Enough

A Reflection on the Psalm for April 25th, 2021:
Fourth Sunday of Easter

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Psalm 118

R. The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.

O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his steadfast love endures forever! It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to put confidence in humans. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to put confidence in princes. 
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R. The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.

I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation. The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvellous in our eyes. 

R. The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.

Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. We bless you from the house of the Lord. You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God, I will extol you. O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures for-ever. 

R. The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.

Pause. Pray.

And then read more...

It’s not enough. So beautiful, but not enough.


As I left the place of worship, the time of worship, the headspace of worship and closed my car door behind me and turned the key, I found I couldn’t let it go. As the wheels turned under me on the way home, something inside kept saying, ‘It’s not enough.’ I may have said it out loud. Each time I heard it or said it I felt like a bell being struck — a joy so pure it hurt, and with ever repeating peals.   


You are the Cornerstone, the part underneath it all, carrying the weight of everything. I have rejected You in what I have done, and what I have failed to do — tried to put up an outbuilding on the property, and a shabby shack it is. And every time I come to You, every time my house of straw is blown over and I seek shelter in You, You open the door, open Your arms, open Your heart and let me in. There really is no one like You. Your goodness takes my breath away, and then Your steadfast love fills me with Your Breath. That’s what You do.  That’s who You are.  


Marvellous in our eyes.  
Not in the new way of the word as in, ‘What a marvellous brunch’ — splendid and very fine.
But in the old buried understanding as in,‘What a marvel’ — wonderful, extraordinary, strange and singular, causing awe in the eye of the beholder.


And that is only in our eyes as they are now.  Seeing through a glass dimly.
What about the eyes in Heaven?  What will You look like to us then in that Day?


And all that played part in what was happening inside me as my car moved from the cast of one streetlight to another on Dunbrack Street. Our time of worship was beautiful, I didn’t want it to stop, and it just wasn’t enough. Some Day is coming when we don’t have to stop. When forever starts to mean something tangible! What a Mighty God we serve, love, and adore! 


That’s how good that worship was that night — good enough to let us know that it’s not good enough. Good enough that it hints at something even better, something we can’t yet see this side of the veil, but we got close. And sometimes the hunger for more is more than enough for now.




Noreen Smith

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