Psalm Meditation 1211 ¶Proper 17 ¶September 3, 2023 ¶Psalm 71 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+71&version=NRSVUE (NRSV) ¶I see the path to God as a bicycle wheel with spokes that come from all directions moving toward the center hub. We can be going different directions, crossing paths all while heading for the same goal. If we are not careful or kind we can see those coming from different directions as being wrong rather than simply different. And while it seems everyone else is headed in the wrong direction, we each have our own way to go to support the work of holding hub to rim. ¶The psalmist feels picked on for going about things differently than those who feel that their way is the only right way. The psalmist feels like a portent, a warning of an upcoming calamity due to going the ‘wrong’ way. We are more aware of other people doing things ’wrong’ than we are of ourselves doing things that don’t fit in with those around us. We see those we love and care about as being right and everyone else being wrong. A band parent commented on the band marching a parade saying, “Did you notice that everyone in the band was out of step except my child?” ¶It is possible to be different from those around us, and for each of us to be on the right path. When the pressure becomes great to get everyone moving in the same direction think of a bicycle wheel and the differences required for that wheel to work. And look to God who is faithful to us and does not forsake us as we move through the world doing the work to which we feel called and led. ¶August 30, 2023 ¶LCM