What Am I doing? Who Am I Being?

The Lord will keep us from all harm,
he will watch over our life.
The Lord will watch over
our coming and our going,
both now and forevermore.

The tragic events of the tsunami have left me feeling shocked, numb and useless, on the one hand, while still confident that God is not an ugly, capricious and loveless tyrant, on the other. On these things there seems so much that can be said, and a whole lot that is simply unsayable.

Where to from here?

At the front end of this year,
after the times that have been,
before the times that are yet to come,
I have much to think and re-think:
about what will be 'my times',
about what will come and what will go.

I need to ensure my heart and life
are in step with the Master
through listening to him whenever he speaks,
through whatever means,
even through tsunamis, and
especially through his Son the Word.

I need to conform my life
to him and his wisdom;
only then will that which I offer,
in word and deed, be of any consequence,
or of any worth to humanity
in its present dreadful plight.

What am I doing?
Who am I being?

To be sure,
Much more meditation and much praying,
Much much much less of me,
all the more, even everthing of Him and only Him.

It is then that I will understand more clearly
and live a life worthy of the Name.

~~~

The Word speaks:

(Ecclesiastes 3)

There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:

a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

What does the worker gain from his toil?

I have seen the burden God has laid on men.
He has made everything beautiful in its time.
He has also set eternity in the hearts of men;
yet they cannot fathom what God has done
from beginning to end.

I know
that there is nothing better for men
than to be happy and do good while they live.
that everyone may eat and drink,
and find satisfaction in all his toil

this is the gift of God.

I know
that everything God does will endure forever;
nothing can be added to it
and nothing taken from it.

God does it so that men will revere him.

Whatever is has already been,
and what will be has been before;

and God will call the past to account.

~~~~~~~~~~

(Please forgive the above rather feeble attempt to express some heart-felt things that seem so unexpressible -- even blogging has its limitations )