Swiss Army Knife

 Beloved of God,
     I hope you will join me in praying for wisdom as we approach our bimonthly congregational meeting this Sunday. If you would like to review the proposed changes to the bylaws that will be discussed, you may click here. At this stage, all of our discussion is taking place in the form of a working meeting, and final votes on proposed changes will come later on. 
    Secret Church will be happening next Friday, April 23rd from 6:30 pm to 11:00 pm. Secret Church is an annual single session intensive seminar hosted locally by our missions team. If you are interested in participating, please email the missions team for more information.
    The Psalm for this week from the Lectionary is Psalm 4. Psalm 4 is something of a spiritual Swiss Army knife. I think about the tools that many of us have learned to help us take stock of our emotions before we act, or to deal with  stressful moments. Psalm 4 feels to me like an ancient version of such things. It moves from deep upset, to words of trust in God, to advice for a holy life in times of trouble. 
    My guess is that this year more than a couple of us have lain awake at night working through our troubles. It can be easy in those moments to plot our revenge, or foster bitterness at a situation, or someone else, even God. But Psalm 4 gives us a plan for dealing with moments like this: do what you know to be right, be honest with God about your trouble, and trust that God will give you rest in moments of mercy and joy. If, as Jesus tells us, each day has enough trouble of its own, then it helps us to have a plan in place to help meet today’s trouble. The beauty and wisdom of Psalm 4 is that it speaks of just such a plan. What a gift it is to find simple wisdom in Scripture.
 Please join me this week in praying for:

• An end to this pandemic.
• Wisdom for the congregation as we gather on Sunday to conduct regular business.
• Those among us who are sick or hurt in body, mind, or spirit.
• Doctors, nurses, PA’s, paramedics and others who are working hard to keep us all well.
• Students, teachers, administrators and others doing the good work of education in our community.
• Those in positions of public trust at the federal, state, and local level.
• Mission: down the block, across the country, and around the world. May God help us to call our neighbors near and far toward Christ.
• Each other (please email [email protected] if you would like to be added to our prayer list)

You are the salt of the earth; you are the light of the world,
 Marshall