Happy Tuesday!

First day of spring classes. This semester I will be learning about The Psalms, preaching and helping folks through grief and loss. I also will be making application for the Clinical Pastoral Education course. If I am accepted I will work in a hospital for ten weeks learning how to do the job of a hospital chaplain. I am hoping to do CPE this summer.

Prayer: “Jesus, thank You for allowing me to begin this new day with Good News—the Good News of the gospel. Your death on the Cross and Your triumph over the grave have profound changed my life. Amen.”

1Corinthians 15:3b, 4 “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.”

The power of Scripture is quite amazing. The Word is simple enough for children to understand yet is so deep and complex that the greatest scholars and theologians cannot reach the depth of its meaning. Tonight, I was sitting in my Psalms class and was asked to read Psalm 88 to the class in preparation for discussion. If you have never read this psalm I recommend that you read it sometime soon. This particular psalm is the worst of the psalms. It is nothing but complaint from beginning to end by an author who believes he has been abandoned, has lost all his friends and family. The author speaks to God about all of his hurt, pain and feelings of longing for restoration. God does not appear to be in contact with this author. I read this psalm pretty well. After I read the psalm aloud for the class, the gentleman behind me in class asked if he could read it.

This gentleman shared with the class that he would be celebrating his 48th birthday tomorrow and he will have spent half of his life with HIV. And then he began to read…it was not very far into the piece that each of us began to look through someone else’s eyes at the depth of the meaning of this harsh piece of scripture. What we gained in that reading was this profound realization that as terrible as the words of this psalm were, there was this extraordinary realization that even though (for the author) the day before was awful, and today was awful and if the pattern followed tomorrow would be awful, too. But the author of this psalm still got up each day and stayed in relationship with God. What amazing courage from the reader and what phenomenal faith of both author and its reader. It was a holy moment for me listening to the man of amazing courage read with a meaning that came from his soul.

Take joy in the journey. Wear comfortable shoes. Count your blessings and say your prayers. Love you all so very much and thank you for being such faithful prayer warriors, Bruce, Gaylene, Geni and Travis.

Gcapplenotes@aol.com

I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am only moved by what I believe and I believe God.