Thoughts for the Day

I will extol you, O Lord, for you have drawn me up,
and did not let my foes rejoice over me.
O Lord my God, I cried to you for help,
and you have healed me.
O Lord, you brought up my soul from Sheol,
restored me to life from among those gone down to the Pit.

Sing praises to the Lord, O you his faithful ones,
and give thanks to his holy name.
For his anger is but for a moment;
his favour is for a lifetime.
Weeping may linger for the night,
but joy comes with the morning.

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

My list of prayers for the sick gets longer these days - so many people suffering from so many diseases, with their families struggling to cope. All of us have at some time or other been in the depths of despair, unable to believe that the future will bring any hope, and feeling as though we cannot go on. At such times God can feel non-existent or at best far away. Although I have been in ministry for many years, and I am a happy and optimistic person, I too have felt like this on occasion.

My lovely gentle and kind husband, Adrian, suffered dementia for about seven years before his death, as I have mentioned before. This cruel disease took away his clever logical and mathematical mind, and his sense of humour, though not his smile. In the end, despite wonderful care, he looked like someone from a concentration camp.

In Psalm 30 we see King David who believes that God has been angry with him, but that this time is now over, and he praises God who has rescued him from danger. "Weeping" he says, "may linger for the night". But eventually "joy comes with the morning". Well I can't believe that a God who loves us sent Adrian dementia - it was more likely caused by a fractured skull as a teenager, or too much rugby, or heavy smoking, or something similar. But I did feel an overwhelming sense of thankfulness, if not quite joy for him, at his death - that he would no longer have to suffer. I remember smiling and crying at the same time and I certainly praised God that morning that He had taken such a lovely soul to be with Him.

Heavenly Father,
when we are in the depths of despair,
cradle us in your arms,
let us cry in safety,
and bring us through the dark times,
until we can sing with joy
once again.
Amen.