Taking Care – A Creation Hymn

Creation Hymns, Praying with the Psalmists 1

I want to write a Creation Hymn tonight, and first let me tell you the different threads going into it.

For a couple weeks now, I’ve been reading proofs from my literary agent, Maureen E. Wise, of a book of Creation Care devotionals she wrote, to help get last eyes out for any typos. (I met Maureen because she wrote Strength for my Path, a book of devotionals related to hiking.) Her book has already gotten me looking at Creation with fresh eyes, and being convicted about the need to care for it.

The second thread is that yesterday I attended a conference at my church called “Lead with Love” about social justice and things we can do. In a session led by someone from the Piedmont Environmental Council, I learned that Virginia has – by far – the most data centers in the world. Yes, that’s compared to any other state in the United States, but also compared to any other country. As she told us, if there’s an arms race going on, we’ve won.

Now, the data centers built here in the 1990s are “cute” compared to the data centers that are being planned and that are already being built. Unfortunately, they will potentially require double or triple the amount of energy as is currently being produced by the entire Virginia power grid. And that’s only one part of the environmental impact if we let these be built unchecked. (They don’t support an end to all data centers. They do support a pause to work out reasonable regulations and to care for our environment.)

The third thread is doing my walks at this time of year through the trees on the hill across the pond from my condo. Here’s a picture I took tonight.

Yes, individual trees are beginning to turn bright colors, but overall the trees are turning much later than in the past. Since I moved here 13 years ago, I discovered that as the sun goes down, the sun lights up the bright leaves like they’re on fire. It’s not my imagination – I’ve already seen Facebook memories from this time of year with the leaves a blaze of stunning color. The last few years, I’ve found myself making excuses for the leaves – not a lot of rain this year, it hasn’t been very cold,… With the temperature hitting 89 degrees just a few days ago, it’s starting to seem like maybe it’s simply climate change. I really hope not, but it worries me.

So I want to write a psalm about Creation. Most of the Creation Hymns in the Bible are simply songs of praise, so this may take on some aspects of a lament. May we care for this wondrous world God has entrusted to us.

Creation Care

“The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it;
the world, and all who live in it.” (Psalm 24:1)

“The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders;
where morning dawns, where evening fades,
you call forth songs of joy.
You care for the land and water it;
you enrich it abundantly.
The streams of God are filled with water
to provide the people with grain,
for so you have ordained it.” (Psalm 65:8-9)

Lord, you made the earth
and entrusted it to us.
You water it, you shine the sun on it;
you give us the resources to care for it.
Your world is beautiful;
every year, the very leaves glow.
You didn’t have to put so much wonder
into the very fabric of the world.
Every day, even the simple turning of the earth
makes fabulous colors in the sky.
Both storms and sunshine
fill the very air with loveliness.

Creator, the earth belongs to you –
help us care for your Creation.
You provide water to sustain us;
help us stop those who would squander it.

The plans for devastation
without regard for consequences
leave me frightened,
make me discouraged.

Help me to appreciate the wonders of your creation
while they are still around me –
and may I be motivated
by the way Creation sings your glory
to do my part
to speak up for Creation.
May we as humankind be good stewards
of the magnificent world in our trust.

Vaporous – A Wisdom Psalm

Praying with the Psalmists, Wisdom Psalms 0

I’m slowly reading through The Book of Love, by Richard Beck. (Slowly because there are several books I’m working on, and these chapters are packed with things to think about.) His premise is that the Bible is a book of Love, and can and should be read as such. Then he’s looking at specific sections.

I was surprised to be especially struck by the chapter about Ecclesiastes.

I always think of Ecclesiastes as a depressing book. It’s got something of a refrain – “Vanity! Vanity! All is vanity!” The New International Version begins with:

“Meaningless! Meaningless!”
says the Teacher.
“Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless.”

But Richard Beck says that the word being translated here means mist, vapor, or breath.

As should be obvious, vapor and breath aren’t inherently vain or futile. That life passes like a mist doesn’t make it meaningless…. Translations of hebel in Ecclesiastes should be more straightforwardly descriptive: “Vaporous, vaporous. Everything is vaporous.” The Voice translation gets close: “Life is fleeting, like a passing mist.” Deploying words like “vanity” or “meaningless” is less a translation than an evaluation, assertions that, since life is fleeting, it must be vain, meaningless and futile. But this isn’t necessarily the case. The book of Ecclesiastes is, in fact, a profound meditation on how to embrace the brevity of life. Given the vaporous nature of human existence, our strivings can feel like chasing the wind. But our days can also be full of gratitude and joy. As the Psalmist prayed, “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” Time is precious, and that presents us with a choice.

And that made me want to write a Wisdom psalm.

I’ve currently got a book on submission with my agent (It’s still so awesome to be able to say “my agent”!) called Praying with the Psalmists about ten types of Psalms in the Bible, and how you can use the patterns to pray your own. I’ve summarized the tips at prayingwiththepsalmists.com – and I’m trying to write new example psalms once a month or so.

