Psalm Meditation 801
Twenty-second Sunday of Ordinary Time
October 25, 2015

Psalm 131
1 O LORD, my heart is not lifted up, my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me.
2 But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; my soul is like the weaned child that is with me.
3 O Israel, hope in the LORD from this time on and forevermore.
(NRSV)

Every now and again it is good to remind ourselves that we are not as important and impressive as we feel the need to appear. All of our compensations come to naught in the presence of God. Sometimes we compensate for a sense of inadequacy and make ourselves seem larger than we feel. Sometimes we deal with an overconfidence based on a misjudgment of our abilities in an area. Either way, we do well to stand in the presence of God aware that we are not our skills or lack thereof; we are beloved children of God.

In the presence of God we can rest easy; no bluster of ego or false modesty is required. We simply settle into the comfort of being in the presence of one who knows us completely and loves us as we are. This is no in-spite-of or because-of love. God loves us, pure and simple. In the awareness of that loving presence we relax into it with a quiet assurance.

In the midst of one of these moments, the psalmist wishes each one of us that kind of peace, rest and assurance found in the presence of God. The wish for us is not a moment of peace and contentment; the wish is that we feel this now and into the eternal future.

October 19, 2015
LCM