Week of 6 Easter, Year Two
[Go to Mission St Clare for an online version of the Daily Office including today’s scripture readings.]
Today’s Readings for the Daily Office:
Psalms 85, 86 (morning) // 91, 92 (evening)
1 Samuel 2:1-10
Ephesians 2:1-10
Matthew 7:22-27
The day after the Indiana primary results came in, my husband happened to be traveling to Canada for a conference. We planned for him to joke with the border control agent and claim that he was entering the country to escape American politics. However, the particular border control agent he met was too stern-faced for joking. And indeed, there’s really nothing to laugh about.
In today’s first reading, Hannah sings a song of victory, and I will hope and pray (and fight and sweat) so that I can raise my voice with hers this November. I can’t wait to say, “Talk no more so very proudly, let not arrogance come from your mouth.” And, I confess, I might indulge in a triumphant round of “My mouth derides my enemies, because I rejoice in my victory.”
No, I don’t think that Biblical or spiritual contests between good and evil, between God’s people and their enemies, map very precisely onto contemporary electoral politics. Rather, Biblical voices proclaim the broader victory of fragile humanity over brutal weapons, of human satiety and flourishing over hunger and barrenness, of grinding poverty over the power of wealth.
Yet Hannah doesn’t actually speak in these abstract terms. Instead, she sings about people. She celebrates victory over specific types of people: the proud, the arrogant, the mighty, the rich. Oh Lord, grant your people this victory, and let us lift our song with hers.
Lora Walsh blogs about taking risks and seeking grace at A Daily Scandal. She serves as Priest Associate of Grace Episcopal Church in Siloam Springs and assists with adult formation and campus ministry at St. Paul’s in Fayetteville, Arkansas.