On top of the pandemic and economic woes, now we face murder, rioting and looting. It’s like waking up to the headlines of 1968, 24/7.
Four policemen took the life of an African-American man, George Floyd ,while a bystander filmed it. Violence erupted . . .
All the news chokes . . . More than one hundred thousand Americans have died from COVID-19; three hundred and sixty thousand plus souls in the world. Behind Each Number, One Beloved Face, by Malcolm Guite is a timely lament. Reading though it aloud slowly helps.
Whew . . .
So, this has been a rough week to keep focused on the sunny side of the street – even as we have enjoyed some lovely weather.
Although all around me is solid; I feel in free-fall. It’s no mistake then, that tonight’s devotion included some lines from Psalm 42, especially verses 4-6, and the psalmist’s decision to remember God.
I also started reading The Splendid and The Vile, by Erik Larson; it’s a saga of Churchill, family and defiance during the blitz. The frontispiece echoes counsel from one who both navigated and led through more horrifying times than today.
from The Splendid and the Vile
What will people eighty years from today write about how we muddled through?
I am not sure reading about the Blitz will lift my sagging heart, but Doug reminded me I do know the end of the story.
More and more, I tend to read history. I often find it more up to date than the daily newspapers. ~Joe Murray, “History updates current events,” Spartanburg Herald-Journal, May 10th 1992
In Sunday’s sermon from the song of Moses, a phrase caught my attention: Deuteronomy 32:11. The sense of it is God is like a mother eagle, upending her nest to teach the babies to fly – and like that mother, God would not let Israel perish:
Then spreading its wings, lifting them into the air,
teaching them to fly.
God alone led him;
there was not a foreign god in sight.
I wonder if God hasn’t tossed the church up and out of our comfy spots so that we will learn to fly – go out and reach people with the love of God in Christ. Or, maybe we’ve been upended so we can get our own act in shape; so we are actually living out what we hope others might want in the midst of murder, rioting and looting in a pandemic.
Housework remains on the back burner; painting a must!
The good news is that Doug and I have maintained our weight loss, eating choices and exercise “habits. Oh, we have more weight we should loose, and longer walks we could take – for we are not shadows of our former selves. For now, we’ll just be happy to KEEP our bodies in the relatively good repair they are!