Yesterday morning… Minister-Lou preached her Palm Sunday sermon on Psalm 118… Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey… The crowd shouting, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord,’ is a direct quote from this Psalm.
Psalm 118 ends with, ‘Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.’ We remembered that Jesus’ rejection, suffering and death is against a backdrop of a God who is good.
Yesterday afternoon… I rediscovered an old Paul Robeson CD… and ‘Ole Man River’. A hundred years old now, from the musical ‘Show Boat’, it contrasts the struggles and suffering of African Americans with the relentless, uncaring Ole Man Mississippi River:
‘Ah, gits weary an’ sick of tryin’
I’m tired of livin’ an’ scared of dyin’
But ol’ man river he just keeps rollin’ along’
In some of the old spirituals there’s a God who sees my troubles and brings hope. Here there’s no good God.
Yesterday evening… I read Andy Robinson’s story in ‘Premier Christianity’:
He was told he had stage four bowel cancer, yet he felt peace: ‘I’ve come to realise that peace isn’t the absence of difficulty, struggle or trauma. It’s the presence of someone, Jesus.’
The cancer spread to his liver and lungs. His thoughts spiralled into a ‘dark rabbit hole’, but ‘in those moments, the peace of God would overwhelm me again…’
He holds two truths in tension: ‘God is able to heal me. But even if He doesn’t, He’s still good.’
This morning… In my ‘Golden Bells’ hymn book was read the old hymn ‘Count Your Blessings’, with the last verse:
So, amid the conflict, whether great or small,
Do not be discouraged, God is over all;
Count your many blessings, angels will attend,
Help and comfort give you to your journey’s end.
This is the Good God of the ancient Psalm, the suffering Jesus, the troubled African American, Andy Robinson, and me this morning.
malcolmsmusings.org 