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Sojourners Magazine

June 26
Out of the Depths

2 Samuel 1:1, 17-27;Psalm 130;2 Corinthians 8:7-15;Mark 5:21-43

For the last week of June, the days of which the poet sings, "O what is so rare...?," our lectionary takes us to the somber halls of death.

We begin with the superb dirge for Saul and Jonathan, believed to be an authentic composition of David, a poem to secure his place among the poets of the world. It is marked by moving repetition and simplicity of language. No trace of bitterness for the man who tried to kill him mars the poem, and the grief David felt at the loss of his "brother" Jonathan is effective in its restraint. "How the mighty have fallen" speaks to many times and occasions.

The mood of sorrow and sadness is deepened by Psalm 130, a masterpiece of a lament for personal sins. Because there are no specifics about the cause of the experience of the depths, the psalm has a universality that speaks to the lost condition of the human race and the grace and mercy of God. What humility and wisdom are in the lines,

If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,
Lord, who could stand?

And what trust! "There is forgiveness with you."

As we watch for the morning, this psalm is a good companion—whether it is the morning of the next day or of our life!

There is so much gold in the gospel story that one day’s meditation or one week’s or one’s lifetime is not sufficient to mine it. In one story Mark gives us a vivid picture of Jesus the healer and Jesus the teacher.

Jesus responds equally to calls from the high and from the lowly. His healing ministry reaches out beyond the ancient taboos of a religious system. He knows who he is and what he can do and knows when he has accomplished the task. His very being heals. He incarnates the ritual.

Can you imagine the emotions that surged through the leader of the synagogue who saw and heard it all? But then the final word comes. The synagogue leader’s child is dead. There is no more you can do. The depths. But this teacher lives out that there is always something else you can do. Do not pay attention to the counsels of despair.

After this high gospel drama, the epistle seems to plunge to mundane issues of institutional survival. Do what you can, counsels Paul. Your offering is acceptable according to what you have, not according to what you have not. Quoting a later Paul, "You are accepted." Out of the depths. n

VERNA J. DOZIER is an educator and lay theologian in Washington, D.C. She is the author of The Dream of God: A Call to Return (Cowley Publications) and The Authority of the Laity (The Alban Institute).

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