Psalm 150: CL Laudate Dominum
For buried seeds the time has come to flower,
To blossom into victory and praise.
So praise God in his firmament of power
Whose power is love: the power to raise
The dead to life, the power to restore
The lost, and turn our long lament to praise.
Oh praise him in his noble acts and for
His great redemption. Praise him with the sound
Of trumpets. Tune your music at the door
He is about to open. Beat the ground
With light and loosened feet, for all his ways
Are glory, and all places hallowed ground.
So come and bring him all your nights and days,
And come into his courts with joyful song,
Come to the place where every breath is praise.
– Malcolm Guite
Reflecting on Psalm 150 and our sleeping giant, we are also reminded of our spiritual fullness in Christ – see Colossians 2:6-7 ‘6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, 7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.’
2021 has not been the easiest of years – there have been many challenges but I do believe it has helped us all to focus more on Him. I believe our deep roots of faith will sustain us as we enter 2022 and strengthen us as we continue to awaken the seeds which have been buried for so long and are now ready to flower.
As we reflect on the steps we have already taken and now take our next step, I am very much reminded of the Archbishop Oscar Romero Prayer.
A Step Along the Way
It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view.
The Kingdom is not only beyond our efforts, it is even beyond our vision.
We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work.
Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of saying that the Kingdom always lies beyond us.
No statement says all that could be said.
No prayer fully expresses our faith.
No confession brings perfection.
No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the Church’s mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.
This is what we are about.
We plant the seeds that one day will grow.
We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities.
We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realising that.
This enables us to do something, and to do it very well.
It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the rest.
We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker.
We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own. Amen
Margaret McLaren