Get grounded - June 14, 2025
Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 75, 76; PM Psalm 23, 27 Ecclus. 46:1-10; 2 Cor. 13:1-14; Luke 20:1-8
Today is Flag Day. The sun is shining and my kids are interacting in harmony. They are playing the National Anthem on kazoo and slide flute alongside our American flag as I try to focus and write. (It is not going well, as their play has morphed into a parade. A harmonica and drum, plus howling dogs, are now incorporated into the procession, and I just heard a few stanzas of “Kumbaya, My Lord” worked into the medley.) There is much joy in our corner of the world this morning.
Friends, I do not take the celebratory ambiance in this little household lightly. The giggles are fleeting…and I share the story to bring grounding to you, too, for there is more than just heaviness in the world around us. Yes, there is sickness and turmoil, grief and fear. Yes, people we love are ill, or far away, or in danger. Perhaps we are in pain or faced with no good options. Maybe the healing we had hoped to share is now met with more trauma.
I cannot know all the hard in your life, and I have weathered tension and disappointment in my own. As such, a prayer like Psalm 27 is a song of trust and individual petition that keeps me in conversation and connection with God. I need those spaces of grounding to remind me the fullness of human experience in God’s creation.
Take a moment to sit with this psalm in its entirety, or note these verses:
v. 1: The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom then shall I fear?
the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom then shall I be afraid?...
v. 5 One thing have I asked of the Lord; one thing I seek; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life; …
v. 7 For in the day of trouble he shall keep me safe in his shelter; he shall hide me in the secrecy of his dwelling and set me high upon a rock…
v. 11 You speak in my heart and say, “Seek my face.” Your face, Lord, will I seek…
The psalmist’s words can be quite meaningful in a time of unrest – either at home or in the greater world around us. Rather than focusing on the things that are passing away or stirring up division, the psalmist affixes their eyes upon God as the point of orientation and stability, the source of light and salvation. I imagine this type of focus as a remedy for motion sickness, when picking the one visual reference that is unmoving and steady, though the remainder of the surroundings are twisting, swerving, or rocking.
May God’s love, the light of Christ, and the courage of the Holy Spirit steady you today, as we wait patiently for the Lord.
Faithfully,
Katherine+
Reflection and Challenge
How does joy and laughter build up your spirit so that you can persist in challenging situations? In the days ahead, what does it look like to reframe these moments of joy as holy gifts of nourishment and courage from God? Take note of what your experience is in reframing.