Have you ever been stuck? Have you had that feeling where you have a general sense of what you want to say, but you can’t find that beginning point that gets you started? For me the solution has usually been solved by finding a scriptural touchstone. A good scripture always offers a firm grounding from which to leap. But to be honest, no scripture came to mind to describe what I was feeling. I knew there had to be something that spoke to the sensation that I was experiencing—there always is, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. And so, I decided to just start sharing with you what I was seeing and feeling and then see what sense I could make of it all. I decided I could let go of my habit of beginning with a neat and tidy verse and instead just see what might emerge from the muddle of my thoughts.
And what I wanted to describe—both in my feelings and in what I was observing all around me, was a mixture of excitement and apprehension. It was fueled by a tremendous feeling of busyness from all the activity I was watching in every corner of the church. In the past few weeks our building has hosted Vacation Bible School, Freedom School, the Village Nursery School’s day camp, three Civic Theater day camps, rehearsals for Acorn Player’s “Teaching a Robot to Love,” and Acorn’s youth production of “The Adams Family.” We had activity going on in every available space! It was all great! And it was a little stressful.
But wait…it gets even better. During all this, the contractor for our narthex renovation plan, Simon Construction, called saying they were ready to start working on the narthex. Again, I was very excited, but how were we going to manage this with all the people coming and going?
We met with the contractor who assured us that they would work carefully, mindful of the people, and keep contained to one primary space while the activities were going on around. And they have done just that. They have been terrific.
And as I surveyed this busy, bustling church, a book about the Psalms came to mind. It is Walter Brueggemann’s The Message of the Psalms. It is a theological commentary and a hermeneutical tool. In The Message of the Psalms, Brueggemann organizes the Psalter by placing the psalms into three basic categories—psalms of orientation, psalms of disorientation, and psalms of new orientation.
Psalms of orientation are songs from a season of well-being. This is when the world is ordered and behaving in accordance with God’s plan of abundance, joy, and justice. The psalms of disorientation are the songs of anguish or loss. They represent a disconnection from the season of blessing described in the songs of orientation. They often describe chaos or confusion. And, finally, the psalms of new orientation are songs in which the surprise of a new experience of blessing breaks through from the disorientation. Sometimes this pattern is observable inside an individual psalm as well.
I realized that this framework might be helpful to think about in this moment in our church life. I think we are in the midst of a moment of disorientation. But we are also moving toward a new orientation. This disorientation feels messy and even a little chaotic, but it is also saturated with an excitement from the possibilities it holds. We haven’t had this much vitality in a long time. And yet, as the construction gets underway, we will have to live with the discomfort of things not being picture-perfect as we build a new reality for our church. This will feel untidy and inconvenient at times, but we know we are moving toward a new orientation that will help us live out our mission and offer more opportunities for ministry. And that is worth waiting for.
And so, what I now know is that I need a bible verse that is from one of the psalms that describe that disorientation that moves to a new orientation. I think these selected verses from Psalm 18 in the Message translation says it just right.
…that enemy chaos,
the void in which I was drowning.
They hit me when I was down,
but God stuck by me.
He stood me up on a wide-open field;
I stood there saved–surprised to be loved!
God made my life complete
when I placed all the pieces before him.
Now I’m alert to God’s ways;
I don’t take God for granted.
Every day I review the ways he works;
I try not to miss a trick.
I feel put back together,
and I’m watching my step.
God rewrote the text of my life
when I opened the book of my heart to his eyes.
Suddenly, God, you floodlight my life;
I’m blazing with glory, God’s glory!
Psalm 18: 17-24, 28
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