Being Caught

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long. Psalm 23:6

"Goodness and mercy pursue me." God's friendliness and kindness will run after me and chase me down, grab me and hold me. The verb "follow" is a powerful and active verb. We are being chased by God's powerful love. We run from it. We try to escape. We fear that goodness, because then we are no longer in control. We do not trust such a generosity, and we think our own best efforts are better than God's mercy.

Lent is a time to quit running, to let ourselves be caught and embraced in love, like a sheep with a safe pasture, like a traveler offered rich and unexpected food. Our life is not willed by God to be an endless anxiety. It is, rather, meant to be an embrace, but that entails being caught by God...

See yourself as the sheep of the Good Shepherd, as the traveler in God's good valley, as the citizen at home in God's good house. You will, when you see truly, be free and joyous and generous, unencumbered and grateful...

Walter Brueggemann
A Way Other Than our Own: Devotions for Lent

Grace and peace,

Anita Sorenson
Pastor for Spiritual Formation