Liturgy 056: They Lost Their Ability to Live as Christians

Nov 20, 2024

☕️ Lectio Divina

They sought unconsciously to be as free as possible from suffering, and as a result lost their ability to live as Christians.

— Stanley Hauerwas

It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees.

— Psalm 119:71

LORD
You have brought me
here again

like a Shepherd
who knows
the unlikely places
of water in a parched land

I have longed for the heights
Yet you have led me to
valleys of sorrow
where questions
drown out my praise

I am hemmed in
by Red Sea
and Pharaoh’s armies

What else can I do
but join generations of voices
who have called upon your name

I hear them now
echoing from the mountains
of Korean provinces

I hear my mother’s cries
at the altar of small
sanctuary floors

And when I listen
close enough
I hear my brother
Jesus, too

And I join their cries

My God
My God
Have you forsaken me?

May the human experience
lead you to the Divine

May the limitations of your control
lead you to the fullness of surrender

In the Name of the Lamb
who Sits Upon the Throne

Amen