And I think I’ll put the rest of my explanation for why this resonated in the psalm.

Vaporous

Blessed are those who notice the moment
and find joys in the small things of life.

Lord God, I’m always so busy;
I make to-do lists and plans,
I love routines – post a review every day!
Go to church Sunday morning,
to gaming group Sunday afternoon.
Meet with my small group every Monday night;
play games with my kids on Tuesday night.
Choir rehearsal is Wednesday night;
get some reading done between work and rehearsal.
Thursday night is for grocery shopping;
Friday for paying bills,
and Saturday for doing laundry
and one of a rotation of deeper housecleaning chores.
Don’t forget having a daily quiet time!
And go to work every weekday,
and read all those books I checked out
and write reviews
and then post all those reviews.

So who has time for anything else?

Father, I love all my activities.
They bring me joy.
But I also want to have time for people
and to be there for friends
who were there for me when I was going through tough times.

And I want to remember
that my goals were entirely made up by me.
I’m not disappointing You if I don’t get them done –
in fact, you might be sad for me
if getting them done becomes so serious for me
that I forget to take joy in the journey.

So thank you, Heavenly Mother,
that I took time to call my friend this weekend,
and I drove three hours in the rain,
rewarded by a friend’s smile,
and with a fun book festival
I would have completely missed
if I’d stayed home to get stuff done.

Recently, I’ve heard of so many deaths!
And the numbers of my own birthdays keep getting higher.
Truly, life is a vapor –
Thank you for letting me experience it
for however many years you’ve granted me.

It’s all about balance.
I don’t want to stop getting things done.
But I also don’t want to forget
to find Joy in the doing.
And to remember that it’s not about being perfect
and that if I set the goals,
I can also change them.

You have said the amazing thing
that You delight in me.
May I find delight myself
in this beautiful, vaporous life You’ve granted me.

Wild Times at Wild Goose Festival

Praying with the Psalmists, Travel 3

I’m writing this from a hotel room in Statesville, North Carolina, having left Wild Goose Festival for the day – because a crazy storm swept through. The Festival is at a campground, and most of the venues are big tents. I didn’t see any tent blow over, but many of the contents of tents went flying.

This gives me time to write up my experience of the festival. There’s still a half-day left tomorrow, but I’m going to talk about what I’ve experienced so far.

And I’ll start with the way the day ended. I was leading an “experience” in the Writer’s Workshop tent when the storm hit. About ten people had come (Yay! My first time, so I wasn’t sure anyone would come.), and I was taking them through writing their own psalms of lament.

We had just finished writing the fourth part, the Entreaty – where, after you’ve done your complaining, you ask God to act. Then the storm hit! So perhaps somebody prayed too hard? 😀

I’m very thankful that I got to do most of the session – the rest of the events for the afternoon got cancelled. However, I’m bummed that we didn’t get a chance for people to read the laments they’d written. If anyone who was at the session finds this post – I’d love for you to post your lament in the comments!

I did get some nice comments among the participants, but we were mostly fleeing at the end! (I felt guilty that I wasn’t a little more helpful in packing stuff up. I got kind of frantic in the storm and got to a place with a wooden roof.) I’d been looking forward to hearing more from them, but anyway, I’m glad I got to do it at all.

Now let’s back up to the rest of the conference. It’s been amazing. HOT, but amazing. (Another theory is that someone prayed a little too hard that it would cool down!)

I’ve met some authors whose books I love. Diana Butler Bass, Frank Schaeffer, Richard Beck (I’m in the middle of his new book), Kristen Du Mez (I’m in the middle of her first book and have preordered her new book), and Billie and Paul Hoard. I’ve been soaking up thoughts about being a person of faith in today’s world, surrounded by like-minded people. I’ve met beautiful people when eating, when in line, when riding on the shuttles. I attended a pre-conference on prayer from an indigenous practitioner’s perspective that opened my heart.

Today some authors I’d hoped to meet were among the sessions that got cancelled. But hey, that’s a lot right there.

There was one session, though, that rocked my world and is sending me back to reading the Gospel of John. I want to talk about that.

It was presented by Diana Butler Bass and Elizabeth Schrader Polczer, both in academia (though Libbie was simply a singer before she met Diana).

It started for Libbie when she was researching for a song about Mary Magdalene. She looked at the earliest manuscript of the gospel of John, which is the gospel that has the most to say about Mary Magdalene. The manuscript is from the Second Century CE. She saw in that manuscript that in John 11, someone had crossed out the end of the name Mary and inserted a theta, changing it to Martha.

Long story short, she did lots and lots more research, ultimately getting a PhD. She found much, much more evidence, both from manuscripts and from writings of the church fathers, that an earlier story of the raising of Lazarus has him with only one sister, Mary. And this Mary, in the book of John, is likely Mary Magdalene, the same one who was the first witness to Jesus’ resurrection.

