives a wonderful – and VERY relational – voice to the fullness of our connection with God. The psalmist writes in Psalm 36:6-7: “God’s love is meteoric, [God’s] loyalty astronomic, [God’s] purpose titanic, [God’s] verdicts oceanic. Yet in [God’s] largeness, nothing gets lost; Not a man, not a mouse, slips through the cracks” (The Message). The next time I feel like my life has become insignificant or inconsequential, I’ll come back to these beautifully poetic words and remind myself that nothing escapes the bounds of God’s love. Not even me. Not even you. Til next time…