Today’s Scripture Reading (March 19,
2013): Psalm 144
I have had a
couple of instances in my life where I almost drowned. Now, having said that, I
also have to admit my close calls were not because I cannot swim - I am not a
stranger to the water. I can swim and, although I will not win any races, I am
fully capable of keeping my head above the waves. But both times that I came
close to drowning, something unexpected had happened. And in both cases the
only reason why drowning did not occur was because someone was there to give me
their hand and get me to safety.
In one of
these instances I had to be taken a local hospital. I had inhaled enough water
that my lungs were bruised and my body was no longer processing the oxygen that
it needed to survive. And it was in the intensive care ward of the hospital
that I heard the stories of those that were not as lucky as I was. This
hospital in a resort town saw so many near drowning victims that it had become
the authority in dealing with these kinds of situations. This is where the
experts had come to practice medicine strictly because of the number of water accidents
that this hospital was responsible for in the course of a year. Water was both
the reason why people came to this town, and the most dangerous thing about the
town.
People drown
because they are unprepared for the water, but that is not the only reason why
the water is dangerous. (In both of my situations I was prepared for the water
– I could swim and I was wearing a properly fitting life jacket.) Sometimes
people die in the water because the water is, by its own nature, unpredictable.
In the bible, water is used to symbolize chaos – it illustrates the
unpredictable nature of this world.
David prays
that God will deliver him from the chaos of life. That it will be his hand that
reaches down into his life and pulls him out. But for me, this verse also has a
bit of tension. It contains this idea that David is existing in chaos and needs
to be delivered, but also that the ones that are creating the chaos around him
are foreigners – or more literally foreign or strange children. So David needs
to be delivered, but the ones that he needs to be delivered from are themselves
vulnerable – they are children. One thing that I understand about children is
that often they act without understanding – they bring chaos into the places
where they have influence, And this creates a tension.
In my life,
this I know – I stand in the same place as David. I have a need to be delivered
from the chaos of this world – I need a hand that will reach down and touch me.
But I also know that the ones creating the chaos stand in need of that same
hand. And maybe as God reaches out to drag me out of the chaos, it is my job to
reach and grab hold of the strange children around me that are the creators of
the chaos.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm
145
No comments:
Post a Comment