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Weekly Words for the Journey

To My Beloved PBBC Community

Psalm 23
(from “Psalms Redux: Poems and Prayers”)

This I know: my life is in your hands.
I have nothing to fear.
I stop, breathe, listen.
Beneath the whirl of what is
is a deep down quiet place.
You beckon me to tarry there.
This is the place where unnamed hungers are fed,
the place of clear water, refreshment.
My senses stilled, I drink deeply,
at home in timeless territory.
In peril, I remember: death’s dark vale holds no menace.
I lean into you; your eternal presence comforts me.
I am held tenderly.
In the midst of all that troubles, that threatens and diminishes,
you set abundance before me.
You lift my head; my vision clears.
The blessing cup overflows.
This I know:
you are my home and my hope,
my strength and my solace,
and so shall you ever be.

(Written by Carla A. Grosch-Miller)

I love the 23rd Psalm, and I love this new interpretation; for me it captures so much of what we long to find, what I hope you find, in these changing and challenging days.

Together we watch how things are going in our state, nation and world. Together we wait to see what happens with our schools, praying for students and staff and all those tasked with making such important decisions while facing such impossible choices. And together we look past this summer heat to October for a possible safe return to Sunday services in our sanctuary.

Next week we resume our “Bridging the Gap” prayer circles, with smaller groups this time around, and we look forward to being together once again. But for all of you there at home, may you find hope once again. May you find ways to remember, to refresh, and to be held in God’s presence once again. And may you find places of strength and solace once again.

Until we meet once again, Pastor Claudine