Why would someone have added a sister? Mary and Martha are also mentioned in the book of Luke, but there is no mention that they have a brother, and they don’t live in Bethany. But “Martha” in John 11 makes a confession of faith, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.” In the other gospels, the only one to make a confession is Simon, who is given the name Peter, the Rock.

If it was really Mary Magdalene who made the confession, then Diana pointed out that in the book of John Mary does the five tasks of the church: She served Jesus, confessed Jesus, anointed Jesus, witnessed Jesus, and proclaimed Jesus.

And that brings me to another tidbit from Libbie’s research. It turns out, there was no village called Magdala in ancient times. The current site people visit had a different name and was associated with her centuries later to give pilgrims a place to visit. The most likely meaning of Mary Magdalene is Mary the Tower – kind of like Simon the Rock.

This rocked my world. I’m from a quirky background, and one of the quirks was that my parents paid me to memorize Scripture. The book of John was one of the first books I memorized, around the time I was in eighth grade. And John is interesting. Because Mary (and Martha) and Lazarus become super prominent figures in John 11 and 12 and then disappear. And Mary Magdalene is super important at the Crucifixion and then especially at the tomb when she is the first to see the risen Christ – but she kind of comes out of nowhere.

What if those Marys are the same person? Suddenly, John becomes a much more unified book. And a woman is a central figure.

And I’m going to be sitting with that.

Here’s an article about Libbie’s research.

Her website is elizabethschrader.com. Do check out her credentials. Her research is getting footnotes added to the Jewish Annotated New Testament as well as the authoritative edition of the Greek New Testament, published in Germany. (I forget the name; I’m not a seminary student.) I didn’t go over how her research had these things coming up over and over in early writings. This isn’t just some crackpot theory, but has solid evidence.

So that’s one of the things that will be haunting me in a good way from Wild Goose Festival. And there’s still a morning to come.

Edited to add: I talked with someone who’d been there after the storm. He said some tents did get blown away. That there was even a not-too-faraway tornado. I did see a fallen tree blocking a dirt road on the way off the property. However, as far as we know, no one was hurt.

Worthy of Love

Praying with the Psalmists, Psalms of Praise 0

Not long ago, after I’d gotten home from vacation, a song came on Christian radio, and the host said, “That’s so true!” The line of the chorus said, “I’m not loved because I’m worthy; I’m loved because You’re good.”

And that made me burn to say:

NO! That is wrong! You are, you are, you are worthy of love!

The fact is, you and I and all humanity were made in God’s image.

I’m reminded of a saying from when I was in high school: “God don’t make no junk!”

As it happened, a string of four Sonderquotes I posted after I heard that song also affirmed that we’re worthy, we’re loved, we’re delighted in. The one above is from Maggie Smith.

Sharon Baker points out that God loves all humankind.

Gregory Boyle affirms often in his writings that God not only loves us, God delights in us.

And I think I like how Madeleine L’Engle puts it best. Because being worthy of love isn’t about what we do. So we can’t do something that makes us unworthy of love.

As Madeleine L’Engle puts it, “God loves us in our complex isness.”

I have a lot of thoughts on this, so let me try to put them into a psalm of praise:

Praise for God’s Unfailing Love

Give thanks to our Maker,
for God is good.
God’s love endures forever.

I’ve been taught that
You can’t look on sin,
but Bradley Jersak points out
that Jesus ate and drank with sinners.
And Jesus came to show us what God is like,
so God can delight in us
even if we aren’t perfect.

I’ve also been taught that
God can only love us because
when God looks at us, God sees Jesus.
But George MacDonald writes vehemently against that idea.

When You see us, God Who Sees,
You see us clearly,
and yet You love us.

Lorna Byrne says that when You create us,
You put a small spark of Yourself inside us,
and that spark is our soul.

I think that’s what theological types call
the Image of God.

She says that infants come into the world
as bundles of pure love.
Look at any newborn and say that isn’t so!

Now, I do believe that we hide Your image,
and we lock away our love.
But still, the spark is there.
And every one of us is worthy of love.

I also believe that You delight in our quirky uniqueness.
I choose to believe that my love for books and math and great blue herons
brings You joy.

Maker, You crafted each of us
as a unique expression of Your image
and being ourselves expresses Your creativity
each in a different way.

You love us as a parent loves a child,
even though the child is not perfect,
even though the child isn’t even always trying to do the right thing.
But Your faithful love delights in the child You’ve made,
the unique expression of Your image that we are.

Lord God, You love us because we’re worthy of love.
And You love us because You’re good.

Praise the Lord!

***

I’m still writing my own psalms as examples, hoping you will try it yourself. Check my website, prayingwiththepsalmists.com. You’ve got tips for what the different types of psalms include – and then links to my examples on this blog.

