March 30th, 2025 – Steadfast love. What does that mean? Much as we might like it to mean that we will never experience problems and life will be easy and happy all the time, that kind of love is a fairy tale—and not a very good fairy tale, at that. Psalm 32 offers a richer and more robust account of God’s steadfast love—a love that never ends and never fails, no matter what life throws at us. As you listen to Kacey Musgraves’ “Rainbow,” take a deep breath and consider how God might calling you to “let go of the umbrella” and trust in God’s steadfast love.
March 23rd, 2025 – To what do you cling? Psalm 63 invites us to reflect on where we find security and sustenance when we are desperate, disillusioned, or in danger. Yes, we need food, water, and shelter. Yes, we need community that protects us when we feel threatened and alone. Yet underneath these basic needs is something even more necessary: God. As you listen to U2’s “Light of Home,” consider: “When you are surrounded by chaos and turmoil, how do you find security, confidence, and home in God?”
March 16th, 2025 – Like many of us, the writer of Psalm 27 knows trouble, as does Jesus when he is confronted by the Pharisees attempting to scare him into being quiet or, at the very least, getting out of town (Luke 13:31). Yet both the psalmist and Jesus do an odd thing when faced with threats: they stay the course. They refuse to be swallowed up and swayed by fear. Instead, they root themselves in God, whose steadfast love conceals and protects, whose love keeps their heads above water. As you listen to Avril Lavigne’s “Head Above Water,” consider the storms in your life that you need God to protect you and sustain you through. Do you trust that God will take care of you through those storms?
March 9th, 2025 – Rescue me. Perhaps Jesus said it during his temptation in the wilderness. Certainly, the psalmist says it over and again in many ways. We call out to God to rescue us today, sometimes with a certainty that God will answer and other times out of desperation, hoping God will listen when it seems no one else will. As you listen to Andra Day’s “Rise Up,” let the words wash over you as a prayer and as an answer to prayer, and consider: “Where in your life are you calling out for rescue, and how might God be calling you to reach out in love to rescue your neighbor?”
March 5th, 2025 – Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, a season of forty days (minus Sundays) during which we prepare ourselves for the events of Holy Week and Easter. We start the journey of Lent with confession, pardon, and the imposition of ashes, a reminder of our mortality. Though this can often feel like a serious service, Psalm 51:1 says, “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love.” We begin Lent with the reminder that God’s love is steadfast—it never fails. In words like those of Coldplay’s “Fix You,” God’s love is like a light that guides us home, ignites our bones, and fixes us, putting us back together for relationship with God and one another. As you listen to Coldplay’s “Fix You,” consider where you notice God’s love reaching out and guiding you home.