Thursday, July 9

Today’s Readings: Psalm 120; 1 Samuel 27:1-28:2; Mark 2:13-22; Ephesians 2:11-23; Psalm 121

When you come from a community that has been historically marginalized, there aren’t a lot of perks that come from that association. In fact, most of the stuff associated with coming from a marginalized community is down right difficult. You get a steady stream of things like discrimination, bigotry, and hatred. There is one thing that you get from the experience of living as a member of a marginalized community, however, that is truly priceless. That thing? Complete and total reliance on God. You get that level of reliance on God because almost everyone and everything else lets you down. As a gay person, for instance, I lived through experiences in my coming out process where everyone in my life - my parents, my family, my pastor, and my friends - failed to come through for me in very deep and profound ways. That meant I was left with just one thing in the midst of my pain and isolation: God. The result of that experience is that I got EXTREMELY tight with God. I guess that’s why today’s second psalm – Psalm 121 – is one of my favorites. It captures the sense that God is truly the one and only thing that you can count on. “God won’t let you stumble, your Guardian God won’t fall asleep,” the psalmist states. “God’s your guardian, right at your side to protect you,” the psalmist continues, “Shielding you from sunstroke, sheltering you from moon stroke.” And finally the psalmist concludes, “God guards you when you leave and when you return. God guards you now, and God guards you always” (The Message). Never have truer sentiments been uttered – at least in my book. Maybe you’ve gone through an experience lately that revealed to you the limits of your support network. Perhaps your friends and family members let you down. Or maybe the financial or material resources that you accumulated in order to construct a sense of security have failed you as well. If that’s the case, re-read Psalm 121 today and give thanks for the One place you can always turn in order to find a truly loving embrace. Til next time…