I’d love for you to try it and then post your own example in the comments!

What do you think? Do you dare to say, “I am worthy of love”? I believe with all my heart that you are!

***
Updated later that same night:

I’ve been reading through old Sonderquotes as part of #Sonderbooks25, my 25th anniversary of writing Sonderbooks. And this is what I had to learn when my husband left me – that I am still worthy of love.

This is summed up in the affirmation written by Steven Stosny that I posted on October 10, 2007. I think this affirmation may show up in all of his wonderful books.

I am worthy of respect, value, and compassion, whether or not I get them from others. If I don’t get them from others, it is necessary to feel more worthy, not less. It is necessary to affirm my own deep value as a unique person (a child of God). I respect and value myself. I have compassion for my hurt. I have compassion for the hurt of others. I trust myself to act in my best interests and in the best interests of loved ones.

Yes. I absorbed this message from him back in those early days I was learning to live on my own – and I fully believe that’s what enabled me to go on to live a happy and fulfilled life, even on my own. And why I reacted so strongly to that song!

Yes, yes, yes! I am worthy of love.

A Psalm of Praise

Praying with the Psalmists, Psalms of Praise 0

Is anyone happy?
Let them sing songs of praise.

— James 5:13

It’s happening! I’ve almost finished making all twelve pages for my website, PrayingwiththePsalmists.com!

This is a website to go with my not-yet-published book, Praying with the Psalmists, with one page for each chapter. But the goal of the book is to get people experiencing the joy of writing their own psalms. And I think you can pick up tips from the website even if you haven’t read the book. I’ve got a page for each of the ten types of Psalms in the Bible, so on each page I link to this blog so you can see examples I’ve written, and use the comments to post your own examples when you try it out. (It’s much easier to use the moderation in WordPress for comments, plus with blog posts I can continue to add examples.)

But I was all set to post the page for Psalms of Praise – only to discover I haven’t posted any such example psalms yet.

I was honestly surprised to discover this. But when I looked back over my Praying with the Psalmists category, it turned out that every time I’d thought about writing an example psalm of Praise, it turned into a Thanksgiving psalm or a Salvation History psalm or a Creation hymn or a Blessing psalm. The fact is that all the types of Psalm include praise, but the ones I put into the category of Psalms of Praise (Psalms 29, 47, 48, 92, 93, 97, 98, 100, 103, 113, 117, 145, 147, 149, and 150) are the ones I was left with, where the whole point is Praise.

My very favorite Psalm, Psalm 103, is a Psalm of Praise. (Here’s the story of why it’s my favorite.)

I think part of me is leery of praising too loudly when my life is going great and my dreams are coming true – when there are serious issues in the world around me. I don’t want to fall into hash tag #blessed and casually imply that if you were spiritual like me, you’d have a great life, too. Or maybe it’s an aspect of “foreboding joy” that Brene Brown talks about. Sometimes we don’t dare relish our joys, because we’re afraid they’ll stop.

But, on the other hand, there’s that verse in James I quoted above. I am happy! God is granting me some desires of my heart! If this is not a good time to write a psalm of Praise, what is?

Psalms of Praise, unlike Thanksgiving Psalms, are more about God’s character and attributes than specific things God has done. But I’m especially happy today because I recently got an agent for that book I mentioned, Praying with the Psalmists – and this week an editor asked to see the full manuscript! What’s more, the editor who asked edited not one but two of my Sonderbooks Stand-outs in Christian Nonfiction from last year!

As if that weren’t enough, I’m going on a dream vacation to France in about a week, to see Mont Saint-Michel and Giverny, places I’ve always wanted to see but we never quite got to when I lived in Europe. (You will hear about my trip on this blog, I promise!) And I still love my job and have dear friends around me, and my small group has a habit of noticing joys – and they’re just piling up!

So yes, this is a good time to write an example psalm of Praise.

The key concepts found in the Psalms of Praise in general (not every concept in every Psalm, but some of them in every Psalm) are:
Praise
Joy
Music
Majesty
Goodness
Faithfulness
Love

I’m honestly not sure where to start, so I’m going to play off my favorite, Psalm 103:

Praise the Lord, my soul;
all my inmost being, praise God’s holy name.
Praise the Lord, my soul,
and forget not all God’s benefits –
who redeems all my mistakes
and comforts all my sorrows,
who doesn’t give up on me,
who is faithful when I am faithless or flighty,
who fills my life with good things
and crowns me with love and compassion,
who pops joys into my life
until I can’t help but notice,
who blesses me with gifts
I never dreamed to ask for,
and grants above and beyond
the things I do ask for.

Father, my life hasn’t turned out
anything like I thought it would or should,
but through every detour,
You were faithful.
Through every hardship,
You compassionately pulled me through.

