Psalm 130

In his comments on Psalm 130, Eugene Peterson* writes:

"By setting anguish out in the open and voicing it as a prayer, the psalm gives dignity to our suffering. It does not look on suffering as something slightly embarrassing that must be hushed up or locked in a closet because this sort of thing shouldn't happen to a real person of faith. And it doesn't treat it as a puzzle that must be explained, and therefore turn it over to theologians or philosophers to work out an answer. Suffering is set squarely, openly, passionately before God. It is acknowledged and expressed. It is described and lived."

I find great comfort in the Psalms this morning, Eric is at school, Emily is on her way to a study session for a final exam and I am sorting through the cards and letters from the past week. As life transitions to a new place for us, suffering is our companion, grief comes in waves and waxes and wanes with no apparent pattern. I find the words of Eugene Peterson especially comforting, because it feels so natural to me to admit that we do suffer, that we do hurt, that it's crushing at moments and comforting at others. We both laugh and we cry, we love pictures and we can also be brought to tears by them and frequently are.

We study for finals, we fall back in to algebra and jazz band, we clean and do laundry and pick up the pieces of a life we basically abandoned last May and we move forward not knowing where to take the next step and yet knowing that God has hold. I won't lie, this hurts. I miss Chris so much and I've never known pain this deep, I've never known anything this raw and yet I have also never known God so intimately. Every hurt, every pain sends this craving need to draw nearer to the One who does know my very heart. So, as Peterson writes, we begin now to set our suffering squarely, opening and passionately before God. And daily bread WILL come...because He promised it.

Grace for your journey,
Leigh

*A Long Obedience in the Same Direction