Psalm Meditation 754
First Sunday of Advent
November 30, 2014

Psalm 13
1 How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long must I bear pain in my soul, and have sorrow in my heart all day long?
How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
3 Consider and answer me, O LORD my God! Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death,
4 and my enemy will say, “I have prevailed”; my foes will rejoice because I am shaken.
5 But I trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
6 I will sing to the LORD, because he has dealt bountifully with me.
(NRSV)

As we live out our lives we become the bearers of pain and sorrow to some degree or another. Some seem to bear more than their share while others manage to avoid much of the suffering that goes with being human. Those who suffer will do so for the rest of their lives in some form. Suffering is not something that goes away, it is incorporated into the fabric of our lives. Physical wounds leave their imprint on us forever. Bones heal and flesh scars over, each leaving a mark that serves as a reminder of our injuries.

Emotional and spiritual wounds leave their mark as well. They are not as visible to the eye, perhaps because the wound is felt more deeply than skin and bone. Our temptation is to encourage folks to move past these deeper wounds more quickly, as if the lack of a physical mark makes them less damaging. In truth, these psychic wounds are frighteningly more damaging than any physical one. There are folks who will rehearse their grief, getting stuck at an early stage of the process and refusing to go any deeper. There are others who will mine the depths of grief and find a way to weave it into the lives that lie before them.

The psalmist decides to lean on the steadfast love of God. As is true for the rest of us, the hope is that God will take the suffering away, to make it as if it never happened. I can’t imagine going through life without reminders of suffering. The bittersweet memories, the harsh lessons, the mementos of experiences that are a part of us, even those we hope never to go through again. The steadfast love of God gives us a place to lean, a place to wait, a place to find a way to incorporate suffering into the wholeness of our lives from this day onward.

November 24, 2014
LCM