District News

There are some Books in the Bible I look forward to reading.  I have often read the Bible in a year in a variety of ways; from Genesis to Revelation, in alphabetical order, and in chronological order.  I have started with the Gospels and spent the first ½ of the year in the New Testament, then moving to the Old Testament.  I have read these Books in the order they are presented in my Hebrew Bible as well as the order in our Christian Bible. 

One of my favorite Books is the Psalms.  150 ways that we can speak with our Lord in prayer, praise, song, and lament.  Some are written for David, others by him.  From the shortest (117) to the longest (119), the authors express how they are feeling when they composed these verses.

Although the 23^rd Psalm is probably the most well-known and often recited one, my favorite is the 32^nd Psalm.  Through the Psalms, we are invited to be still and know that the Lord is with us. Psalm 136 celebrates that God’s steadfast love endures forever through God’s work in creation, in history, and today. The words of Psalm 139:13-14 tell us how precious each of us is to our Creator (“For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well. (NRSV)).

I speak with our Lord daily and strive to pray without ceasing.  Sometimes the prayers I lift up come directly from my heart and soul.  Other times I reach for the Bible and read one of the Psalms because the author has found the words to say, that in the moment, I cannot.

As we prepare for Holy Week, I can’t help but imagine how, as Jesus entered Jerusalem, people greeted him with the words of Psalm 118:26: “Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.” And as we move toward Good Friday, and we recount the 7 Last Words of our Lord and Savior, know that one of them comes from the 1^st verse of the 22^nd Psalm: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

In this one Book, there are 150 ways that we can express where we are on our journey with our Lord.  Our anger, our sense of loss, our grief, fear and frustration are all spoken about in these verses.  There are moments of absolute joy and praise, as well as wonder at how our Lord’s steadfast love endures forever.  Each day, in our prayers, in our conversations, and in our reflections, may we continue to celebrate who we are and whose we are.  I close with the words of the 150^th Psalm as we prepare for Holy Week.  And Amen.

Psalm 150

¹ Praise the Lord.^[a]

Praise God in his sanctuary;
    praise him in his mighty heavens.
² Praise him for his acts of power;
    praise him for his surpassing greatness.
³ Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
    praise him with the harp and lyre,
⁴ praise him with timbrel and dancing,
    praise him with the strings and pipe,
⁵ praise him with the clash of cymbals,
    praise him with resounding cymbals.

⁶ Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord.

This past Saturday I attended the life celebration of a friend from the Flint area.  He was a super dad, a great friend, and the epitome of what it means to live a life full of love and giving.  I rarely saw him angry.  He was one of those people who you could rely on.  It didn’t matter if he was busy, if you called him, he stopped what he was doing to help.  If your car ran out of gas, he was the one who went to get more, so you wouldn’t be stranded.  If there was a construction project that got more complicated than it needed to (and which one doesn’t), he’d offer a hand or a word of advice to untangle the snags and snafus.

And my friend could talk.  His wisdom came from life.  If you had a minute, he would take an hour to tell you how fantastic his children were, the hopes he had for them as they grew and started families of their own, the boys and young men he adopted through scouting, his perception about life in Flint, and life in general.  Our Lord brought him home when he was only 55.  We are saddened and grieving because we will miss him.  And yet we know that he is a shining angel in heaven.

At the funeral, there was a picture drawn by his granddaughter Sylvia that captures our journey to our eternal home.  Its title: Stairs to Heaven.  The person at the bottom of the stairs is her grandfather and our Lord is waiting for him at the top.  Even though he was drawn at the bottom of the staircase, everyone who attended his life celebration knew that he had made it all the way up the stairs and into the everlasting arms of our Lord. 

That is what our life journeys are about.  We are climbing up, striving to be closer to our Creator.  Some staircases are steeper than others.  Each is determined by the years we live and how we invest those years in God’s call upon our lives.  This picture, drawn by a little girl, encourages us to always look up, to be aware of our destination, and to rise above all that we are experiencing.

We don’t often talk about dying or death.  In the midst of our sadness and loss, we may not always be able to see the joy and serenity that arriving at the top of this particular staircase achieves.  Our Lord is waiting for each of us to climb the stairs which have been created for our lives.  And when each of us reaches the top, we will be welcomed to our eternal home, where there will be no more death, no more crying or pain (Revelation 21). May we continue to receive God’s blessings as we journey onward and upward.  And Amen.

I had planned a very different topic for this week’s Corner.  I am guessing that like many of you, I watched the news unfold on Monday night as we learned there was an active shooter on the campus of Michigan State University.  Over the next four hours I waited for regular updates from the police as students were requested to shelter in place and the search for the shooter began.

I began praying as I learned that eight students had been shot, and three had lost their lives. I watched as police officers and FBI agents walked through campus searching for the shooter. I can only imagine what the students, faculty and staff were experiencing during that time. Shortly after midnight, the lead officers shared that they had located the shooter and he had taken his own life.

As I watched the news coverage on Tuesday, I learned that there have been 67 mass shooting incidents in our nation so far this year.  And I am not sure if that number included the one which occurred in Pennsylvania on the 14^th.

My heart goes out to the families of the three students who died as well as the shooter’s family.  I recall watching an interview with survivors of the Sandy Hook shooting, who are now in their junior and senior years in high school.  Each one spoke about the student they were before that day and the people they are now. That tragic day changed their lives in ways we may never know.

The same will be true for Michigan State students, faculty staff, along with the people of Lansing, and the first responders who were present to protect and serve.  I ask that today, tomorrow and in the days to come, we pray for the university community, the city of Lansing, the faith communities which have opened their doors for support and comfort, and the counselors who have made themselves available for those who need to talk and grieve. 

I hope that you will reach out to our sisters and brothers in the Lansing area, asking how we can help them journey through this time.  Know that our Lord is with us in all times and in all ways.  And Amen.