Ordinary Time
Breathing in, I am free.
Breathing out, I pour out love and grace.
I will sing of the Lordâs loyal love forever. I will proclaim your faithfulness with my own mouth from one generation to the next. Thatâs why I say, âYour loyal love is rightly builtâforever! You establish your faithfulness in heaven.â You said, âI made a covenant with my chosen one; I promised my servant David: âI will establish your offspring forever; I will build up your throne from one generation to the next.ââ Selah
Psalm 89:1-4
After losing her husband to sudden heart failure, Facebook senior executive Sheryl Sandberg encountered unbearable grief, the kind she suspects may never truly go away. As healing comes slowly, however, Sandberg says itâs only because she is learning to work at finding joy, in part by writing down three moments of joy before bed every evening.
In Psalm 89, the psalmist seems to remind himself of Godâs freeing love and power to bring the fullness of life. Could we imagine the psalms as a collection of joyful moments recorded, if only to give a deeper knowing of Godâs liberating love and grace? How will we record or mark that joy in our lives?
Pain and grief will always come, but in the end we continually come face to face with a God who frees us from darkness, sin, despair, and even death. Yet, we must work at knowing that love and living in it’s freedom. We must cultivate it carefully and deliberately. Slowly, it will transform us and free us to participate in Godâs great love for the world.
Blake Tommey
Liberating God, fill me with your grace, especially when grief and fear set in. Steady me as I work at discovering and cultivating the joy flowing through my life. Transform me to live in the freedom of your unending love. Amen.
I see my light come shining
From the west unto the east.
Any day now, any day now,
I shall be released.
from âI Shall Be Releasedâ by Bob Dylan, 1967