Psalm Meditation 1244 ¶Fourth Sunday of Easter ¶April 21, 2024 ¶Psalm 122 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm+122&version=NRSVUE (NRSVUE) ¶I hope you have a place that feels like home for you. It may be the place where you currently live, a place that you visit with some regularity, a place that you hold in your heart, real or imagined, or some combination of these choices. It is a place of firmly packed memories in which all the experiences of that place burst out each time the place comes to mind. At best, I hope that the place reminds you of the presence of God, in that place, and in every instance of calling that place to mind. ¶For the psalmist that place is Jerusalem. There is nothing better than to go there along with all the other people who hold that place dear. It is a place that feels like home, a place that brings a sense of peace even when there appears to be a lack of peace everywhere, including Jerusalem. Even the presence of ‘the thrones of judgment’ make the psalmist feel loved, cared for, and cared about. If there is peace in Jerusalem, the psalmist can find God’s peace in every place and time. ¶Whether your home is Jerusalem, Disneyworld, your actual residence, or some longed for place held in heart and memory may it be a place of peace and security for you and those you love. May the presence of God fill you as you enter each place you call home so that you may be at peace while there and each time you leave. “Peace be within your walls and security within your towers.” For the sake of my relatives and friends I will say, “Peace be within you.” For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your good.” ¶April 15, 2024 ¶LCM