From dark to light

From today's readings:

Jer. 7: 28

This is the nation which does not listen to the voice of the Lord, its God, or take correction.  Faithfulness has disappeared; the word itself is banished from their speech.

How true that is, and how sad it is.  In ways big and small, we have forgotten to value or live by faithfulness. Consider the state of marriage; look at the court system which is backlogged with cases of broken contracts; employees no longer stay with one company, and employers no longer look out for their workers; professional sports has turned into a multi-million dollar swap meet; politicians break promises so regularly we wonder why they bother in the first place.

What a bleak picture that is.  Isn't it easy to give way to despair and lament the golden years gone by?  If only we could go back in time and hope that knowing what we know now we'd get it right the second time around.

Before we can give up entirely, however, our Holy Mother Church exhorts us by giving this Psalm today:
Ps. 95:1-2,6

Come, let us sing joyfully to the Lord, let us acclaim the Rock of our salvation.
Let us greet Him with thanksgiving, let us joyfully sing psalms to Him.
Come, let us bow down in worship; let us kneel before the Lord who made us.

We are not to just sing, but sing joyfully!  We are to acknowledge God, our hope of salvation; to practice thankfulness, to have a joyful spirit.  Even now, when things look so dire we begin to hope the End is Nigh because we can't imagine - or want to see - how it could possibly get any worse, we place God ahead of our worry and fear, and put ourselves at His feet in worship.

I'm a word girl... you'll read that in the "about me" bit somewhere under that Vermeer portrait of a girl writing.  I believe that words are powerful, and that the words we use are an accurate portrait of who we are.  A society that turns murder into choice is one that also no longer values faithfulness.  It (faithfulness, fidelity) used to be a sign of integrity and strength of character.  Of course, along with faithfulness, we have also neutered integrity and character.  You see how one thing gives way to another?

Before I get too comfortable on my soapbox, I must remember that my duty of the moment is to give thanks to God.  Like Job, I will bless His Name in these dark days.  If I don't hide my light under a bushel basket, it will be joined with your light, and together we will push back the lies and deceit that hide in dark places.