2 When evildoers assail me
    to devour my flesh—
my adversaries and foes—
    they shall stumble and fall.

3 Though an army encamp against me,
    my heart shall not fear;
though war rise up against me,
    yet I will be confident.

4 One thing I asked of the Lord,
    that will I seek after:
to live in the house of the Lord
    all the days of my life,
to behold the beauty of the Lord,
    and to inquire in his temple.

13 I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord
    in the land of the living.
14 Wait for the Lord;
    be strong, and let your heart take courage;
    wait for the Lord!

It is Monday morning.  Phew. Yesterday felt like a long day…did anyone else have one of those?  I am feeling a little ragged this morning as I wrestle up some coffee.  Yesterday was full of wonderful worship and annual meetings and emotions and LOTS of in depth conversations.  Then I came home and the section of the choir that I am in had a sectional. It was fabulous to sing with these 10 women.  We stayed up eating snacks and drinking wine after we sang. We got to know each other better and had more in depth conversations.

The morning came way too soon.  Monday mornings can be rough.

I have finally sat down with coffee in hand and opened up the scriptures.

There are three scripture offerings for today.  Usually there is a new Psalm that will be offered throughout the week. I read through Psalm 27. Then there is a scripture from the Hebrew Scriptures. Today it is from Isaiah.  I wasn’t feeling it. I read it.  Didn’t feel it. Didn’t get it.  Put it aside.

Then there is a scripture from the New Testament. It is from Acts. I got into it but it didn’t seem right for today. The Acts passage today is about when people started hearing the word and couldn’t help but sign up. It is a good story about the beginnings of the church.

But I was drawn back to the Psalm. There are soooo many images in Psalm 27. I started to read and re read. It didn’t have to be academic it was just moving to me.  The first lines spoke to my heart as I look towards Monday and the week.  This week is full!  And there will be some hard conversations that come into play. Sometimes that looking ahead leads to wanting to go back to bed and yet…whom shall I fear? God is with me.  Yes.

As I read I find myself comforted and empowered.  THEN I get to verse four and hear the familiar words that appear in songs and in pretty decorations…One thing I ask of the Lord…to live in house of the Lord….yeah, I want to live there too.

As I got to the last verses, I was ready to continue on my day.  Wait for the Lord.

Be strong. Take Courage. Yes.

Yes.  Be strong. Take Courage.  Take that Monday.

Be strong. Let your heart take courage.

Let my heart take courage. Let it……I have to be willing to let it.

This is when I started to write to you.

Sometimes scripture doesn’t immediately hit us or make sense or need to mean anything more than what it says.  Let it just move you this morning and during Advent. This morning, I am not infusing scripture with anything else. Just letting those images settle over me.  This is the process of letting that scripture live.

How do you process scripture? What moves you this morning? What images hold you tight?

Peace,
C