Mtr Taylor Devine
Dear Friend,
It is wise to name how we feel - we know this from psychology and interpersonal relationships: digging into our feelings teaches us about our motivations, hopes, and the ways we get stuck and can get unstuck. The Psalmist does a particularly good job of this descriptive work:
“I am like a sparrow, lonely on a house-top”. (Psalm 102:7)
We hear how the person or community feels, and a few verses later we hear the blessedly inevitable “but” - God is different. “But you are always the same, and you years will never end.” (Psalm 102:27)
In the Psalm we hear the claim: my experience is fraught and I am hurting, but you O God are always the same, good, all in all, forever. Jesus too joins in the naming that is so important for humans. Here in the Gospel of Matthew he says:
“As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he got up and followed him.”
Jesus names people over and over-their given name, a new name with a new call, naming them beloved and chosen. Names them, more than what they do, says their name.
When we have a hard time with naming either our feelings, or perhaps even naming who we are, remember whose you are - the steady and unchangeable Lord of all creation who calls you beloved, called, and calls you and all the brokenhearted by their name.
In Christ,
Mtr Taylor