Psalm Meditation 1220 ¶Proper 26 ¶November 5, 2023 ¶Psalm 98 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+98&version=NRSVUE (NRSV) ¶When our son was in Cub Scouts, I was the cubmaster for a year or so. When I went to training, one of the activities that was suggested was having an outside scout leader come in to do a uniform inspection. I invited a member of the district council, who happened to be in our area to do the inspection. We announced the inspection and boys showed up for the meeting in their Cub Scout finest. Our inspector let the boys know that when he did an inspection each of the boys would begin with a perfect score. He also let them know that when he inspected the adults we would start at zero and work our way up. ¶It seems to me that in every situation in which we find ourselves judged we want the judge who starts by believing that each of us is a great example of our craft. The job of this kind of judge is to offer us pointers on how to improve our work and presentation to make our best even better. This is in stark contrast to the judge who starts by believing that no one is as good as they believe themselves to be. The job of this kind of judge is to criticize every fault and inconsistency in a display of superior knowledge, and by extension skill. Most of us would rather have the judge who believes in us. ¶The psalmist encourages us to celebrate the fact that our God, YHWH, began by seeing each of us as very good. That kind of belief in us and encouragement for us allows us the freedom to excel, to continue to grow into the best selves we can possibly become. The creativity of God, visible all around us, encourages and emboldens us to reach for the heights and plumb the depths of our own creativity. As we participate in the acts and adventures of creation we can approach every task with a sense of joy. ¶October 31, 2023 ¶LCM