And now you’ve led me to
a vocation doing what you made me to do –
buying great books for children
to read freely,
singing your praises in the choir,
meeting with friends in a life group
to pray and study your Word,
even playing games with friends,
doing puzzles,
walking in nature,
traveling to beautiful places,
and even writing books.
Truly my cup overflows.

You let humans mess things up in this world –
yet you teach us and guide us,
you love us and walk with us.
Let us sing to you in grateful praise!
Praise the Lord!

Okay, the disclaimer: Part of the reason I write these example psalms is to show readers that they do not have to be very good! I don’t claim to be inspired by God, but sitting down to write them does me good and lifts my spirits – and that’s what I want for you.

Try it yourself! Paste a psalm of Praise into the comments.

A Salvation History Psalm for Memorial Day

Praying with the Psalmists, Salvation History Psalms 0

I only have two more types of Psalms to cover on my prayingwiththepsalmists.com website!

One of those types is Salvation History Psalms, so I want to write another example. [You have to click on the Examples link to go from a page on prayingwiththepsalmists.com to see example psalms, but I’m hoping the number of examples will continue to grow. I’m also hoping that more and more readers will post their own examples in the comments on this blog. I’m using the Sonderjourneys blog for comments rather than try to put them on the main webpage, because WordPress already has moderation and spam filters.]

Salvation History Psalms in the Bible go over God’s history with Israel and make application today. I’m currently looking at Psalm 78 in my personal quiet times, and the psalmist goes over the story of the Exodus and how God’s people kept letting God down, but God was patient with them and never gave up on them completely. And it winds up by praying that God will, once again, have mercy and help them.

In my previous Salvation History psalm examples, I’ve used my personal history with God. But today is Memorial Day, so it seems fitting to talk about what I know about the history of the United States. And we could use some help.

A Prayer for Our Nation

Father, hundreds of years ago, some of my ancestors
came across an ocean
to be able to worship you
in the way they thought was right.

They founded a nation on the principle
that all are created equal –
though our nation’s talk
was better than its walk.

Over the years, our nation
perpetrated injustices
against Native Americans
against African Americans
against Hispanics
against Asian Americans
against women
against anyone who wasn’t white and wealthy.

But over two hundred and fifty years,
people worked for justice and freedom.
We fought a Civil War and ended slavery –
at least for those who could stay out of prison.
We erected a statue proclaiming welcome
to the world’s tired and poor immigrants.
In a time of financial ruin,
we passed laws promising a New Deal
– giving hope to those in poverty.
We fought a war in Europe
to conquer fascism
and rescue folks wrongly and cruelly imprisoned.
We passed civil rights legislation
through the hard work of persistent activists.
People began to realize the evils of racism.
And then we extended more rights to same-sex couples,
rights they should have had all along.
We loosened immigration restrictions,
getting closer to the promise on the Statue of Liberty.
Immigrants made our country
stronger and prouder.

Lord God, we’re getting some things right,
but so many things wrong.
We want to be a land of the free,
but new laws are pulling back freedoms.
We want to be a welcoming place,
and instead secret police are arresting hard-working immigrants
who had wanted to become part of us.
We want this to be a land of freedom,
and instead tell trans people what bathroom they can use.

Almighty God, so much good has come out of America,
but also so much evil.
We pray on this Memorial Day
for peace – that more servicemembers will not join the fallen.
And we pray that this would again
or for the first time truly
be a land of welcome,
a land of freedom,
a land of justice for the oppressed.

May the greedy plans of the wicked
be frustrated and fail.
May the racist plans of the evil
fall apart under the light of the truth
that all, indeed, are created equal.

May you make this nation
grow closer to
living up to its promise.
And bless America
as a land of opportunity, equality,
justice, and freedom.

Blessings for Those We Love

Blessing Psalms, Praying with the Psalmists 0

At my church, our much-loved pastor is getting transferred, and her last Sunday is in a few weeks. So the choir director brought out a song we’re going to sing to her on her last Sunday.

I was blown away by this song, because it’s essentially a Blessing Psalm. I plan to memorize it and sing it in my heart for so many people I love, though the first one will be Pastor Gina.

Let me talk about Blessing Psalms for a moment. The ones in Psalms are Psalms 20, 67, 128, and 134, though there are other poems of blessing in other books of the Bible, such as the one the priests were to pray for the people. The blessings offered aren’t specific prayers, but they’re full of love and goodwill. Psalm 20 is my favorite, with passages like this:

May the LORD answer you when you are in distress;
may the name of the God of Jacob protect you….
May he give you the desire of your heart
and make all your plans succeed.
May we shout for joy over your victory
and lift up our banners in the name of our God.
May the LORD grant all your requests.

You’ll see how the song we’ll be singing fits right in with that. So instead of writing my own example psalm, here’s a Song of Blessing composed by a professional.

I brought the music home to copy the words. Of course, it hits your heart more deeply when sung.

