The LORD is King for ever and ever; the nations will perish from his land. – Psalm 10:16

Today’s Scripture Reading (May 10, 2019): Psalm 9 & 10

Ursula K. Le Guin in her classic novel “The Dispossessed” wrote that “Nothing is yours. It is to use. It is to share. If you will not share it, you cannot use it.” I was in my teens when I first encountered “The Dispossessed” and the thought that nothing is mine has pursued me through the length of my life. I am convinced that Le Guin is right; nothing is mine. There is nothing that I possess that I have the right to think is mine. Things have never really been something that I understand beyond their use or the memory that they provoke. The comic books of my youth, many of which I still have, have been well read. The collectibles that I own are special because they contain memories of those who have given them to me and because they represent my interests, but none of them are mine. I have rented them for a time, and someday they will be passed on and shared with someone else. Nothing is really mine. I have possessed them to use, to entertain, and to share.

I live on what is considered to be “Treaty 6” land. What that means is that just 150 years ago the land on which my house is built belonged to the Plains Cree First Nation. Treaty 6 was signed out of concern that the European invasion of the area was hurting the native inhabitants. Two hundred years ago, my land was theirs. A couple of decades from now, if not less, my land will pass on to someone else. And I cannot imagine the changes that might happen in the two centuries that follow after the time that I have possessed the land.   

The Psalmist agrees. Nothing is ours; it is only leased to us for a time. Only God is forever. And the land that we possess is really his. Nations will rise, and they will fall. They always have. Many of the countries that existed during the time of David have entirely disappeared from the earth. The Roman empire rose a thousand years after David, and many thought that it was forever, but while Rome still stands, the Empire is long gone.

Dominancy of race and nation are temporary things. And this is something that we need to remember and understand. We, who are temporary, do not have the power to make other things that are temporary, permanent. That power remains in the hands of God. The land, all of it, is his. And as nations rise and fall, they will do so on his land.  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Psalm 11 & 12