Faith & Life Inspirational Message

The evening prayer in my lectionary last night had a selection from a very short Psalm near the end of the Psalter.   Because I don’t live with the Psalms with the same depth as my monk friends, I still feel like I have often encountered a particular Psalm for the very first time.   I know I have read Psalm 131 before, but it felt like I had engaged it for the very first time.             As I often do, I compared two different translations of the Psalm.   The Jerusalem Bible begins by the Psalmist saying, “ Lord, I do not puff myself up or stare about…”   The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) puts it similarly; “O  Lord , my heart is not lifted up, my eyes are not raised too high…”   In this case I prefer the first option.   It seems to warn against feeling pride when it comes to spiritual things.               It makes me think o...

Recently I have become aware again of something I probably have known for a long time.   Perhaps I have even known it my whole lifetime!   It is not a dramatic knowing, but it is healthy and can be healing.   What more can we ask?   Put simply, I became aware again of what I would call the simple soulfulness of quiet and aloneness.   I can put more fancy spiritual terminology to this, but the simplicity is sufficient for now. I like to be engaged in my work.   I like being with people.   I know my life still borders on the too-busy end of the spectrum.   Even though I am getting older, I wonder whether I am any wiser?   I know more than I execute.   Ignorance often is not the problem.   I know enough to grow spiritually, but frequently my stupidity blunts the process.   So I find myself in the same place year after year.   It is not a disaster, but there is a mountain yet to climb.   I still like the metaphor of ...