I have observed before that I am thankful that I have not been the pastor for a congregation of God’s people in this past tumultuous year or so. I have great respect and pray for those who are seeking to guide and nurture those in their care with faith, hope, and love.
Violence is certainly not new, but it has received considerable public attention lately, perhaps peaking with the storming of the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. This week that attention has come to a crescendo in the US Senate. So as I began my prayer Psalms this morning, I was stunned and stopped by Psalm 11:5.
“The Lord tests the righteous and the wicked, and his soul hates the lover of violence.”
Oh how much I needed to conclude my prayers by curling up in God’s lap as a small child with its mother, as portrayed in Psalm 131:2.
“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.”
I have again posted Vincent VanGogh’s drawing of Sien with Child on Her Lap, which for years has served as an icon for me using Psalm 131:2 as the anchor for my centering prayer.
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