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| Image by Linda Tanner |
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A GREETING
My soul melts away for sorrow;
strengthen me according to your word.
(Psalm 119:28)
A READING
I lie awake;
I am like a lonely bird on the housetop.
(Psalm 102:7)
MUSIC
A MEDITATIVE VERSE
God gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless.
(Isaiah 40:29)
A REFLECTION
We are summoned to share in God's sufferings at the hands of a godless world.
We must therefore really live in the godless world, without attempting to gloss over or explain its ungodliness in some religious way or other. We must live a secular life and thereby share in God's sufferings...To be a Christian does not mean to be religious in a particular way,... but to be a person--not a type of person, but the person that Christ creates in us. It is not the religious act that makes the Christian, but the participation in the sufferings of God in the secular life. That is metanoia: not in the first place thinking about one's own needs, problems, sins, and fears, but allowing oneself to be caught up into the way of Jesus Christ.
- from A year with Dietrich Bonhoeffer:
This is aDaily Meditations from his Letters, Writings, and Sermons
VERSE OF THE DAY
For thus says God:
Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be in this land.
(Jeremiah 2:15)
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| Image by Bill Tyne |
Today marks the second anniversary of the most recent conflict in Ukraine. The ongoing war began on February 20th, 2014, and for many Ukrainians this war is just a continuation of that one. Today we join with Ukrainians everywhere who long for a release from the horrors of war, and a return to abundant life. At the same time, we hold in our hearts the people of Gaza, and all places where war is leaving devastating impacts. It hurts us deep in our spirit, to be confronted again and again by the capacity of humankind for brutality. We may even wonder, where is God in such a time.
In Psalm 102, the Psalmist describes lying awake, "like a lonely bird on the housetop." Lying awake is often a time when we feel the challenges of our lives most deeply. Being 'awake' in this context brings fear, even as it may also allow space for new insights into problems. People affected by war lie awake in fear. What needs to be awakened in us so that we can do more to support them?
German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer believed that Jesus suffers as we suffer. In contrast to Martin Luther’s doctrine of the two kingdoms (God and the world), Bonhoeffer believed that we were all made one through Christ. Because of this unity, both God and the human being suffer at the same time. God suffers in us and with us, as Jesus suffered. Bonhoeffer believed that the church has to share in the suffering of humankind brought on by humankind. He also believed that we are called by God to take action against injustice.
Today’s music is a Ukrainian love song, sung amid overwhelming challenge. The voice of the song longs to be able to bring their beloved home to a garden grove, where they might once again stand in the moonlight. The image calls forward the endurance story video that began this week on Monday (Day 5), in which Alla the Ukrainian gardener works to bring life and beauty into the world, amid catastrophic events around her. Holding seeds in her hand, she remarks on the “future lives” are sitting in her palm.
In the final verse of the day, an unusually optimistic Jeremiah encourages us to believe in a hopeful future. To do so may feel like a radical act. How can we hold hope for Ukrainians alongside grief and fear? Who can we comfort today, with the love of Jesus living in us?
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A STORY OF ENDURANCE
Alexei Ratmansky is a Russian-Ukrainian choreographer living in New York City and working for the New York City Ballet Company. To mark the anniversary of the conflicts, Ratmansky has made a ballet called "Solitude," which is currently running in New York. The ballet was inspired by a photograph that he saw, of a father sitting by his son's body after a missile hit a bus stop. The image resonated even further for him when research revealed that the slain boy was a budding dancer. The ballet imagines the experience of the father both before and after these events. Arts and culture are a profound way of resisting war. Despite the war, Ratmansky has said in a CNN interview that there is currently a resurgence of Ukrainian culture, amid the ruins. Ballet companies still performing in Kiev simply stop when the air raids sound, move to shelter, then resume the performance after. Ratmansky has also participated in the organization of a refugee ballet performed by Ukranian dancers who had migrated. He then created a ballet for a Ukrainian soldier who had lost his legs. How can we help support the arts, which always teach us about ourselves?
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| "Solitude," a ballet by Alexei Ratmansky. Image from the website of The New York City Ballet. The page also offers clips from the ballet. |
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LC† Awakened by the Spirit is a project of Lutherans Connect, supported by the Eastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada and the Centre for Spirituality and Media at Martin Luther University College. To receive the devotions by email, write to lutheransconnect@gmail.com. The devotional pages are written and curated by Deacon Sherry Coman, with support and input from Pastor Steve Hoffard, Catherine Evenden and Henriette Thompson. Join us on Facebook, and on Twitter. Lutherans Connect invites you to make a donation to the Ministry by going to this link on the website of the ELCIC Eastern Synod and selecting "Lutherans Connect Devotionals" under "Fund". Devotions are always freely offered, however your donations help support the ongoing work.
Thank you and peace be with you!