March 19/Third Thursday of Lent The promises of the LORD I will sing forever; through all generations my mouth shall proclaim your faithfulness. ~ Ps 89.2 In the long parade of human history, one generation’s unfinished business is inevitably carried over to the next. In the case of climate change or the national debt, this can be a negative legacy. …
Author: Betsy Cahill
Song 19: Get Up and Bar the Door
March 18/Third Wednesday of Lent For he has strengthened the bars of your gates. ~ Ps 147.13 Most of us are not very good at setting boundaries. Some of us find it difficult to delineate work time versus family time, answering emails, reading documents, or taking calls at night, over the weekend, even on a family vacation. Others might struggle…
Song 18: Lost
March 17/Third Tuesday of Lent Your ways, O LORD, make known to me; teach me your paths.Guide me in your truth and teach me. ~ Ps 25.4-5 It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single (or married) man in possession of a car, and in want of directions, will not ask for guidance. Of course, now that we have…
Song 17: Beyond the Fevered Strain
March 16/Third Monday of Lent As the hind longs for the running waters, so my soul longs for you, O God.Athirst is my soul for God, the living God. When shall I go and behold the face of God? ~ Ps 42.2-3 Sometimes, when we pause for a moment and we’re not busy being, well, busy, we experience a deep…
Song 16: Forgiveness from A to Z
March 14/Second Saturday of Lent For as the heavens are high above the earth, so surpassing is his kindness toward those who fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has he put our transgressions from us. ~ Ps 103.11-12 Forgiveness is out of fashion these days, viewed in many quarters as a sign of weakness. Witness…
Song 15: Dark Inscrutable Workmanship
March 13/Second Friday of Lent When the LORD called down a famine on the land and ruined the crop that sustained them, He sent a man before them, Joseph, sold as a slave. ~ Ps 105.16-17 The book assigned for the high school Bible History course I took was The Book of the Acts of God (or as we referred…
Song 14: Down to the River
March 12/Second Thursday of Lent He is like a tree planted near running water, That yields its fruit in due season, and whose leaves never fade. ~ Ps 1.3 Having grown up in a coastal city, I have often experienced the presence of God by the water. The powerful swells that form far out in the ocean; the froth-flecked waves that…
Song 13: Come What May
March 11/Second Wednesday of Lent Into your hands I commend my spirit; you will redeem me, O LORD, O faithful God. ~ Ps 31.6 You step into the center of the circle — full of doubt, if you are like me — close your eyes, and let yourself fall into the arms of your encircling colleagues. How many of us have…
Song 12: Keeping Up Appearances
March 10/Second Tuesday of Lent “Why do you recite my statutes, and profess my covenant with your mouth, Though you hate discipline and cast my words behind you?To him that goes the right way I will show the salvation of God.” ~ Ps 50.16-17, 23 Lives there a better exemplar of hypocrisy than Eddie Haskell of the old “Leave It…
Song 11: Help! I Need Somebody
March 9/Second Monday of Lent Remember not against us the iniquities of the past; may your compassion quickly come to us, for we are brought very low. ~ Ps 79.8-9 I have certainly had moments in my life where my heart has felt hard and small and boxed in. I have felt stuck in a place of pain or anxiety that I…