March 30/Fourth Wednesday of Lent
The LORD is good to all and compassionate toward all his works.
The LORD is near to all who call upon him, to all who call upon him in truth. ~ Ps 145.9, 18
Stephen Sondheim’s song “Finishing the Hat,” from the 1984 musical Sunday in the Park with George, is a paean to the creative process and to the fulfillment that comes from putting the final touches on (in this case) a work of art. Most of us, worried and distracted, may feel that our own hats are perennially unfinished. We may feel stalled by the last effects of the pandemic, the changes it has wrought in our relationships and our way of life, painfully aware that we are bringing little to completion, either professionally or personally. Even in normal times, this is the nature of human existence. All of us live, and all of us will die, with unfinished business — loose ends we haven’t tied up, relationships we have neglected, work we have failed to do well. Over against our human incompleteness stands the wholeness of God. There is not one flaw, one iota of imperfection in the Lord (or in the Hebrew, YHWH). The point is emphatically underscored by the dense repetition of two key words throughout today’s verses: “YHWH” and “all.” Taken together, they construct a reassuring framework of divine integrity. God, we are meant to understand, never proceeds by half-measures: YHWH, the Lord, is good ləkọl, to all of us and compassionate towards all his works. YHWH, the Lord, is faithful bəkọl, in all his words and holy in all his works. And the concluding flourish, most comforting for us as we trudge through Lent: YHWH, the Lord, is near ləkọl, to all who call upon him in truth. We may be plagued by a failure to finish, but what awaits us beyond our human life is the glory of the fullness of God.
Perfect and complete Lord, Bestow on me the desire to strive daily for your fullness, even as I acknowledge that I will fully attain it only in the glory of eternal life. Amen.
For today’s readings, click here: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/033022.cfm
To hear Lynne Dawson, Ian Partridge, The Sixteen Choir, and The Sixteen Orchestra, conducted by Harry Christophers, sing George Frideric Handel’s “The Lord is Righteous in All His Ways,” click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=727SLMs7V0w
Bonus Broadway track! To hear Mandy Patinkin perform “Finishing the Hat” from Sunday in the Park with George, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ducG55pfCMQ
