My Heart is Ready, Lord! (Psalm 108)

The opening line of Psalm 108 is often translated as "My heart is steadfast, Lord." I have read this psalm before, but because "steadfast" is not a word I commonly use, I tend to skip past it without encountering its significance. I interpret it as something akin to loyal or faithful. And I am wrong.

"Steadfast" is a translation of the Hebrew word "kuwn" and in the original, the psalmist implies that the heart has been prepared like a building, that the foundation has been laid with care. The heart has been prepared and is therefore ready and waiting.

In the Divine Office for today, the line is translated, "My heart is ready, Lord." That seems closer to the psalmist's intention, but it is still important to ask, "Why is my heart ready? Is it due to preparation, or panic?"

Is my heart ready because I have tried everything else and hit bottom, so in desperation I'm willing to even try this "God Thing" that I've heard people talk about? Certainly that is the moment when some of us feel ready: when all else has failed. "Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope."

Or, is my heart ready because I have prepared it like a fertile field, opened it toward God, desired to experience God in the fullest way possible? That is the readiness that today's psalm implies.

Either way, God will not turn away a ready heart!

Blessings,
David

Be Still, and Know that I Am God (Psalm 46:10)

Outside my window:
still life.

The walnut tree stands,
branches unmoving,
sunlight on its leaves.

Stillness?

Somewhere within it,
photosynthesis is happening.
Life is coursing through it,
renewing it,
repairing it,
inching it closer
to the very sun that feeds it.

Inside my room:
still life.

I sit praying,
unmoving,
letting light shine within.

Stillness?

Somewhere within me,
rebirth is happening.
Love is coursing through me,
renewing me,
repairing me,
freeing me to become
the very love that feeds me.




Blessings,
David

God of My Heart

God of my heart,
You do not need to enlighten me today.
I need no brilliance to toss around.

God of my heart,
You do not need to bless me today.
I need no favoritism to show off.

God of my heart,
You do not need to create through me today.
I need no talent to justify me.

God of my heart,
all I ask
is to remember
You are there.



Blessings,
David

Prayer and Forgiveness

Shantideva, an 8th century Buddhist scholar, said "It is natural for the immature to harm others. Getting angry with them is like resenting a fire for burning."

Yet sometimes, we do! So: How to forgive?

Prayer clears the way for forgiveness, and forgiveness clears the way for prayer. When one is missing, it impedes the other. Jesus tells us in Matthew 18:22 to forgive "seventy times seven times," numbers that indicated perfection and would translate in our day as "one-hundred times one-hundred percent." In other words, always.

If we only live from the earlobes up, this can be a challenge. Where is the logic in forgiveness? But forgiveness is an expression of belief, the domain of the heart.

Kathleen Norris, in her book "Amazing Grace," writes, "I find it sad to consider that belief has become a scary word, because, at its Greek root, 'to believe' simply means 'to give one's heart to.' Thus if we can determine what it is we give our heart to, then we will know what it is we believe."

In Luke 12:34, Jesus reminds us, "For where your treasure lies, there your heart will be also."

The choice is ours. Do we really treasure kindness, love, compassion, and forgiveness? We can pray and forgive, or blame the fire for burning.

Blessings,
David