A Blessing of Music

Words and Music by Joseph M. Martin

May your days be filled with music.
May your path be paved with song.
May the sounds of forever lift you up and keep you strong.
May your heart resound with laughter.
May your life be tuned for praise.
May the hymns of faith bring you hope.
May the rhythm of your life bring you joy.
May the harmony of friendship bring you love.
May the Maker bless and keep you.
May God’s music guide your ways.
May God’s gentle whisper always comfort you with grace.
May the voices of angels sing you peace.
Amen

I am going to have trouble singing this without crying on the day – it will be sung with much love!

May you, reader, also receive this blessing of music.

A Thanksgiving Psalm for Wonderful News

Praying with the Psalmists, Thanksgiving Psalms 0

TODAY I SIGNED WITH A LITERARY AGENCY FOR MY PSALMS BOOK!!!!

Just in case you’re wondering, I’m excited about this.

I wrote Praying with the Psalmists as my pandemic project. In the past, I’ve written two middle grade fantasy novels, one children’s nonfiction book, and one picture book, but never found a publisher for any of them, and I stopped trying back in 2018 when I got on the Newbery committee. That experience was amazing, but made me feel inadequate writing for children by the end of it, and besides that, I wanted to shift gears.

So I wrote a book about Psalms. The point of the book is to show people that you can use patterns from Psalms to deepen your own prayer life. And I feel passionately that laments – and complaining to God – are okay. In fact, there’s a type of Psalm that fits almost any human emotion – and in the book I demonstrate that by telling my own story, especially my difficult divorce.

I took my time with the book, and when I started co-leading a church small group, I brought the group through the manuscript. I think it’s just right for church small groups, because although my story gives a background – it’s a format for your own prayers and your own stories, and is a good vehicle for sharing with each other. I hope that people will try it out.

I’ve been trying to find an agent or a publisher for a few years now. As a librarian, I’ve seen a lot of terrible self-published books, so that’s slowed me down from going that route. Besides, I see and value the work that publishers do. There are good self-published books out there, but most don’t have nearly as wide a reach, and libraries rarely buy them. It’s okay if my book doesn’t get published – but I honestly do think that people can benefit from learning to write their own psalms. So I did want to give it a decent try.

And during the process, I learned that authors need to build their platform. So I decided not to wait until after the book is published to build a website for the book. I’ve made prayingwiththepsalmists.com – it’s a subset of my Sonderbooks website, but a simple redirect and registering the domain name give me a website for the book. I’ve got a page for each chapter of the book, giving the basics of writing each type of psalm. It’s missing my story to go with it, but each page has a link to example psalms I’ve posted on this blog. (I’ve finished all but four pages.) And I’m hoping that people will start posting their own examples (when they try it) in the comments. I’ve also made a free substack, Sondermusings, so people can subscribe to my Christian writing and hear about my book. (Substack has a good subscription system.)

I’m now to the point of daring to actually speak in person about it. In January, I did two sessions at my church’s women’s conference on writing laments, and people wrote some beautiful laments. And I’ve signed up to do an “experience” at Wild Goose Festival in September – though I don’t know if I’ll be selected.

Despite all that, I had some near misses but no acceptances from agents or publishers. Was getting discouraged. But a little over a year ago, author Maureen Wise found my website and asked me to review her book, said we sounded like kindred spirits. Well, fortunately, I loved her book and did review it. And she subscribed to Sondermusings. And long story short, she did a six-month internship at a literary agency, then a job search, and is now officially a literary agent with Metamorphosis Literary Agency, and as of today, she is representing my book!

So I am HAPPY about this!

And yes, I know that this doesn’t guarantee she’ll find a publisher for it. But I’ve got someone doing the hard work, someone who’s read my book and believes in me – and it just feels awfully good.

And I fully believe in celebrating every milestone.

And how do I celebrate when I’m feeling strong emotion? I write a psalm! A Thanksgiving psalm seems like the thing in this case.

And as soon as I thought that, I started minimizing my situation. Thanksgiving Psalms in the Bible are about someone in who’s in deep trouble, and they cry out to God and God saves them. Besides, I don’t want to imply that somehow God gave me this blessing because I’m so spiritual.

But then I was looking at today’s Facebook memories – and on this day precisely fourteen years ago, I signed the last legal paperwork from my divorce. (The divorce was done, but we had to file again to get him to fully comply with the agreement.) So signing a contract with a literary agency fourteen years later reminds me that, yes, I was in deep trouble at that time – and look how God has brought me through!

So after all that explanation, let me write a short Thanksgiving psalm:

Thanks for a Joyful Surprise

Father God, Lover of my Soul,
the God Who Sees,
thank you for the gift today
of a dream come true.

I actually signed with a literary agency!
This is something I’ve dreamed of
since long before I wrote this particular book.

And I think back to fourteen years ago,
and especially twenty years ago,
when my life was falling apart,
when I was heavily in debt,
when the vision I’d had of my future life
had evaporated like a phantom,
never to be.

