Psalm 84

Proper 16 (21) - Year B


And how blessed all those in whom you live,
whose lives become roads you travel. [The Message]

Happy are those whose strength is in you,
in whose heart are the highways to Zion. [NRSV]

Blessed those who find their strength in you,
whose hearts are set on pilgrimage. [NJB]

Happy those whose refuge is in you,
whose hearts are set on the pilgrim ways! [REB]

Your lively heart is both the substrate of the movement of a living G*D and a journeying response to the presence/strength/refuge of G*D.

Now, how to communicate this?

It is important to note that just before this a large breath was taken (larger than e.e. cumming's circus tent?), a selah pause or refrain or instrumentation bridge, in anticipation of moving to the next part of the journey.

Let's all take a large breath, large enough to slow us down to walk with G*D (3 mph) and large enough to energize us to enjoy a never-ending pilgrimage. Then let us live in the bothness of poetry that breaks us open to joy and joyfully receives such brokenness. Let us bring together hopping sparrow and swooping swallow, the poor and the rich, the outcast and the privileged, the past and the future, heart and soul.

http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2003/august2003.html

 


 

Psalm 84 or Psalm 34:15-22
1 Kings 8:(1, 6, 10-11), 22-30, 41-43 or Joshua 24:1-2a, 14-18
Ephesians 6:10-20
John 6:56-69

If you had to choose between grandeur or protection, which would it be? The grandness of Solomon's over-the-top prayer and grandiose temple is a wonder to behold. It inspires awe. Is that a desired dwelling place for more than a moment?

Joshua's recounting of a journey from nowhere to a particular somewhere and the interpreted protection that took in the face of enslavers and people already living where we claimed we were to live and were, thus, by definition, our enemies. It inspires awe. Is this a desired dwelling place for generations?

Where is G*D's dwelling place? Temple or Promised Land? Prayer or Journey?

- - -

we image G*D's armor
as being fit for us to wear
forgetting David trying
to wear Saul's helmet and shield

what arrogance we have
to be able to bear up
under the weight of armor
umpteen times too big

such armor can at best
be worn by a whole community
and even then turns to pride
claiming god on our side

what armor is there
against spiritual forces
a Maginot line
against flanking tanks

participate in prayer
for all saints of every stripe
share life and lives
be bread for one another

trust not in more arms
trust arms more
which may embrace
with shorthand's - amore

http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2007_08_01_archive.html


 

Verse 2 - Lovely, Heb "yedidot," is not just "beautiful" but "beloved." There is almost a mystical quality in the intensity of the psalmist's desire (with his entire being, v.3) to be in God's presence. [Note from The Jewish Study Bible]

On your pilgrimage to the center of your faith/being, what is a beloved person, moment, event, etc. that would be a marker of what you are aiming the rest of your life toward re-membering again and again in each new moment?

To find this kind of loveliness triggers a trust that such is a worthy intention to which we might put our longing, our yearning, from this time forward.

http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2009_08_01_archive.html

 


 

Beauty — a marker of the presence of G*D. We yearn for it even as we trash our planet and relationships with one another. Beauty for some is a mighty temple and for some lowly bread. And for you?

When we partner with a living G*D the smallest sparrow has its place as does the largest whale. A beauty of partnering and mature-relating is easy to spot. It is evident in every vale of tears transformed to deep joy and singing in the rain.

Instead of measuring our life in drips of sin, live radically within the tides of beauty. Beauty honors G*D and Neighbor and Self.

http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2012/08/psalm-84.html