Today’s Scripture Reading (January
3, 2020): Amos 5
Death. Whenever
it happens, there is a significant loss involved. It doesn’t matter if the death
occurs at the end of a long life, or at the beginning. It also does not seem to
matter if you believe in a heaven or an afterlife of some kind, or if you
believe that death is a final ending of everything that is present in life. The
sense of loss is acute. It also does not seem to matter if death comes quickly,
or if its arrival has been long expected. Either way, the loss is still present
and the sense of grief overwhelms us.
But,
when death comes to the young, it seems even more tragic. At least when it
occurs at the end of life, we can look back on all that was and remember the
accomplishments and the relationships that were built during the years of life.
But with a young life, while those things are still present, there are so many
things that we should have been remembering in the wake of the cessation of
life that will now never take place. And that is a real tragedy.
Amos
writes the words, “Fallen is Virgin Israel.” Just emerging from the Christmas
season, maybe it is natural that our thoughts return to Mary and Joseph, but
that is not the intent of Amos’s message. Amos is speaking about the premature
death of a nation. Israel had fallen and they were not getting up. Once they
were the protected of God, but they had repaid that protection with rebellion
instead of loyalty. The result was that they were now vulnerable, as vulnerable
as a young woman who had chosen to walk among a group of violent men. And now
they would share the fate of the young woman, and die the death of the young
The story
could have been different, but the tale turned tragic because of the choices
Israel had made. The good story that could have been told had ended before it
became a reality. The young woman of Israel had fallen, and she would not rise
again.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Amos
6
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