O give thanks to the Holy One,
for God is good;
the steadfast love of the Giver of Life
endures forever!
It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to put confidence in princes.
I was pushed hard, so that I was falling,
but the Lord helped me.
The Lord is my strength and my might;
God has become my salvation.
The Lord has punished me severely,
but did not give me over to death.
The stone that the builders rejected
has become the chief cornerstone.
This is the Lord’s doing;
it is marvelous in our eyes.
This is the day that the Lord has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Save us, we beseech you, O Lord!
O Lord, we beseech you, give us success!
Blessed is the one who comes
in the name of the Lord.
O give thanks to the Holy One, for God is good;
the steadfast love of the Giver of Life endures forever!
—from Psalm 118
The work has been no different since the beginning,
the thin golden thread through the chaos,
the dimly lit path through the valley,
the hand in the night:
to trust the Giver of Life in the darkness,
to trust the goodness buried in the terrible moment,
in every awful passage, every ending,
to receive the love that is given.
The test is only clearer in dark times,
to see the hollow illusion of princes
and forego their poisoned promises,
to come into this day in the name of the Holy One,
not in the thrall of our fears.
The stone they have rejected will be our foundation:
the Belovedness that cannot be destroyed,
the bond that can’t be severed,
hope and gratitude in the song we must sing
to each other as night falls.
For the Beloved walks with us
even through this, even through this.
When we hold each other we will know
the steadfast love that endures forever.