Today's Daily Office readings include this much beloved line from Ecclesiastes 3:1:
"For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven."
This and the following Scripture are often chosen for funerals. I surmise those who are grieving find solace in the message that loss is something we all must face in this life at some time. In all candor, this passage has never "worked" for me. I guess I'm too rebellious to accept that there is a time when miserable events are unavoidable.
In the face of the misery in our current news, many people are asking, "Where is God in all this?" In Morning Prayer, each of the readings is followed by a canticle (fancy word for "hymn"). They all have an ancient pedigree from Scripture or early liturgy. They have stood the test of time.
The canticle after the passage from Ecclesiastes today is the Third Song of Isaiah, drawn from that book of the Bible. It arose in another time when "deep gloom enshrouded the people." It answers our quest to know where we might find God now:
But over you the Lord will rise, *
and his glory will appear upon you.
Nations will stream to your light, *
and kings to the brightness of your dawning.
Maybe the next prophet of peace will not be a single flawed man or woman. Maybe it will be a whole community. Maybe it will be St. Margaret's. May we all keep listening and loving.
