Today’s Readings: Psalm 96; Daniel 4:1-18; John 20:19-23; 2 Timothy 1:1-14; Psalm 98
Featured Reading: Psalm 98
The opening words to today’s second Psalm present a real challenge for me. Those words read: “Sing to God a brand-new song. God’s made a world of wonders! God rolled up God’s sleeves; God set things right” (Psalm 98). It's hard for me to connect with those words today because I’m living in a world where so many things don’t seem as if they have been set right. For the past week I’ve been living in a world with much pain and frailty. The last phrase I would use at this moment to describe the world I’m living would be wonder-filled! So how do I find a way to engage the sentiments of the psalmist in a meaningful way and not simply be dismissive of his (or her) sense of wonder? Well, I remind myself that the sentiments the psalmist is tapping into represent a forest approach to life: an approach that looks beyond the individual problems or challenges (the trees) in order to see the big picture (the forest). So where are you today? Are you in a place like me where the trees are looming large and it’s difficult to even think of looking for the forest, or have you put those individual trees into the bigger picture and got glimpses of the forest for yourself? No matter where you find yourself on this trees/forest continuum, I would encourage you (and me!) to stop for a moment and give thanks for those “forest” people in our lives - like the psalmist - who can help us regain one of the most important things we can even have in this life: a sense of perspective. Til next time…
Featured Reading: Psalm 98
The opening words to today’s second Psalm present a real challenge for me. Those words read: “Sing to God a brand-new song. God’s made a world of wonders! God rolled up God’s sleeves; God set things right” (Psalm 98). It's hard for me to connect with those words today because I’m living in a world where so many things don’t seem as if they have been set right. For the past week I’ve been living in a world with much pain and frailty. The last phrase I would use at this moment to describe the world I’m living would be wonder-filled! So how do I find a way to engage the sentiments of the psalmist in a meaningful way and not simply be dismissive of his (or her) sense of wonder? Well, I remind myself that the sentiments the psalmist is tapping into represent a forest approach to life: an approach that looks beyond the individual problems or challenges (the trees) in order to see the big picture (the forest). So where are you today? Are you in a place like me where the trees are looming large and it’s difficult to even think of looking for the forest, or have you put those individual trees into the bigger picture and got glimpses of the forest for yourself? No matter where you find yourself on this trees/forest continuum, I would encourage you (and me!) to stop for a moment and give thanks for those “forest” people in our lives - like the psalmist - who can help us regain one of the most important things we can even have in this life: a sense of perspective. Til next time…
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