in the midst of the mix

There is a stream whose runlets gladden the city of God,
the holy dwelling of the Most High.
God is in its midst; it shall not be disturbed;
God will help it at the break of dawn.
Psalm 46

While I’ll admit I was distracted by the word “runlet” (which made me immediately think of Pooh’s pal Piglet), these lines from today’s psalm spoke to me during my morning prayer time.

There’s a lot going on in the world these days to tempt one to lose hope. The Oregonian had a front page story Sunday that the glacier on Mt. Hood is visibly melting. The mess in Iraq is … well … a mess. My friend’s 4 year old daughter is sill in ICU. And while I recognize a dose of perspective makes this meaningless, I seem to be catching a cold right before my trip back east on Friday.

Bu God is in the midst, or as I’m fond of saying in my personal journal, “God is in the mix.” If it was left just to us, if we had to sort it all out on our own, if we had to make sense of it all, we’d be lost. But God is with us. God is with us in the thousands of students who walked out of classes to protest unjust immigration legislation. God is with us in the people working to raise awareness about global warming. God is with us in the friends who are there to comfort, listen, make us laugh or just be present.

And if we take the time, we will know it is true when the psalm tells us, “Be still and know that I am God.” Since I woke up early due to the cold and my inability to breathe, I plan to take the extra time this morning to do just that. And I’m sure Piglet would approve! Although actually, that would be more up Eyore’s alley I think.