Grace Remembered and Relived; Entry 19 (see first Entry here.)
6 October:
Psalm 102:17:
"[The Lord] will look with favor on the prayer of the homeless; * he will not despise their plea."
Hosea 10:1-15:
"Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you."
My guess is that my interest in the verse from the Psalm had nothing to do with the parish conflict but with my astonishment in finding the reference to the needs of the homeless, a problem which is still ignored 3000 years later.
The verse from Hosea would have been an encouragement to remain faithful, and an invitation to use the experience to "break up [my] fallow ground"-- to prepare for new possibilities and unexplored dimensions of my life and ministry.
What a wonderful word to revisit, as I begin to prepare for my Sabbatical, and as our parish contemplates a Master Plan and revisits our Mission and Vision statements.
What fallow ground needs breaking up today in order that we may seek the Lord in new ways and open ourselves to receive the refreshing rain of righteousness?
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