CXI
From the Depths, I Pray
(7/16)
Out of the depths, I cry to you, O God. (Psalm 130:1)
Sometimes we find ourselves, like Jonah, in the belly of the whale. Sometimes like Dante we must confess: In the middle of the journey of our life I came to myself within a dark wood where the straight way was lost.” Denial won’t help us. Denial is destructive of trust and destroys lives in a time of pandemic. Nor will seeing the darkness as the only reality.
There is another option. Pausing and noticing how you feel, facing the challenges, and looking for the light. As poet Ted Roethke avers, “in a dark time, the eye begins to see.” As Psalm 139 says, darkness has light of its own.
In the darkness, call on God, ask God for guidance and direction. Ask for the next step on their journey. In this time of protest and pandemic, when we feel adrift, remember the prayer of John Henry Newman:
Lead kindly light
Amid the encircling gloom
The far shore I do not ask to see
Just one step enough for me.
God is with you. Jesus walks beside you. Spirit shows the next step. In the depths, there is a solid rock upon which to stand.
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This is one of my favorite organ pieces, played by my friend from my Chautauqua Institution Days, the late Jared Jacobsen, his last performance at the Amphitheater – always played to conclude the Sunday evening prayer and song service – may he rest in peace and may his memory be a blessing….https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AaTXCM65R8
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Give us your peace. In the gloom, show us the way. Help us find a way when there is no way and a path through the dark woods of pandemic. Amen.
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