April 4/Fourth Thursday of Lent They made a calf at Horeb and worshiped a cast image. They exchanged the glory of God for the image of an ox that eats grass. ~ Ps 106.19-20 We don’t bow down much these days, do we? Outside of the images of faithful Muslims kneeling for daily prayer and candidates for ordination prostrating themselves…
Author: Betsy Cahill
Song 25: All in the Family
April 3/Fourth Wednesday of Lent The Lord is good to all, and his compassion is over all that he has made. ~ Ps 145.8-9 I’ve probably glossed over this simple verse dozens of times without really stopping to think about its implications. “The Lord is good to all, and his compassion is over all that he has made.” Both…
Song 24: Noise, Noise, Noise, Noise
April 2/Fourth Tuesday of Lent God is our refuge and our strength, an ever-present help in distress.Therefore we fear not, though the earth be shaken and the mountains plunge into the depths of the sea. ~ Ps 46.2-3 Keeping one’s equilibrium amid the boil and churn of modern life can be a challenge. There is the quick-paced, even frenetic tempo we…
Song 23: Joyful, Joyful
April 1/Fourth Monday of Lent At nightfall, weeping enters in, but with the dawn, rejoicing. ~ Ps 30.6 Something in our human nature tends towards pessimism. Amid the screeching barrage of daily “news,” if one can call it that, it is tempting to see the world around us through a lens of solid negativity. This is the Eeyore syndrome, named…
Song 22: “One Thing Viewed Differently”
March 30/Third Saturday of Lent For you are not pleased with sacrifices; should I offer a burnt offering, you would not accept it.My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit; a heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn. ~ Ps 51.18-19 To the modern sensibility, sacrifices and burnt offerings seem impossibly ancient and decidedly obsolete. Modern…
Song 21: Stranger Danger
March 29/Third Friday of Lent There shall be no strange god among you; you shall not bow down to a foreign god. ~ Ps 81.9 One of the first lessons we learn as we grow up, and a lesson we certainly impart to our children, is this: Don’t talk to strangers. Don’t answer the door if you don’t recognize the…
Song 20: Listen Up!
March 28/Third Thursday of Lent Oh, if today you would listen to his voice. ~ Ps 95.7 After many years of marriage and motherhood, I have learned to identify the precise moment in a conversation when one of my children, or my husband, starts to tune out my well-meaning advice. A slight turn of the head, an infinitesimal glazing of…
Song 19: Get Up and Bar the Door
March 27/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 in our lives. We fail to draw solid lines between work and family life, checking e-mails at bedtime, taking “important” calls during dinner, and bringing work home on the weekends. Those who are…
Song 18: Past Performance
March 26/Third Tuesday of Lent Be mindful of your mercy, O Lord, and of your steadfast love, for they have been from of old. ~ Ps 25.6 An actress is only as good as her last role. One successful litigation does not necessarily ensure the next. Asset management firms are required by the Securities and Exchange Commission to say…
Song 17: Sit. Stay.
March 25/Third Monday of LentFeast of the Annunciation Sacrifice and offering you do not delight in, but you have dug out my ears.To do your will, O God, I delight in; your teaching is in the midst of my belly. ~ Ps 40.7, 9* Obedience — how it goes against the human grain. We no sooner construct a set of…