Francine Prep

13Sep
You are the Lord; do not withhold your compassion from me; 
let your love and your faithfulness keep me safe for ever,

For innumerable troubles have crowded upon me; my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see; 
they are more in number than the hairs of my head, and my heart fails me.

Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me; 
O Lord, make haste to help me.
-Psalm 40:12-14


As I sit to write this meditation, Hurricane Francine is approaching the coast of Louisiana, and all the hatches are battened down. Brian Gorman and the crack Trinity facilities team have done everything possible to secure the campus, we have notified the larger Trinity community of our plans, and all we can do now is wait with candles, batteries, and fully-charged cell phones at the ready.

 

Chaplain Bobby Hadzor shared this prayers with the community in chapel in Tuesday and over email on Wednesday:


On the Sea of Galilee, even when the disciples began to fear, Jesus showed that he had control over the waters by rebuking the wind and the rain, so that all would know that even the wind and the waves obey him.

 

Creator God, we ask you to calm the wind and the waves of the approaching hurricane, and spare those in its path from harm. We also ask you to calm the wind and waves of the hearts of those who worry about the unknown. Help those who are in its way to reach safety. Open our hearts in generosity to all who need help in the coming days.

 

In all things and in all times, help us to remember that even when life seems dark and stormy, you are in the boat with us, guiding us to safety.

 

Anxious situations like the coming of a hurricane remind us of the limitations of human power: our little boats are so very frail and truly at the mercy of forces bigger than we. From Noah’s to Jonah’s to the disciples’ boats on the Galilean Sea, the boats in scripture provide only limited protection from the elements, in stark contrast with the power of God that is always, always preeminent.

 

Once again, I am reminded that despite all the preparations and human ingenuity in the world, only God is sure, and the only true salve for my anxiety is faith in God’s goodness.


Musical Reflection - Be Still My Soul - William Joseph & Zack Clark


A portion of an Old Breton prayer that President John F. Kennedy received from Admiral Hyman Rickover and kept on his desk in the Oval Office:


Thy sea, O God, so great,

My boat so small.

It cannot be that any happy fate

Will me befall

Save as Thy goodness opens paths for me

Through the consuming vastness of the sea. Amen.

       ~Winfred Ernest Garrison

RefugeGratitudePrayerStrengthVulnerability

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