Let those who love your salvation,
say evermore, “God is great!” Psalm 70:4
Reflection: The best way to discover Mayapple blossoms is to get down on one’s knees. The flowers go unnoticed under big umbrella leaves. I will say more but….
This past week I presided at a funeral of a man who lived to be 96 years old. He was a great storyteller. A good and loyal friend. He was a passionate railroader. He once saved a train and the lives of all its passengers from crashing into an obstacle on the tracks by managing to shut down the electricity at the last minute against orders and protocol when authorities in the chain of command could not be reached. (It almost cost him his job but in the end accomplished some court-ordered restructuring.) But he loved to serve people and help people, and his greatest frustration in the last several years was that he could not help in the ways he used to serve. When we sang “How Great Thou Art” at the funeral, however, we were not singing about our great friend, of course, but about God’s greatness. To some extent we have glimpses of how great God is by the greatness of people we have known. But on the other hand, at the death of a dear one, we also glimpse that our fragile, temporary lives must be embraced by the one who created the universe and all life forms in the first place; and we know this great One then gave his life for all.
Back to Mayapples. While the nation I live in debates, yells and derides bombastically about who will make a greatest leader, who’s big and who’s little, I am reminded of the greatest way to discover Mayapple blossoms—kneeling on the ground as I mentioned. Who would care about that kind of thing, you ask? Remember Jesus’ words: “But it is not so among you; but whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant.” (Mark 10:43) That was spoken by one who knelt and washed the feet of his disciples, by one who gave his life for sake of the world’s life. That is true greatness, and that’s what we sing about when we sing “How Great Thou Art.” We sing about the One who kneels to serve us in love. My friend, at whose funeral we gathered, understood this. Oh, that our world would know about that kind of greatness!
Suggestions:
1. Take this verse with you and ponder its meaning for you throughout the day. What do you notice? What do you wonder? What points you to God’s greatness? Who is an example to you of servant leadership?
2. Or read all of Psalm 70 to discover how this verse fits into the psalm or to discover a different verse.
3. Or comment with a photo of your own that illustrates this verse’s meaning for you.
Tomorrow’s verse is from Psalm 71:18.
Starting January 1, 2016, for 150 days I am posting a daily psalm verse with a photo that is a visual meditation on the text for me. Each day a verse from the next psalm is chosen until all 150 psalms have been featured. To participate you may subscribe to my blog at https://elainedent.net or “friend” me on Facebook and watch for the daily links to blog posts. Disclaimer: I am not a photographer and most of the photos are from a cell phone or small camera while hiking the Appalachian Trail or the C&O Canal/Great Allegheny Passage Trail.
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