Proper 7 / Pentecost 5 / Ordinary Time 12
Devotional
Water From the Rock
Lectionary Devotional for Cycle C
As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God.
-- Psalm 42:1
Part of the character of our times is a disquiet within us and a deep yearning to touch the mystery of God. The repeated refrain of these psalms, "Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me?" reflects the dis-ease of our time. Out of our disquiet comes an only partially articulated thirst for God. "My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and behold the face of God?" That thirst is expressed in our culture through all sorts of religious and spiritual quests from "new age" eclecticism to an increase of fundamentalism. Sometimes the thirst is prompted by a memory of the practice of faith in what now seems to have been a simpler past. "These things I remember, as I pour out my soul; how I went with the throng, and led them in procession to the house of God...." Sometimes the thirst is prompted by a trauma that has shattered one's present security.
"I say to God, my rock, 'Why have you forgotten me? Why must I walk about mournfully because the enemy oppresses me?' " Whatever the cause, the cry goes out, "O send out your light and your truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling." Out of our disquiet comes a yearning to praise the one sure source of creative hope in the midst of chaos. "Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my help and my God." It is in praise that we "behold the face of God" and discover our true identity.
-- Psalm 42:1
Part of the character of our times is a disquiet within us and a deep yearning to touch the mystery of God. The repeated refrain of these psalms, "Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me?" reflects the dis-ease of our time. Out of our disquiet comes an only partially articulated thirst for God. "My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and behold the face of God?" That thirst is expressed in our culture through all sorts of religious and spiritual quests from "new age" eclecticism to an increase of fundamentalism. Sometimes the thirst is prompted by a memory of the practice of faith in what now seems to have been a simpler past. "These things I remember, as I pour out my soul; how I went with the throng, and led them in procession to the house of God...." Sometimes the thirst is prompted by a trauma that has shattered one's present security.
"I say to God, my rock, 'Why have you forgotten me? Why must I walk about mournfully because the enemy oppresses me?' " Whatever the cause, the cry goes out, "O send out your light and your truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling." Out of our disquiet comes a yearning to praise the one sure source of creative hope in the midst of chaos. "Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my help and my God." It is in praise that we "behold the face of God" and discover our true identity.
