911 – The Shadow of Death
What does the 23rd Psalm mean to you?
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
He leads me beside quiet waters,
He restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness
for His name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I shall fear no evil, for you are with me,
your rod and your staff they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of mine enemies.
You anoint my head with oil, my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
What can we make of the shadow of death? Certainly we in America felt the presence of that shadow on September 11, 2001. We felt the shadow – and we felt the presence of evil. So what was our reaction – did we act out of fear or out of faith?
“I will fear no evil” – what does that mean to us as we ponder the events of seven years past?
“Surely goodness and love will follow me” – what does that mean?
“He restores my soul” – what about that? What are we to make of spirituality in the face of absolute evil?
What is the ‘path of righteousness?’
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Comment by Nancy Belle on 11 September 2015:
I don’t have any answers or none that would be world changing anyway. I believe we live in the shadow of death everyday. I believe in taking each day as it comes. Plan tomorrow and live today. There was a time when I only feared for my children’s safety and well being and I still feel that way, yet it is more directed to my grandchildren. Perhaps their newness in this world and innocence makes me more wary of the harm that can become them. Obviously, harm can come to us all on any given day or any given hour. This is motivation to live honorably, do well unto others, be kind, be honest, etc etc. Yet, we have the horrors of 9/11/2001 or another example is Pearl Harbor 12/7/1941 with many other atrocities in between. The USA stopped Japan in a horrible blow to their country and ended the war. Most of we Americans don’t wish to go that route ever again. That is most likely why there hasn’t been anything similar done to the Muslims after 9/11. Still, even 14 years later we feel the horror and the loss and a need to make them pay for their transgressions. Forgiving is good, but being an easy target is not what we want to be. If we were the Hebrews leaving Egypt God would have protected us with a pillar of fire and parted waters for us. Those large miracles don’t seem to happen anymore. As long as these Jihadists continue to not value their life or ours, we must stayed prepared to protect ourselves and our country, not out of fear but because there really are wolves stalking the sheep.