Fall in Connecticut, Two weeks before Thanksgiving
In the midst of an awful tragedy in Colorado Springs this weekend**, I soberly, carefully walk into Thanksgiving week remembering. My heart hurts; my prayers expanded; God’s truth the same. I need those big rocks more than ever.
Truth from the Psalms, in the midst, are still true.
“When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
what is man that you are mindful of him,
and the son of man that you care for him?”
Psalm 8:3 and 4
On our travels this fall, more than once we were awed by the full moon, that moon that God set in place. And the reminder in the rhetorical question of the Psalmist that God is mindful; He cares.
Years ago our pastor recounted the story of a horrific school bus accident. One person said, God must have been asleep. The pastor countered, God wasn’t asleep, He was wide awake; He was aware; He cares.
I can’t wrap my head around God’s awareness, His wisdom, His care. This week surrendering to Thanksgiving looks like a very hard trust.
“And those who know your name put their trust in you,
for you, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you.”
Psalm 9:10
And so my prayer this Thanksgiving week:
“The wail of the sirens is the anthem of our brokenness, reminding us that fear and tragedy, pain and crime yet plague a creation groaning for its redemption.
Therefore attend those now in crisis, O Lord, remaining ever merciful and mindful of their frailties. May their first cry be to you, and may such cries be met by your presence and your peace. Grant good judgment to those who minister aid and protection, and comfort all who endure trauma or loss.
Use even these parts of our stories which are accompanied by sirens, O Lord, to press us closer to your heart”. ***
Because I live here, the tragic story of last Saturday night is part of my story. And so I pray.
** There were tragedies in other places this week. I mention Colorado Springs, because it is my home. My prayers extend to all.
*** The Sound of Sirens, taken from Every Moment Holy, volume 1.
Copyright: Sue Tell, November 2022.