Yesterday, I took a walk in a part of the city that used to be my place for fun: restaurants, shops, tourists from all over the world, crowds gathered around street performers, festivals. I was glad to be out and about, but the city’s transformation put a hard lump in my throat and left me with a bone-deep feeling of melancholy. The city I had loved seemed barely there; and it was obvious that many of its particulars will never return. Scripture ran through my head:
How lonely sits the city that once was full of people!
...She weeps bitterly in the night, with tears on her cheeks:
...The roads to Zion mourn, for no one comes to the festivals;
all her gates are desolate. (Lamentations 1:1-4)
Later that evening, another scripture came to my mind and heart:
Thus says the Lord: I will return to Zion, and will dwell in the midst
of Jerusalem
...Old men and old women shall again sit in the streets
...And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets.
...Even though it seems impossible to the remnant of this people in these days,
should it also seem impossible to me? (Zechariah 8:3-6)
Twelve years ago this month, I declared at my ordination that I “believe the Holy Scriptures...to be the Word of God, and to contain all things necessary to salvation.” I believe it just as strongly today.
--The Rev. Barbara Talcott
Spread the word!
Do you know someone in the St. Mark’s community who would enjoy these reflections?
