Fashioning a Canopy - May 27
Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 101, 109:1-4 (5-19) 20-30; PM Psalm 119:121-144Isa. 4:2-6; Eph. 4:1-16; Matt. 8:28-34
We have reached the point in the year where there is no escaping the fury of the Alabama heat. With the most pleasant spring of recent memory, this weekend brought change with vengeance. While the temperature didn’t break 90 degrees, it didn’t matter. Coupled with the sweltering humidity, if you left the comfort of air conditioning this weekend, images from this upcoming Sunday when we hear the story of tongues of fire touching the people gathered might have come to mind. It was hot!
And maybe I feel that way because I went for a bike ride at the hottest point of the day on Sunday, and the sun beating down on the black pavement of the road through Oak Mountain State Park just amplified the sun. But here is the thing - there was a moment where the ride took us into a beautiful canopy, and everything changed. It was as if it got twenty degrees cooler instantaneously.
I am interested in this image of a canopy in this morning’s reading from Isaiah. “The canopy will serve as a pavilion, a shade by day from the heat, and a refuge and a shelter from the storm.” It is a prophetic text giving an image of what the Kingdom of God or the reign of God will look like, but the metaphor means the heat is still there, we only get more comfortable resting in it.
I think about the pain and suffering in the world a lot. Maybe it is the vocation of walking with people at all moments of life, but I think we are all there. We see it in our newsfeeds, in the phone calls with loved ones and friends. We pray it when we open the prayer list in the weekly email or hear it on Sunday. If we aren’t careful to sit with others or our own pain, we might be tempted to fix it in a way to that minimizes that pain. Words roll off our tongue like, “God won’t give you more than you can handle” or “it’s really not that big of a deal.” What this often conveys is our own discomfort with what others are experiencing.
But I wonder if this image from Isaiah is a more helpful image for us to adopt. Instead of fixing other people’s problems, what if we were to provide a canopy, a safe respite where its 20 degrees cooler, where people can sustain their own pain in a way that allows them to also experience the grace of God, find respite, if not refreshment. Not only are we beginning a true Alabama summer, but in the midst of a pandemic, we seem as fragile as ever. Maybe what we need most is not to be fixed of our problems, but some respite from this heat. How could you and I fashion a canopy for each other?
— John+
Questions for Self-Reflection
What problems of others do you try to fix? When you want to help someone, what does that look like?
Daily Challenge
Think of a specific problem that you have worked to alleviate for another person, especially if that person or relationship has crossed cultural boundaries. Think of one way you could have responded differently now. Try that approach next time a situation arises.