In times that are particularly tough, we find in Scripture great reminders, comfort, and encouragement. The 23rd Psalm comes to mind. Recently I was working through Psalm 146 reflecting on particular verses: Verse 5 - "Blessed is he . . . whose hope is in the Lord; V7-9 - He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The Lord sets the prisoners free, the Lord gives sight to the blind, the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down, the Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the alien and sustains the fatherless and the widow. . ." It occurred to me that indeed God is faithful, but that fidelity is so very often worked out through human agency. We become the means. His grace is occasioned by the faithfulness of persons like you and me. The high privilege we have is to be called into action by God on others' behalf and through our response to human need he answers our prayer: "Thy will be done!"
While reading this Psalm, it occurred to me that the essence of the"shalom" (peace) of God is human flourishing, something I was reminded again recently from the writing of Nicholas Woltersdorff (Educating for Shalom, 2004). God chooses to use human agency (people in partnership with him) to bring grace and human flourishing to the prisoner, to the blind, to persons who are oppressed, to the widow and the fatherless, to the alien (immigrant). Where there is no flourishing, there is injustice and God depends on human agency (us) to intervene with compassion and justice. The psalm includes the affirmation that "the Lord loves the righteous," those who respond to the grace God pours into their lives and who pass that grace on to others.
These are tough times for so many people. In our communities there are not only the fatherless, widow, blind, and those in prison, but there are the oppressed, those who are so in this oppressive economy, the unemployed, the underemployed, and the alien (immigrant). The opportunities for the righteous to act are abundant, even more so when times are tough. If you are wondering at this particular stage in life what is "God's will" for you, I am confident that it is to go forward with acts of mercy, compassion, and justice bringing peace (shalom) into the lives of others. In the words of my friends in The Salvation Army, by our human agency we can "love the unloved" and "meet their needs at the point of need." Finally, in embracing Christ's command to "love one's neighbor as oneself" it is the sure cure for depression and narcissism, two maladies so prevalent in our culture. Love yourself too. Do yourself a good deed. Break open the Bible. Get into the Psalms. It's bread for the journey! SHALOM!
These are tough times for so many people. In our communities there are not only the fatherless, widow, blind, and those in prison, but there are the oppressed, those who are so in this oppressive economy, the unemployed, the underemployed, and the alien (immigrant). The opportunities for the righteous to act are abundant, even more so when times are tough. If you are wondering at this particular stage in life what is "God's will" for you, I am confident that it is to go forward with acts of mercy, compassion, and justice bringing peace (shalom) into the lives of others. In the words of my friends in The Salvation Army, by our human agency we can "love the unloved" and "meet their needs at the point of need." Finally, in embracing Christ's command to "love one's neighbor as oneself" it is the sure cure for depression and narcissism, two maladies so prevalent in our culture. Love yourself too. Do yourself a good deed. Break open the Bible. Get into the Psalms. It's bread for the journey! SHALOM!
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