Lent Lectio: Psalm 95

March 25, 2011

Let’s come together and sing for joy to the Lord!
Let’s give a shout to our rock-solid God, our Savior.
Why? Because the Lord is the great God, the great King,
surpassing any other “god” or idol you can name!

He holds the depths, owns the mountains, made the seas, created land!
This is our God! So let’s worship our Lord and Creator,
get down on our knees, touch our heads to the ground.

We’re his sheep, the flock he loves, the flock he feeds in his pasture, this earth.

Hear your Shepherd’s voice:
Your ancestors quarreled at Meribah, wondering if I would provide for them,
They challenged me at Massah, questioning if I was really with them in the wilderness.
Despite what I had done up to that point, this is where they ended up!
But you, keep your hearts tender and trusting.

An entire generation of people lost out because of their own choice,
wandering down the Path of Untrust, not acknowledging my love toward them!
And in my anger I promised that they’d reap the consequences of their actions,
not entering into the restful space I had waiting for them.

(reworking of psalm 95, djn)

________________

We peer into ancient galaxies,
those back corners of time
dazzle over flavors of quarks
uncurl genomes, can build burj khalifa
but are weak daily, blind mostly
given to fear and faithlessness,
believing ourselves better
justified in our doubt always
amnesiacs of grace
and yet
not a moment passes
where it could be otherwise.

Posted by Dave | Filed Under Uncategorized | Leave a Comment

Lent Lectio: Psalm 121 A Song of Ascents

March 18, 2011

1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From whence does my help come?

2 My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.

3 He will not let your foot slip, he who keeps you will not slumber.

4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.

5 The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade on your right hand.

6 The sun shall not smite you by day, nor the moon by night.

7 The LORD will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.

8The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and for evermore.

Pilgrim people look about them and see remnants and residue of idol worship high up on the hills for everyone to see. People look for the help they need in so many ways.

Where are the places I look to find help?

What catches my eye?

What will tempt me to leave the path I am on and the people that I am with?

There are so many things that vie for my attention and my worship. And yet the song sung by pilgrims on their way to worship in Jerusalem reminds me that the high places of idol worship rest upon mountains that were put there by God himself. They achieve their height and prominence, not on their own merit, but in a place where God placed his thumb into the clay earth and caused it to buckle.

This is mysteriously re-assuring. That all around me and within me there is worship taking place that is not the kind of worship that God had in mind. And yet, it happens in a place that he holds together.

I journey on and wonder if I am placing my foot in the right place. Here? or over there?

This seems sturdy here. Over there seems smooth and flat, though it does follow a fairly steep ridge. Perhaps I have chosen a path with slippery rocks? Should I have thought more at that last fork in the trail?

Where do I fear that my foot might slip?

Where does my path seem uneasy?

Where does it feel like rocks are crumbling beneath my feet?

He will not let your foot slip.

The one who keeps you is not falling asleep.

I release and renounce the fear because God does not sleep. And he watches. And he keeps.

He puts up his hand and provides shade from the things that might wear me down.

He keeps at bay that weird and overcoming depression that sneaks its way into my tent about the time the full moon comes around.

He keeps watch.

Both now and forever.

Posted by Jared Boyd | Filed Under Uncategorized, faith matters | 2 Comments

Lent Lectio: Psalm 32

March 11, 2011

We enter the Lenten season wondering what is ahead for us. The season is about cleansing, preparing ourselves to experience the Christ event - crucifixion, resurrection – within ourselves. We think about how to fast, how to pray, how to live in this season.

David in Psalm 32 guides us. He invites us into this cleansing, teaching us what is expected.

¹ Blessed is the one
whose transgressions are forgiven,
whose sins are covered.
² Blessed is the one
whose sin the LORD does not count against them
and in whose spirit is no deceit.

I have deceit in spirit, wherever I am trying to conceal (from myself, from God, from others) where I am broken and where I am struggling.

It is difficult to keep up the charade, though I try.

3 When I kept silent,
my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night
your hand was heavy on me;
my strength was sapped
as in the heat of summer.

But God in his grace overwhelms me. Heavy-handed on my shoulder, I feel God’s awareness of me. And this gives me the strength to be cleansed.

5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you
and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, “I will confess
my transgressions to the LORD.”
And you forgave
the guilt of my sin.

I choose to come out of my hiding place, to unveil my sin and the shame associated with it, to unveil my pride and the arrogance associated with it.

6 Therefore let all the faithful pray to you
while you may be found;
surely the rising of the mighty waters
will not reach them.
7 You are my hiding place;
you will protect me from trouble
and surround me with songs of deliverance.

I find safety in this cleansing. I find joy, singing, deliverance. I find my true self as I find myself united with God, not separate from God in my actions and my heart.

May God cleanse us in this season, teaching us who He is – truly, deeply – and delivering us from ourselves.

Posted by Pat | Filed Under faith matters | 1 Comment

Teaching People to Experience God

March 2, 2011

In this session from the Society of Vineyard Scholars conference in Seattle, Stanford Anthropologist DR. Tanya Luhrmann presents her findings after studying what and how Vineyard churches teach people to experience God. One of the fascinating pieces is her exploration of the spiritual disciplines implicit and explicit as a member of a Vineyard community, which help to form us, and it’s correlation to Ignatian spirituality. Enjoy!