The Daily: Friday June 7, 2024

Daily Lectionary Reading: Psalm 130 (NRSV, The Message); 1 Samuel 5:1-12 (NRSV, The Message); 2 Corinthians 5:1-5 (NRSV, The Message)

They sent therefore and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and said, “Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it return to its own place, that it may not kill us and our people.”
1 Samuel 5:11 (NRSV)

God cannot be contained - won't be contained. "Philistines" that seek to capture God for their own purposes will always be thwarted. Absolutely that is a strong statement to make. However, as we seek and practice the God of compassion, abundance, justice, and hope, the reality of that God will break the bonds of those who would seek to steal Them from us.

No, God does not kill people or tumor-ize them as this ancient story imagines it (I dare say we do a prefectly adequate job of doing that to ourselves). God calls and receives and empowers all who would hear and respond to Their still-speaking voice, and the overwhelming power of that Divine Love will thwart every attempt to weaponize any particular twisted idea of who God is. Let us worship and work together with Them!