Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Psalm 25:1-10

1To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
2O my God, in you I trust;
   do not let me be put to shame;
   do not let my enemies exult over me.
3Do not let those who wait for you be put to shame;
   let them be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.

4Make me to know your ways, O Lord;
   teach me your paths.
5Lead me in your truth, and teach me,
   for you are the God of my salvation;
   for you I wait all day long.

6Be mindful of your mercy, O Lord, and of your steadfast love,
   for they have been from of old.
7Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions;
   according to your steadfast love remember me,
   for your goodness’ sake, O Lord!

8Good and upright is the Lord;
   therefore he instructs sinners in the way.
9He leads the humble in what is right,
   and teaches the humble his way.
10All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness,
   for those who keep his covenant and his decrees.

 When we are dealing with very difficult situations in life that bring out the big disapproving words like "sinner" and "afflicted" (too easily translated as "humble" which has been touted as a positive virtue), it is important to have equally big reserves of "kindness". The big words for kindness are here noted as “steadfast love” (because when you've only said “love” you've not said it all) and “faithfulness”. These give an eternal arc to our interactions of the moment. This allows us continued connection in the midst of stress and brokenness.

Rather than being a polarity this pairing of steadfast love and faithfulness is a parallelism. When brought together sparks don't fly. Imagine one of the heavenly host on your left from the “steadfast love” wing of heavenly discourse and one on your right from the “faithfulness” wing. As they embrace one another through you, you find yourself “steadfaithful”.

The result is perhaps a new way of honoring the same reality both re-presented. “Truthiness” had its day, I wonder if “steadfaith” might have its season. Instead of faith being a fixed place, which can be so easily left behind simply by letting time go by, we find faith present in every place we find ourselves.

There are so many ways in which things can go awry. We may even be able to count more of them than counting the ways love goes forth. Wanton treachery abounds. In its face, a steadfaith response brings hope through the education (leading, instruction) of folks who for whatever reason haven't gotten the “kind” thing. Thus sinners are not denotated by specific behaviors but connotated by their general obliviousness to kindness - a condition that can be changed.