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| Above the tabernacle in St Mary's, New Albany |
The
Lord is my light and my salvation.
Today’s
responsorial psalm, the 27th, begins in that extraordinary word my. The Lord
is my light and my salvation….
Surely, if I can describe God as mine, then the opposite is true,
God will describe me as mine -- I am his! The days when I thought of
myself as my own man are long over. I may have some romantic notions but
Invictus is not one of them:
Out
of the night that covers me,
Black
as the Pit from pole to pole,
I
thank whatever gods may be
For
my unconquerable soul.
In
the fell clutch of circumstance
I
have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under
the bludgeonings of chance
My
head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond
this place of wrath and tears
Looms
but the Horror of the shade,
And
yet the menace of the years
Finds,
and shall find, me unafraid.
It
matters not how strait the gate,
How
charged with punishments the scroll.
I
am the master of my fate:
I
am the captain of my soul.
No thanks! That romantic
stoicism, that Lone Ranger idealism is for the birds. Not for me Satan ’s proud boast, “Better to reign in hell
than to serve in heaven.”
I know how vulnerable
I am to distraction, disturbance and seduction. Daily I pray, “Lead us not into
temptation” because I am frail. Although prayer is my favorite thing to do, sin
is my second most favorite!
The spirit of
Psalm 27 is nothing like Invictus:
The Lord is my light
and my salvation;
whom should I fear?
The Lord is my life’s refuge;
of whom should I be afraid?
whom should I fear?
The Lord is my life’s refuge;
of whom should I be afraid?
One thing I ask of the
Lord;
this I seek:
To dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
That I may gaze on the loveliness of the Lord
and contemplate his temple.
this I seek:
To dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
That I may gaze on the loveliness of the Lord
and contemplate his temple.
As we approach the
mystery and tender beauty of Christmas, we should meditate on that “House of
the Lord.” Jesus invited us to "come and see" and we follow him eagerly. Habitually we hide with him in the stable
in Bethlehem Nazareth Jerusalem
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.