Feb 21 - Reminded During The Good Times

Be glad, you righteous, and rejoice in the Lord; *
shout for joy, all who are true of heart.
Psalm 32:12

Each of the day hours begins with the verse, "O God, come to my assistance; O god, make haste to help me" followed by the doxology and the appropriate hymn.
Benedict's Rule 18:1 (Chittister, Pg. 124)

...the underlying truth of life: the monastic is to remember, however powerless they may feel, that no ruler is as powerful as God
Chittister, Pg. 125

Looking back at the rest of Psalms 30 and 32, which I read for today, I notice the verse I have quoted is one of the more upbeat verses. I am not surprised, right now my life is quite positive. These past two months I haven't felt "my bones withered away" (32:3) or subject to the "tribulations of the wicked" (32:11). But that does not mean I should stop reading from the Psalms, or think those verses don't apply to me. As Benedict reminds us we need God to come to our assistance. Perhaps we need to be reminded even more during the good times.

A Note To Readers:

This entry is part of a series that is developing as I read The Rule of Benedict, A Spirituality for the 21st Century, Joan Chittister, OSB, Crossroads, 2010. I am offering this both to those at St. George's Episcopal Church, Arlington VA, that may be reading this book and to anyone that is interested.

Unless stated otherwise quotes from St. Benedict's Rule are from the translation in this same book.

Psalms are from The Book of Common Prayer, The Episcopal Church, 1979 unless otherwise noted.

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