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From the interim rector “Do
not fret yourself . . .”
Among the many benefits of reading the Psalms daily, as
Christians have for centuries, is that every month, one cycles through
the entire range of human emotion, passion, and behavior. The Psalmist
is, without question, the vocal barometer and supreme hymnodist of the
Judeo-Christian tradition. From
frustration to clarity, rage and revenge to reconciliation, sorrow to
joy, lament to love song; it’s all in the Psalter! So, not surprisingly
as I was reading the Daily Office the other day, the 37th Psalm’s
appointed admonition, “do not fret yourself” again presented itself for
my self-examination, instruction and reflection. There’s
always plenty to fret about, it seems, as one year passes to another,
and other’s frettings cannot help but spill over onto us as well. What’s a Christian to do? No question that we
live in fretful times, whether on the socio-political landscape, in the
financial markets, in the church, balancing career changes, or marital
instability, or two households, or children’s needs, or elderly
parent’s needs, or….. The list can go on and on, such that we can end
up wondering where our own fretting gives way and another’s picks up. We do well to pray, as one of the Book of Common Prayer’s Collects so beautifully puts it, that
“amid the varying changes and chances of this life, our hearts may
surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found.” Psalm 37 points the
way, with lots of vivid imagery, toward converting our real “fretting”
to real “faith” in the One who can, finally and fully, bring us “true
joys” rather than ephemeral highs amidst the seemingly repetitive lows. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus told his
listeners not to be anxious about a variety of things, including
“worrying about tomorrow, for tomorrow will have worries enough of its
own.” (Matt. 6:34) The preceding verse
says: “Seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all
else will be provided as well.” There, in a nutshell,
is the Christian antidote to a host of frettings, personal and
parochial, local and international. Much too much energy is expended on
the sovereignty of self, and self-righteousness, rather than upon
“seeking first God’s kingdom and his righteousness.” In the months ahead,
as the Search Process continues with St. John’s undertaking a
self-study and preparing to present a “parish profile” for examination
by potential candidates for rector, it will be very tempting to give
lip-service to faith (“don’t we always start our meetings with a
prayer?”) and fall back on fretting and anxious deliberations (“if we
don’t, who will?”). Let Psalm 37 inform,
comfort, and embolden you to “put your trust in the Lord” (vs.3) for
“he will make your righteousness as clear as the light and your just
dealing as the noonday sun.” (vs.6) “Be
still before the Lord and wait patiently for him.“ (vs.7)
“Refrain from anger, leave rage alone; do not fret
yourself; it leads only to evil.” (vs.9)
Pax
et bonum, Michael+ |