Get Back in the Game

28/4/2021

A Reflection on the Psalm for May 2nd, 2021:
Fifth Sunday of Easter

Psalm 22

R. Lord, from you comes my praise in the great congregation.

My vows I will pay before those who fear him. The poor shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the Lord. May your hearts live forever.

R. Lord, from you comes my praise in the great congregation.

All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord; and all the families of the nations shall worship before him. To him, indeed, shall all who sleep in the earth bow down; before him shall bow all who go down to the dust.

R. Lord, from you comes my praise in the great congregation.

I shall live for him. Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord, and proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn, saying that he has done it.

R. Lord, from you comes my praise in the great congregation.

Pause. Pray.

And then read more...

I am tired.

COVID tired.

Anyone else?

It’s exhausting planning something, be it for work or leisure, only to have the rug pulled out from under those plans just when they were so close to coming to fruition. The night after the newest round of restrictions were implemented, I was playing a board game with some family (Less than five people!). The original plan had been to have a long awaited Cousins Game Night. We had been planning it for weeks. But alas, COVID strikes again. I hadn’t realized how much the shift in plans irritated me until I became a sore loser. As we played the game, I had a particular strategy in mind. My brother blocked my key move. I got mad. I never get mad! I sulked. I never sulk! In doing so, I didn’t see the other ways in which I could have rallied and literally gotten back in the game. Sometimes we are so focused on what’s in front of us that we forget what’s all around us.

What is around us is a crazy, wild, world. And we made it that way. Yet God made our world good. And God made us good. Because of that, we should recognize good around us. God’s goodness is everywhere, yet often I get so stuck in my own head that can’t get out. But taking a breath and allowing God’s Spirit to stir in our hearts can bring the bigger picture into focus. And God’s picture of this world is BIG — bigger than COVID. Thinking about that brings me a sense of wonder and awe.

I’m not sure I have really thought about wonder and awe since my confirmation. I know wonder and awe to be one of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. But to be honest, as a teenager, this gift seemed rather “churchy,” that is, not a gift you would use in real, everyday life. Courage, strength, wisdom, right judgement, understanding, reverence — they were more tangible. Yet recently, it is this under appreciated gift that I have often opened; this underlying appreciation and acknowledgement of all that God is and all that God offers me.

The psalmist brought wonder and awe to mind with the phrase: “Lord, from you comes my praise… ” From the Lord comes my praise. I don’t praise to simply give lip service to some unknown being. There is a reason, a source that is not something but someone. That source is God. God is my constant source of Joy. Most importantly, that Joy is not circumstantial. God doesn’t change when my circumstances do. But God gives me the ability to change how I perceive my circumstances. The COVID struggle may be real, but so are the gifts God gives.

Open the gifts.

Use the gifts.

Give the gifts away.

Praise God for the gifts.

Repeat.

And get back in the game!

Aurea Sadi

4 Comments

Alana

28/4/2021 07:34:07 am

Amen Miss Aurea! Thank you for your beautiful joyful perspective. Lord, help me to receive Your gifts, open them, and share them! Amen! 😊🙏🏻💕xo

Laura

1/5/2021 07:38:35 am

Such a timely and insightful reflection! I'm guilty of getting stuck in my own head at times and focusing on the wrong things, to my own detriment. Thank you, Aurea, for reminding me always keep my gaze lifted towards the eternal, where joy will be found.

Lisa Matheson

1/5/2021 10:00:58 pm

Agreed Aurea! I’m definitely Covid tired. But I love what you said here:
“ Sometimes we are so focused on what’s in front of us that we forget what’s all around us.”
You are so right! I admit that this happens to me often. The thing that often helps shift my focus is praise and worship music. Sometimes it’s the only thing that gets me out of my own head. Thank you for this lovely reminder to open and share our gifts. 💕🙏

Lori

2/5/2021 10:40:29 pm

Wonder and awe. This beautiful perspective shift you have presented here, Aurea, has reminded me of what the true gift of these seemingly restrictive slow-downs present me with. They actually give me time to nurture the gifts of wonder and awe. I slow to gaze for long periods of time at the new blossoms on the trees. I notice the greening of the grass. I sit on my back deck and enjoy the sounds of the birds and the wind in the trees. Truly, this is not restrictive at all--it's life-giving! Thank you for bringing this to light, sweet friend! Through all these things, God places praise in my heart for Him and all He has created.