Lord, I didn’t understand
how you could let my marriage fall apart.
I didn’t understand why you didn’t
give my husband some kind of Damascus Road experience,
make him see sense,
bring him back.

Yes, okay, I needed to learn a lot!
And in the years that followed,
you taught me,
ever so gently.
You showed me
that I was still lovable,
that I still had a future,
that I could still feel joy,
and I could take on new dreams.

And that big one? Getting published?
I’ve dreamed it so long,
I just thought it a fantasy.
Thank you for this joyful step in that direction.

Thank you that you never abandoned me
and have brought me into a spacious place.

***

Friends, thanks for reading! If you want to support me and help me build a platform, subscribe to my free Sondermusings substack! And comment on my blog posts. And thank you, thank you, to all of you who find value in my writing, from Sonderbooks to my blogs. It just means so much.

The Precious Gift of Life – A Wisdom Psalm

Praying with the Psalmists, Wisdom Psalms 2

Teach us to number our days,
that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

— Psalm 90:12

I’ve been thinking about my mortality lately – and that calls for a wisdom psalm.

Wisdom Psalms in Scripture, like the one quoted above, like to look at the big picture and our place in it. When I try to write one, I like to think of them as Pep Talk Psalms, reminding me of what I know and believe. (Because I don’t like to claim to have wisdom – I don’t necessarily live out these things after all.)

I have many reasons to think about mortality, but instead of explaining first, I’ll try to put them in the example psalm. As always, I post these psalms I’ve written as encouragement to try writing psalms yourself. Check my website, prayingwiththepsalmists.com, for tips as to how to do this – and eventually my book, which I still hope to get published: Praying with the Psalmists: Ten Patterns to Deepen Your Prayers. (If you want to hear about progress on getting my book published, or just to follow my Christian writing, subscribe to my free substack, Sondermusings.)

And where I want to go with that is being thankful for the life I have. So that’s how I’m going to name my psalm.

The Precious Gift of Life

Creator who formed me in my mother’s womb,
Shepherd who has guided my life,
I’m thinking about mortality.

This year, I’m the same age my mother was – 61 –
when she had her heart attack.
She was never the same after that,
and we started seeing signs of the Alzheimer’s
that destroyed her brain
and took her life when she was 78
and had nothing left she could do –
not even smile.

Then in the Fall, my childhood friend,
in the same grade as me,
part of our foursome,
died of a stroke.
She’d had a past stroke,
so maybe it wasn’t a surprise –
but I’ve had a past stroke, too.

Next, the husband of a friend from church
died of cancer.
I saw in his obituary
that he was six months younger than me.

Then a college friend,
the roommate of my ex-husband,
precisely four days younger than me,
had a massive heart attack.
Yes, he survived, miraculously –
without even any damage to his heart.
But it was a near thing,
and, yes, a miracle.

And a few weeks ago,
my best friend’s husband,
whom I’ve known for the 44 years they’ve been married,
died of a heart attack,
and a miracle didn’t happen for him this time,
though he’d had miracles before.

With all of this,
I’m reminded that there are no guarantees.
We aren’t promised even the 70 years,
or 80 “if our strength endures”
mentioned in the Wisdom Psalm, Psalm 90.

But, Father, that reminds me
what a good life you’ve given me.
And my heart fills with thanks.

(I don’t know why anyone is granted more time
than anyone else –
but I do know that for all of us,
our time on this earth will someday end.)

I’ve loved deeply; I’ve been betrayed.
But you brought me through and beyond.
I’ve got an abundance of family
and two wonderful children,
turning out to be fine adults.
I’m so incredibly rich in my friends
who care about me
and who enrich my life.
I’ve got a job that feels like
exactly the right job for me.
I get to sing in the choir
and co-lead a small group.
I shine light on good books
with my website and serving on award committees.
I’ve even written a book
and a website about praying
using patterns from Psalms.

And simple joys!
I’ve gotten to travel
all over the U.S. and Europe.
I’ve got a lake out my window
and am easily delighted by flowers and birds
and yarn and books and games.

Whenever my life ends,
it’s been a heartily good one.
And you’ve promised that in heaven
we will be like you
and see you as you are
and our joys will be even deeper.

It’s not that I want this to happen soon!
I am enjoying this life so much.
But may I keep perspective,
and remember that people are important.
May I notice Joys
and spread joy to others.
May I love deeply
and let my friends and family know
how valued they are.

And thank you for the gift of each day.
Walk with me in it,
carry me close to your heart.
And help me to shine the light of your love
on the people you’ve blessed me to know.

***

I’d still love to see your example psalms in the comments! Want to try your own Wisdom psalm (Pep Talk psalm)?

Laments for Lent – Good Friday

Laments, Laments for Lent, Praying with the Psalmists 0

It’s Good Friday. Today I walked among the bluebells in the biggest stand of bluebells on the East Coast at Bull Run Regional Park. And I sang in an amazing Good Friday cantata. My heart is full.

