July 17.. Trust Fear, Hope and Anxiety

July 17, 2020

Good afternoon,

"One of the most discombobulating things in these times is how one day living in a pandemic feels totally normal, the next day, depressing and how I just bounce between the two extremes with no rhyme or reason "                    Piya Chattopadhyay ( CBC Radio )

" But I'm still holding my breath ( under my mask ) whenever someone walks too close to me on the street or in the store. I haven't had the courage to have lunch on a restaurant patio, or get my haircut. "

           Luisa D'Amato  ( Waterloo Region  Record, Wed. July 15 )

These two quotes sum up my life with Covid. Up and down, and all around the emotional map. I hate it when the TV talks about underlying conditions. I can drive through the rural roads to Poole and think nothing about Covid. I am grateful that there 0, that is Zero, active cases in Huron-Perth. Yippee !  Then there are 70,000 new cases in the USA everyday, and the number of cases is  still rising .

Many of the Psalms are like this. The Psalm  might start out with thanking God for saving the author, but in the middle, he wants to be rescued from all of the enemies in his life. Like in Psalm 22, the writer says to God, " Why have you forsaken ( forgotten ) me, but by two more verses the anger and anxiety is gone, and God is good

Psalm 10 ( a prayer )

Why, Lord, do you stand far off?

    Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?    Verse 1

You, Lord, hear the desire of the afflicted;

    you encourage them, and you listen to their cry,

       defending the fatherless and the oppressed,

    so that mere earthly mortals

    will never again strike terror.      Verses 17-18   AMEN

So, if the Psalms writer can go up and down and all around when writing to God, I guess it is fine for me to struggle and rejoice in the same hour, or the least the same day. If Luisa D'Amato, the opinionated writer of the Record can share honestly about her fears, I think I am okay. The Lord of Heaven and Earth was with the Psalmist, just as God will be with us, Covid or not.

Salaam and strength for life's journey of faith and trust.

Fred

Tread on bold new paths !

Fireflies flash the direction

Hope springs eternal           Monica Pieper Landoni 2020

Fred Redekop

Pastor

Poole Mennonite Church