God of all days, may the present of today be Your presence with this dear reader; in Christ Jesus I pray, amen.
Our text for today comes from Psalm 107: 1 Oh, thank God - he's so good! His love never runs out. 2 All of you set free by God, tell the world! Tell how he freed you from oppression, 3 Then rounded you up from all over the place, from the four winds, from the seven seas. 4 Some of you wandered for years in the desert, looking but not finding a good place to live, 5 Half-starved and parched with thirst, staggering and stumbling, on the brink of exhaustion. 6 Then, in your desperate condition, you called out to God. He got you out in the nick of time; 7 He put your feet on a wonderful road that took you straight to a good place to live. 33 God turned rivers into wasteland, springs of water into sunbaked mud; 34 Luscious orchards became alkali flats because of the evil of the people who lived there. 35 Then he changed wasteland into fresh pools of water, arid earth into springs of water, 36 Brought in the hungry and settled them there; they moved in - what a great place to live! 37 They sowed the fields, they planted vineyards, they reaped a bountiful harvest. (The Message)
People are prone to wander, usually by necessity. Some show up in our communities. Some leave our communities. We'll never fully understand why. Do you understand why you may have wandered in your younger age or why you can't wait to retire so that you can wander back, wherever back may be? I know of at least two songs that tell of the hope of one day coming back or coming home. One was sung while at a Walk to Emmaus in Puerto Rico. The song is "My Viejo San Juan," and as this all-male "choir" sang it, tears formed on their eyes and on the eyes of those of us hearing it for the first time. We understood the words. It would be later that we learned the song was written for soliders from the island leaving to fight in a World War. Later the song came to mean something to all Puerto Ricans who left or were born off the island. The other song is from, I believe, Mexico, called "Adios Mariquita Linda" and also represents the departure of a beloved homeland to a foreign place. The hope is the promise of one day returning. And yet a third comes to mind, "Mi Tierra." And yes, even Dorothy knew, "There's no place like home." Or was it Toto who understood that better?
The Psalmist knew of God's love that would one day allow for a return to that place where we really are at home. The home promised in this psalm is a promise of restoration to wholeness. It is a journey back to where love, health, prosperity and abundance are all present for us, wonderfully provided by God for us all. This resonated well with those who left home either through economic hardships or the results of war or forced relocation; what a promise to return home!
Where have you wandered? What do you long for from where you left? Maybe where you're from is not as good as that place to which God is leading you and me. We can be sure of one thing, as God leads us, we are truly blessed now and will be wowed by the blessings that await us!
PRAYER: Lead on, Awesome God! Help me in my faltering steps and hold me when I faint. May I truly seek that which You are providing now and are preparing for my eventual arrival. May I not lose sight of all that I can and should do while on this journey, for there are many in need. I pray this in Christ Jesus, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