It’s late, but I did want to finish off my Laments for Lent blog series with a post for Good Friday.

Instead of writing my own example lament today, let’s look at the Lament that Jesus quoted on the cross, Psalm 22.

To mix things up, I’m going to quote Wilda C. Gafney’s translation in A Women’s Lectionary for the Whole Church, Year W, where she includes it in the reading for today.

First let me comment that I got some feedback from early readers of my book, Praying with the Psalmists because I included Psalm 22 in the chapter on Laments and not in the chapter on Messianic Psalms. Yes, Psalm 22 is Messianic – Jesus quoted it on the cross and the gospel writers quoted it as being fulfilled by Jesus’ suffering. And people have often made the point that the description fits crucifixion. But I suspect that the psalmist who wrote it was simply writing a lament. It doesn’t come across as trying to predict anything – just someone expressing their pain. And then Jesus cried out with that very Lament.

To me, this reminds us that Jesus was fully human and entered into human suffering. And I do believe God inspired the psalmist so that their words were wiser than they knew.

Psalm 22 has all the parts of a Lament, but doesn’t follow the order strictly.

It starts with one of those Addresses to God that’s a question – which slides immediately into the Complaint:

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from my deliverance, from the words of my groaning?

Here’s the beginning of the Complaint:

My God, I cry out by day, and you do not answer;
and by night, and there is found no rest for me.

Then it slips into the Confession of Trust:

Yet you are holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel.
In you our mothers and fathers trusted;
they trusted, and you rescued them.
To you they cried, and were freed:
in you they trusted, and they were not put to shame.

But the psalmist wasn’t done with the Complaint:

But I am a worm, and not human;
scorned by humankind, and despised by people.
All who see me mock me;
they flap their lips at me, they shake their heads:
“Commit yourself to the SAVING ONE: let God rescue
and deliver the one in whom God delights!”

Back to the Confession of Trust – instead of finishing one and going on to the next part, this Psalm weaves them back and forth together.

Yet it was you who drew me from the womb;
keeping me safe on my mother’s breast.
On you was I cast from birth,
and since my mother’s womb you have been my God.

Back to the Complaint:

Be not far from me,
for trouble is near
and there is none to help.
Many bulls surround me,
mighty bulls of Bashan encompass me,
like a lion, ravaging and roaring.
I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are disjointed.
My heart is like wax;
it is melted within my being.
My mouth is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue cleaves to my jaws;
in the dust of death you lay me down.
For dogs are all around me;
a conclave of evildoers encircles me.
Like a lion they ravage my hands and feet.
I can count all my bones.
They gloat and stare at me.
They divide my clothes among themselves,
and for my clothing they cast lots.

And then! We get to the Entreaty. (Notice how much shorter it is than the Complaint.)

SAVING GOD, be not far away!
My strength, hasten to help me!
Deliver my soul from the sword,
my life from the clutch of the dog!
Save me from the mouth of the lion!

And in this translation, the next line is Sureness of Help:

For on the horns of the wild oxen you have responded to me.

From here on out there’s more back-and-forth, this time between Sureness of Help and Subsequent Praise. This next part is Subsequent Praise:

I will tell of your name to my sisters and brothers;
in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:
You who revere the FOUNT OF LIFE, praise her!
all the offspring of Leah and Rachel, Bilhah and Zilpah glorify her.
Stand in awe of her all you of Rebekah’s line.

I’m calling this Sureness of Help:

For she did not despise or abhor
the affliction of the afflicted;
she did not hide her face from me,
and when I cried to her, she heard.

And really, the rest is Subsequent Praise, though it kind of merges with Sureness of Help. And, in fact, this part talks about a future where God makes things right – and this is the part that makes the strongest case for calling it a Messianic Psalm, even though this part isn’t quoted in the New Testament.

On your account is my praise in the great congregation;
my vows I will pay before those who revere her.
The poor shall eat and be satisfied;
those who seek her shall praise the MOTHER OF ALL.
May your hearts live forever!
All the ends of the earth shall remember
and turn to the WELLSPRING OF LIFE;
and all the families of the nations
shall worship before her.
For sovereignty belongs to the SHE WHO IS HOLY,
and she rules over the nations.
They consume and they bow down, all the fat ones of the earth before her,
they bend their knees, all who go down to the dust,
and cannot save their soul.
Later descendants will serve her;
future generations will be told about our God;
they will go and proclaim her deliverance to a people yet unborn,
saying that she has done it.

And looking at the Cross from centuries later – we are even more certain that the end result is triumph and praise. Christ’s living the suffering of this Psalm foreshadows that he will also live the triumph of this Psalm, when the poor shall eat and be satisfied and all the families of the nations will worship God with joy, proclaiming God’s deliverance.

Amen. May it be so.