Friends,
Another Lent has begun. Yesterday we observed Ash Wednesday with an outdoor contemplative service by the Memorial Fountains and on the Labyrinth. We received ashes at the Bell Tower. And we prayed for peace and healing.
During the Sundays in Lent, I will be reflecting on the Psalms, the poetry of faith. This coming Sunday, we will hear part of Psalm 91, which begins like this:
who abide in the shadow of the Almighty,
will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress;
my God, in whom I trust.”
My reflection will be titled, “The God of Refugees.” Of course, as I read those first lines of the Psalm, I couldn’t help but think of the thousands of Ukrainian refugees flooding across the borders into Poland and Hungary and other neighboring countries. (Read the article below to learn more about our PCUSA response to the refugee crisis happening now from the Ukraine.)
Over and over again, Scripture reminds us that God is a God of refugees and immigrants and foreigners and aliens, and we will acknowledge that. But I believe there is a word for us too in this poetry of our faith. How does the God of Refugees come to the aid of the privileged and the powerful?
Come explore and reflect with me this Sunday on the ways in which we experience God as our refuge and our fortress.
Peace,
Pastor Jack
