I have been basically offline for several days, the past few in the hospital (I am still there), the couple before that my brain offline sinking into the infection that put me into the hospital.
And so now I am trying to write a post, trying to decide what tone to strike, one of hope, or one of fury, one of bemusement or one of derision. Which way shall the wind blow?
I could site a list of all the Christian groups I have served who could have helped me when I came to them for comfort, but instead sent me away empty (the exact inverse of the Magnificat, for those of you who observed my precise word choices above). But what good would it do? They neither care nor listen, no not if the flames burn right at their own doors will they truly help those in need. Only the things to make themselves look good, and call others bad.
So that is how the first wind blows.
And yet, in the soft quiet wind that follows, and was always there, I hear the still small voice, the voice that has always called through the earthquakes of the past five years. Earthquakes that have pushed us down again and again. And each time we have found Peace and Truth, Joy and Life, in the Goodness of God. And so those creating the earthquakes have tried them again and again, seeking to find a level at which we will not find peace. They do not understand that there is no bottoming out of the Goodness of God.
The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; He leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul; He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies; thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
My rights have been violated once again, by a hospital that will do what it thinks is right, even to the violation of my civil rights, and I am without medical care at the moment (an update to the I am in the hospital comment written above). I will seek other sources of that care in the morning.
For now I will rest in the Goodness of God, and in the company of my good wife, good beyond my deserving.
I am thankful that life isn’t fair. I could not live if i deserved all the evil that befalls me. I could not live if I had to earn all the good that comes my way. It is undeserved GRACE, the Goodness of God.
At The Rainbow 