Thursday, March 26, 2020

I am drawn this morning to Psalm 33 that reads in part:

Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people he chose for his inheritance. From heaven the Lord  looks down and sees all mankind; from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth – he who forms the hearts of all, who considers all they do. … We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. In him our hearts  rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. May your unfailing love rest upon us, O Lord, even as we put our hope in you.

Scriptures such as this one resonate with many in this era of the coronavirus pandemic. As a professed Christian nation, we believe the psalmist speaks to us because of our belief in God’s word revealed in our Bible.  With the onslaught of this pandemic, God has captured our attention and turned us toward Him for solace. As we struggle with the ensuing crisis, we recognize how far away from Him we have allowed ourselves to drift.  He has watched our preoccupation with the secular and neglect of the sacred. But now, our minds and hearts are forced to return to the source of our help, to our fortress in times of trouble, to our refuge in times of distress. In God alone can we trust. And so as we follow new protocols for living and having our being, we more than ever seek His constant love and place our hope in His plans for deliverance. In so doing I also hope we will elevate the sacred to its proper place- above all things secular- in our thoughts, words and deeds.

Love. Joy. Peace.