Psalm 26

Proper 22 (27) - Year B


Verses 6-7 from The Message:

I scrub my hands with purest soap,
then join hands with the others in the great circle,
dancing around your altar, God,
Singing God-songs at the top of my lungs,
telling God-stories.

A lovely image of a relationship between confession and community.

When that works well we are opened to experience and share the presence of G*D in ever more widening and graceful ways. Dance, then, wherever you may be. Fast and confess and dance. Sing and tell tales and dance.

From an ecstatic whirling Sufi dance to a slow coupling waltz - care for self and care for others as more than duty - find life's source and meaning.

http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2003/october2003.html

 


 

Psalm 26 or Psalm 8
Job 1:1; 2:1-10 or Genesis 2:18-24
Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:5-12
Mark 10:2-16

To walk in my integrity implies an understanding of what has been joined to G*D and therefore is joined to me. It is easy to see good joined to G*D, not so easy to see evil having a connection. This is probably a function of our ability to see rather than G*D's experience of good and evil.

It is easy to see inherent relationships between lovers who find themselves in one another, not so easy to see divorce as a sacred event (only a state event). Yet, for integrity's sake, we find we cannot live only one side of an equation. What is being joined and separated in our living today? What is defined and named and to what are we still so blind we cannot see to name? This state of already and not-yet is the interface where we find the energy and experience of life.

May your helpmeet (experienced, whether legalized or not) assist you, with integrity, to both curse G*D and die, and come to yourself.

- - -

I wash my hands in innocence
again and again
I am washed away by life circumstance
again and again

my very same hand hugs my brother
again and again
that slaps my sister
again and again

so I define and define
again and again
and am in turn defined
again and again

until I cannot tell
again and again
truth from falsehood
again and again

and am joined to the cosmos
again and again
and divorced from myself
again and again

redeemed
again and again
gracious
again and again

http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2007_10_01_archive.html


 

An interesting shift in tense occurs from the beginning of the Psalm to its end. We begin with a claim upon G*D because of our past actions - (verse 1) "I have walked . . . ." By the end we move to the present - (verse 11) "I walk . . . ." and future (verse 12) "I will . . . ."

This is what we have to work with - remembrance of the past, decisions in the present, and consideration for the future.

Focus on these three will move us away from an unnecessary concern regarding vindication. Life will happen in all its joy and suffering, but we can take these in stride as we remember, decide, and plan. To throw vindication into the mix muddies our motivation and distracts our energies.

http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2009_09_01_archive.html

 


 

Need vindication for some awkward situation? Attend to your integrity.

This Psalm is one list of values and behaviors. It is neither an all encompassing list nor one that pertains to everyone. Our call, here, is to see a movement and then to evaluate whether it would be helpful for current needs.

A key repeated word is “integrity”. This ancient Hebrew word comes from a root that points at a completedness, a having been single-mindedly used up in an endeavor. It has been additionally translated to indicate: completedness, fullness, innocence, simplicity.

This makes it easy to sound like a broken record: “I, I, I.”

It is less easy to claim integrity simply by living as though it were true. This political season shows how easy it is for “integrity” to flow into self-aggrandizement, speaking of oneself in the third person, and going negative on others.

One needed measurement of integrity not often used is that of blessing. One of integrity’s first acts is blessing G*D and Neighb*r in a given situation. This is an indication of being full of blessing from having been blessed. It is a sign of assurance.

This becomes clearer when we paraphrase the last two verses:

I remember being graciously healed and claim this as my way ahead.
In the midst of many options, I choose a foundation of blessing from which to encounter life.

http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2012/10/psalm-26.html