Believe

Author: Joan Harman
June 07, 2023
In one of the verses of Psalm 27, the psalmist sings, "I believe I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living."
What a verse to ponder in this moment.  It is so crucial now as it has been in the past.

Is goodness only manifest on the other side of life's veil?  Or is it manifest here and now among the stinking garbage of the events of the week?  In the rotten evil everywhere worldwide?  Do people rise to goodness they never imagined they might be capable of?   Is goodness the reaction to the light of the Lord or as last-ditch effort to stem the onslaught of the overwhelming insult of evil flourishing?

When evil keeps inventing new ways to kill the light it can't tolerate, do we ask God first to conceal us, hide us, put us high on a rock well above our enemies?  (Psalm 27)

Do we believe like Paul tells the Philippians, "Jesus can change our bodies to be like his body in our lifetime--becoming people who can cast out demons, cure people, and then head into the Jerusalem that requires sacrifice on our part?  Luke 13:31)

Do we believe, like Abram, when our bodies are old enough that they should be already dead, (Gen. 15) that we can be the source of new life?  Rev. Fran Pratt, pastor at Round Rock, TX, said this week in a devotional writing, " We have to practice going deep within, past the body, into the soul, into the center where God dwells, taking our nets with us so that we can drag peace, spiritual fortitude and expansive forgiveness we so desperately need, to the surface."

Blessings,
Joan K. Harman  <><
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