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Lenten Devotion: 2-27-16

Lenten Devotion: 2-27-16

Hand 2-27-16

Saturday, February 27, 2016

 

Where can I go from your spirit?  Or where can I flee from your presence?  If I ascend to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.  If I take the wings of the morning and settle at the farthest limits of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me fast.  If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light around me become night,” even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day, for darkness is as light to you.  Psalm 139:7-12

 

Thought:

When I was in seminary the 139th Psalm was very precious to me.  When I felt in over my head, when I felt like I was wandering in the wilderness or drowning from too much work, I would read this Psalm (at least the first 2/3rds).  It brought me such comfort.  God knew me.  God was with me. I was fearfully and wonderfully made.

One day, as a group of us prepared for finals, I offered to pray using this psalm.  One of my friends, tsk-ed and said she did not like this psalm.  She indicated that it made her feel as if God was watching over her shoulder in a voyeur like manner, never giving her any privacy.  I was astonished and, as we continued speaking, I learned the hand of God I saw as protecting and comforting was for others menacing and intrusive.

What do you see when you see this hand?  What are the characteristics of God that are most salient to you?  Each of us has a God story in our hearts.  Each of us thinks of God in a particular way.  May I invite you to see God first as love and then as the Divine Heart who desires for you the best.  And, as always, if these devotions raise questions, let’s talk.  Blessings as you continue on your Lenten journey.