Psalm Meditation 1260 ¶Proper 14 ¶August 11, 2024 ¶Psalm 126 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm+126&version=NRSVUE (NRSVUE) ¶Recently, I read that the most difficult emotion for us to accept, is joy. When good things happen that would otherwise keep us joyful, we feel the strong undercurrent of the knowledge that good things never last. Rather than relishing the joy while we have it, we blunt the effect of the emotion with our fear, which we call realism, that this can’t possibly last as long as we would like for it to last. We never allow ourselves to claim the full spectrum of joy because it doesn’t last forever. ¶When we experience sadness, defeat, loss, and other ‘negative’ emotions, we expect them to last forever. We have even been known to find ways to perpetuate them ourselves in order to prove that ‘we can’t have nice things.’ It is as if we have to prove the Puritans, and others, right, that humans are base, vile creatures who deserve nothing from God except the punishments we have rightly earned. So, we go on our melancholy way, content with our deservedly sad lot in life. ¶The psalmist tells us that there is room and reason for joy in our lives, and it is a disservice to God to refuse to be joyful when good things happen. Whether we can convince ourselves that we deserve these things or not, we can rejoice in the good things that God gives to us out of a deep, steadfast, and abiding love for us. For the psalmist, the current good thing is a successful harvest after a return from some unnamed place. It is good to rejoice, it is good to celebrate, it is good to know, as deeply as we can, that “The LORD has done great things for us.” ¶August 5, 2024 ¶LCM