November 4, 2022
One Week at a Time
A week ago tomorrow (Saturday), will be one week since I tested positive for COVID. Susan had become ill on Tuesday and tested positive on Wednesday. Susan by far had the worst case: more severe symptoms and they lasted longer. We are both on the mend and we thank you for all your expressions of support and offers of help, even as we apologize for not responding to you all individually. We are not unique, unfortunately, in having COVID in our church family. We pray for all of those who are enduring this virus as I write this, some with mild cases, some with severe, but hopefully all soon behind us.
We have postponed our Staff Council retreat this weekend, in part because my recent infection, in part because of the other recent infections in our church, and because we would prefer to err on the side of caution at this point. Using CDC guidelines, I should no longer be a significant risk of sharing COVID after Thursday. I am planning on leading worship with Pastor Steve this Sunday. I will mask when singing and not speaking, and will celebrate at the Table alone, but will not serve communion. I feel these are precautions worth taking to protect us all and invite you to consider how you might protect yourself and others. But not just from COVID, as severe colds and flu have been more prevalent in the Seattle area than COVID, causing a good number of students and workers to call in sick and putting stress on our hospitals. May we all be well, my friends.
As viruses around us increase and daylight and daytime highs decrease, we are reminded we have now entered November. November marks the start of our rapid journey to the end of another year. We are now in one of the busiest seasons of the year. This year November ends with the beginning of Advent, a season of anticipation, preparation, patiently waiting, and praying for the future. This year in Advent, I am inviting any of you who are interested to join me in a conversation about the psalms and what they teach us about prayer, in particular prayers for the future.
We pray the psalms frequently, but how often do we think about the psalms as prayer? Each Sunday in the lectionary, as psalm is appointed as a prayerful response to the reading from the Old Testament that day. It is offered a congregational response to God for that reading. For this reason, we use the congregational psalms in our hymnal whenever possible to allow us to pray these together. In some traditions, the reading or singing of a psalm ends with our doxology to reinforce that both the first reading and the psalm speak of and to the triune God, the God revealed in the New Testament. In the lectionary over the next few weeks we will have some canticles, psalms found outside the book of Psalms, in response to the first reading. All of these psalms, however offered, invite us to consider what their example of prayer says to us today.
Forty years ago, Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann wrote a short, and fairly popular book entitled Praying the Psalms: Engaging Scripture with the Life of the Spirit. It was intended to be a practical book, and the first edition in 1982 came with all 150 of the psalms included in the second half of the book. It was written to be read and then applied by its readers to better use the psalms as prayers. Now forty years later, this work is considered a classic text by Christians of all denominations and has been recently revised and updated, though no longer including the psalter. What it does include are insights into what the psalms teach about prayer and how to pray. It also invites its readers to consider how and why we pray and the role the psalms can play in our prayers.
Though not an “Advent” book per se, it addresses the reality of having to pray honestly and faithfully to God in difficult times, drawing on the psalter to provide examples and models for our prayers today. For this reason, I will be leading, with some help from our own Lauren Pattie, a series of five studies on praying the psalms. Each study will be rooted in one of the five, short (~20 page) chapters in Brueggemann’s book. Beginning November 21, we will meet on Zoom Monday nights from 7-8 pm. There is no need to sign up, but now is probably the time to order the book. Either edition is fine, and they are easily found. (Link to order).
A week from today, I trust I will be feeling much more like myself and preparing to be with our confirmands at Cascades Camp. I will be digesting the results of the midterm elections and their aftermath. I am sure I will still be praying for people who grieve to be comforted, for people who are weak and ill to become strong and healthy, and for peace and understanding to replace violence and discord. And the intent and content of my prayers will continue to be formed by the gift of the psalms. The honesty of the psalms about our human condition is timeless, and guarantees they will never become irrelevant, whatever a week will bring.