God, the tear catcher! Another image of God from Scripture. There are many images of God found in the Bible, including father, mother, spirit, way, truth, light, gate, gatekeeper, lion, eagle, mother hen, shepherd. The list goes on. Now, thanks to Psalm 56, I have another image for God, the tear catcher. Psalm 56 Psalm […]
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In Psalm 55 we hear the well-known line, “O that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest.” (6) Who hasn’t thought this at times? I know I have. As we go through these winter months our minds are often preoccupied with thoughts of vacation, flying away to some exotic, […]
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If it can be worried about, it must be worried about. That’s one of my life philosophies. Not that it’s a good one. Not that it was one of my own choosing. My mother, a champion worrier, handed this philosophy down to me. I wish I could be rid of this obsessive worry. I’m working […]
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“Do it again, do it again,” small children say over and over again when engaged in a favorite activity. One push on a swing is never enough. You have to keep pushing till you drop from exhaustion. It isn’t enough to read a favorite book once. It has to be read multiple times till you […]
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“Everybody lies” – so says Dr. Gregory House from the popular TV series “House.” Cynical, yet it rings true, we all lie at times. It is a social skill first formed at the age of reason, seven, then developed over time. Anyone who insists they never lie is a liar. The writer of Psalm 52 […]
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Psalm 51, the most well-known of the Penitential Psalms, is a psalm commonly associated with Lent. The writer prays for the removal of personal and social sin. So what does Psalm 51 have to say to us in the midst of this holiday season? Psalm 51 Psalm 51 is attributed to King David after being […]
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Psalm 50 and Paul in Hebrews 13:15 speak of offering God a sacrifice of praise (“Through him, then, let us continually offer a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name.”), but what does that mean? How can praising God be a sacrifice? Isn’t it a joy and […]
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Who is the prudent one? What does it mean to be prudent? Psalm 49 gives us a clue. In canon law studies, the question was always, what would the prudent man do? To be prudent, according to Webster, is to be shrewd in management of practical affairs, to be cautious, discreet, judicious, foresighted, sensible and […]
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“Next year in Jerusalem!” So ends the Jewish Seder meal. Pilgrimages to the holy city of Jerusalem were an important part of the Jewish faith in Old Testament times. There was only one Temple, the Temple in Jerusalem, David’s city. The journey was meant to give pilgrims plenty of time to reflect on God; the […]
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Every time we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we pray “thy kingdom come,” often sliding over the words without pausing to understand what the words mean. Jesus proclaimed that the kingdom of God was near. He compared the kingdom to a mustard seed (Mt. 13:31), yeast (13:33), a treasure (13:44), a pearl of great price (13:45-46), […]
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