Taken from the CEV, not the CEB
Sometimes our Christian journey can feel a little bit like Psalm 23: Beautiful and simple. There is something very innocent about Psalm 23. I love the analogy of being a lamb in God's care. I don't have to think about it. I don't have to pick it apart. It simply exists for me to appreciate. Like I can just appreciate the imagery. I can imagine the smell of new grass, as I imagine lying in greenfields. I love lying in it. It brings back images of being a kid. (Back when I didn't think about the bugs and dirt that came with grass.) Reading about peaceful waters makes me want to take off my shoes and dip my feet in. There are days where I rejoice in the simplicity of faith. My first sermon ever: "God is love. That's it. It's that simple." I basically repeated it for about five minutes back during a Youth Sunday. Sometimes it is nice to have those scriptures that make us deflate our brains and see the beautifully simple side of things. Sometimes our Christian journey can feel a little bit like Psalm 23: Outdated and overused. Nothing seems more overused and overdone than Psalm 23. Whenever I think about it, I naturally find myself repeating the King James Version. Just the language of the KJV separates me from the text. The scripture can be stuffy at times. It can symbolize tradition over Divine council. Sometimes I hear Psalm 23 and I can imagine the smell of really old bibles. (Strange, right?) It becomes difficult to come back to it time and time again, because I've come back to it time and time again. I get that way sometimes in Church. I feel like we are fighting the same battles over and over again. I begin to feel like I'm running the Caucus race from Alice in Wonderland. We are just going in circles to dry off. Nothing is really being accomplished. (I eventually remember great tasks often require repetition.) Sometimes our Christian journey can feel a little bit like Psalm 23: Overwhelming. I know this is hard to believe, but there are times I just choose to shut up. Sometimes I shut up because someone else needs a chance to speak. Other times I am overwhelmed by Church bullies and choose to shut my mouth. Psalm 23 is a scriptural bully. If anyone asks: what's your favorite scripture, there will always be a Psalm 23 contingent. As people share their favorite verse the Psalm 23 group begin countering with why the others are wrong. "I love John 3:16." "Psalm 23 is much more descriptive." "Micah 6:8 is the mantra by which I live." "Well, Psalm 23 has more to it." Chill! We can both exist with our own favorite scriptures. But often I just allow that battle to be won from the other side and not fight it. Church can get that way sometimes regarding battles that deserve to be fought. I have so much respect for those people who willingly sacrifice to speak the truth. When dealing with community dynamics, church can be a difficult place to speak the truth. Sometimes our Christian journey can feel a bit like Psalm 23: Gloriously diverse. It says something that I can find the same amount of meaning in the 23rd Psalm as my Great Grandmother found in it. It's one of those scriptures that are not really divisive because it presents itself as an invitation. Political, gender, social lines are erased with this Psalm. God is the Shepherd to all. At the end of the day, as stuffy, overused, and overwhelmed we are as Christians, we are still the Body of Christ. We are so different, and that's how it's supposed to be. If you like what you are reading there are many ways to connect:
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