The phrase of Psalm 77 that sticks out to me is: My soul refuses to be comforted. Put in the context of the rest of the text, Scott’s blog from yesterday, the question of the week (If Darkwood Brew could help you answer a question that affects you personally, what question would that be?), as well as Rolf Jacobson’s comment from a couple of weeks ago, reminding us that much of what God is orienting us to is right relationship with our neighbor; causes me to wonder why souls, and perhaps my soul in particular, so often refuses to be comforted.

Is it as Scott shared and the Psalmist seems to indicate that God is nowhere to be found? Has God become merely a memory? Can we believe that God will (and does!) act in the world as God did in the stories of our ancient Scriptures? Or is it something else?

Perhaps God is around and we just are waiting for something better? Does my soul refuse to be comforted because I am constantly holding out for some perfect idea I have created in my head? I think about how the people of Israel so often got frustrated because of a hope for a promised land and thus missed the blessings of life and love and happiness that surrounded them. Am I merely waiting for some promised land, or some heavenly realm, and refusing to find comfort in the mean time?

I think this is more often the way I operate. Waiting, expecting, hoping; then tiring of waiting, tiring of expecting, tiring of hoping.  And as a result, those neighbors of mine–that God is orienting us toward– get caught in my frustration. Maybe it is time for me to take some responsibility, instead of waiting on God to do something; it is time for me to get caught up in God’s work and life, which is all around us.

I would like Darkwood Brew to help me to do that…