III.
ENDURING LOVE, NEW EVERY MORNING
The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases,
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.
“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.” (Lamentations 3:22-23)
The story is told of the night of the shooting stars. As they saw the falling stars, the villagers ran for their lives. They saw only destruction. “The sky is falling. We are doomed,” they cried. As they ran aimlessly through the village, they came upon the wise women and men of the village. “They stars are falling,” they shouted. The wise ones paused and looked at the heavens, and responded, “Yes the stars are falling. But look see all the stars that are standing still.”
Yes, look at the stars standing still. Look at the Infinite love of God present in the intimacy of our lives. In a changing world, God’s love endures forever.
Last night, as I drove Jack and James home, I invited them to pause and look at the sky. The night was clear and full of stars, revealing the multi-billion-year evolution of our universe. I shared my faith that we lived in a grand universe in which God’s wisdom endures – like the stars – forever. The author of Lamentations lived through a time of uncertainty. His faith was in a God whose love joins the eternal and the temporary, the infinite and the intimate.
Our hope is in the ever-present, ever-loving, ever-active God, moving in and through our lives, providing for deepest needs and sharing our journey sickness and health and death and life. Our ultimate relationship is with the faithful God whose “mercies are new every morning.” The Infinite loves is the intimate, loving each one of us as if there is only one of us, and loving all of us with great passion and care.
We share in God’s infinity. With God as our companion, we can claim with Luther that “in the midst of life, we are surrounded by death, and in the midst of death, we are surrounded by life.”
(© Bruce Epperly, 2020)
+++
Bruce Epperly is a Cape Cod pastor, teacher, and author of over 50 books including “Finding God in Suffering: A Journey with Job,” “Become Fire: Guideposts for Interspiritual Pilgrims,” and “You are a Mystical: Discovering a God-filled World.”
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In