God in Times of Sorrow

For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. ~ Jeremiah 29:11
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. ~ Revelation 21:1
Evil may so shape events that Caesar will occupy a palace and Christ a cross, but that same Christ arose and split history into A.D. and B.C., so that even the life of Caesar must be dated by his name. Yes, the "arc of the universe is long, but it bends toward justice" [quote att. to Theodore Parker]. There is something in the universe which justifies William Cullen Bryant in saying, "Truth crushed to earth will rise again." ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

What are God's plans?

 We tend to think of God's individual plans for us, but each of us has a part to play in God's larger plans: God's design for the universe. For all of creation.

 It is hard - often - to wonder about this when it feels as if everything in our life is falling apart. It's hard not to cry out for justice when it feels as if everything is crashing down.

 When grief overwhelms or disease riddles us.

 When jobs or homes are lost.

 When all the -isms seems to be winning: racism, sexism, classism...

 But those things aren't God's plan.

 Those things aren't what God wants for creation. God's passion for creation is healing and reconciliation. Justice. Mercy.

 And God calls us to be part of the plan of healing. Part of that reconciliation. Part of that justice and mercy.

 And when we are, we begin to find that healing within ourselves.

 The pain may not go away. Suffering will still be part of every life on this planet.

 Yet God promises that justice, mercy, and love will win out. 

 And in the meantime, God offers the gift of hope for us to share. God offers the gift of relationship for ones to walk beside us in our pain.  It is through those gifts that we can be part of God's plan.

 Who is it that you can walk beside today? Who is it that you can provide hope to, even if it is not physically?

Who is it you can ask to walk beside you?
Prayer: In my suffering, Lord, give me hope in the form of relationship and presence. Amen





Popular posts from this blog

The Gospel of Mark: Women at a Distance

There were also women looking on from a distance; among them were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome.  These used to follow him and provided for him when he was in Galilee; and there were many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem. ~ Mark 15:40-41 Where have all the disciples gone?  What about the crowds? Whose left? Some women. Standing at a distance. These two verses have always been poignant to me. We get so little in any of the gospels about the women following Jesus. But here's what we know about them. First, they paid the bills. And second: they stuck around. They would be the ones to watch Jesus die and the ones to visit his tomb. One of the things I've noticed about Mark is how he is able to say so much about people even by using so few words.  About Judas we know his character despite getting so little about him. About the woman who anoints Jesus, we know her generosity despite not even knowing her n...
Read more

Transformed through Courage: Esther

Then Esther spoke to Hathach and gave him a message for Mordecai, saying,  “All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that if any man or woman goes to the king inside the inner court without being called, there is but one law—all alike are to be put to death. Only if the king holds out the golden scepter to someone, may that person live. I myself have not been called to come in to the king for thirty days.”  When they told Mordecai what Esther had said,  Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not think that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews.  For if you keep silence at such a time as this, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another quarter, but you and your father’s family will perish. Who knows? Perhaps you have come to royal dignity for just such a time as this.”  Then Esther said in reply to Mordecai,  “Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my beha...
Read more

The Gospel of Mark: The Crucifixion of Jesus

They compelled a passer-by, who was coming in from the country, to carry his cross; it was Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus.  Then they brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means the place of a skull).  And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh; but he did not take it.  And they crucified him, and divided his clothes among them, casting lots to decide what each should take. It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him.  The inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.”  And with him they crucified two bandits, one on his right and one on his left.  Those who passed by derided him, shaking their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and build it in three days,  save yourself, and come down from the cross!”  In the same way the chief priests, along with the scribes, were also mocking him among themselves and saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himse...
Read more