March 25 Devotion
Isaiah 43.16-19, 20b-21
Thus says the LORD,
who makes a way in the sea, a path in the mighty waters,
who brings out chariot and horse, army and warrior;
they lie down, they cannot rise,
they are extinguished, quenched like a wick…
The Jewish people were once enslaved by the Egyptians. Their deliverance from Pharaoh’s bondage was the centerpiece of the salvation history described above. The memory of it made them dance, shake tambourines and belt out victory songs.
I live a long time later, have a different perspective and can’t feel exultant over Egyptian chariots washed ashore or Egyptian charioteers and horsemen lying down in death, unable to rise, their lives quenched like a wick. No less the life of our Manasquan third-grader, Charlie, quenched like a wick….
Do not remember the former things,
or consider the things of old.
I am about to do a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
Right now it seems that what’s new is the horror of a murder in town, the incomprehensibly violent death of a child. What’s also “new,” though, is the community outpouring of grief, the unity that shared sorrow brings, the spontaneous desire to pray individually and together. A month of advance P.R. can’t fill any of our sanctuaries for the annual ecumenical Thanksgiving Eve service. But with less than 24 hours notice hundreds of people turned out and filled First Presbyterian Church for Thursday night’s impromptu prayer vigil. God doesn’t engineer tragedy to drive us to our knees. But tragedy tends to bow us low enough to pray, and that’s not a bad place to be.
I will make a way in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert…
God, we grieve the reality of this child’s death. We are nearly drowning in sadness and disbelief. Make a way for his family members, especially his mother and his father; make a way for his other relatives, for his classmates, teachers and friends. Only You can lead us safely when our vision is so blurred by tears. Only you can pierce the blackness of death with the light of the resurrection. Only You can prevent us from lashing out in pain or anger and creating greater harm. Only You can bring something good out of this tragedy.
…[F]or I give water in the wilderness,
rivers in the desert,
to give drink to my chosen people,
the people whom I formed for myself
so that they might declare my praise.
May it be so, O Lord. Amen
Pastor Mary Virginia Farnham (