Psalm Meditation 1272 ¶Proper 26 ¶November 3, 2024 ¶Psalm 137 https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm+137&version=NRSVUE (NRSVUE) ¶Music is an essential part of life, it gives us rhythm, melody, and harmony that captures our wide variety of moods. It is our way of letting others know what we are thinking and feeling about the emotions in our hearts and the events in the world around us. “I sing because I’m happy, I sing because I’m free…” We also sing because we are sad, oppressed, and any number of other emotions that make up the world around us and within. It is a gift we can share with each other to build community with those who share our feelings about the world in which we find ourselves. ¶There are times in which our music becomes a weapon used against us. When an oppressor demands that we sing only happy songs in the midst of our captivity and oppression we find ways to make the happiest of songs into an act of rebellion against those who seek to demoralize us. If nothing else, our songs can be used to remind us that since God is with us, this oppressive time is not the end. It is important to realize, that some of us have no real experience of oppression on the receiving end, and too much on the perpetrating end. ¶We all have some experience with feeling left out and abandoned, so we can take comfort in the psalms, hymns, and songs that remind us that God is with us as a comforting presence in the worst of times. Music gives us the ability to express our frustration and anger against others in ways that most of us will never act on in the real world. Singing it out loud can help us realize that cruelty in response to cruelty is rarely as fulfilling as it seems in our imagination. ¶October 28, 2024 ¶LCM