Daily Lectio: Monday Morning, June 1

Ah, June…. I love this time of year.

This morning I find myself preparing to head to Sewanee for three weeks of study in the DMin program.  I love this space, but have to come back to see my family!  I hope for space and time to read and rest, and be renewed…

And, I find myself with Psalm 71 this morning, this beautiful text..

Why have I never noticed how much the opening is like Psalm 31, one of my favorites from Compline?  It is yet another psalm of taking refuge in God.

“In you, O Lord, I take refuge;

let me never be put to shame.

In your righteousness deliver me

and rescue me;

incline your ear to me and save

me.

Be to me a rock of refuge,

a strong fortress, to save me,

for you are my rock and my

fortress.” (NRSV)

Yet again this wonderful image of taking refuge.  More and more I see resonances with the Buddhist framework, with that emphasis on practice.  How to make these images come alive in the church?  Not make them, but invite them…seek them….yearn for them….this sense of our practice being so much more than either a rational exercise, or worse, a cultural fixture or custom that we coast on.  There is an aliveness in the Psalms, a challenge to explore, embody, wrestle, struggle, name, seek….

I do love Nan Merrill’s images this morning from her translation.  I think they’re beautiful…

“In You, O my Beloved, do I

take refuge;

Let me never feel separated

from You!

In your compassion come and

refresh me;

listen to my cry,

answer my plea!

Be to me a rock, a tower

of strength,

a strong arm to uphold me,

as I abandon myself into

your hands.”

Beautiful….this juxtaposition of seeking refuge and abandoning ourselves to God’s care…..wonderful…

S+