“hashkem”

God’s faithfulness is new every morning … this is not a new truth … it’s an ancient one … and it is so very appropriate for this first day of January 2011.

I began writing in this blog a year ago but the words would not flow.  I’m here again, ready to give it a go.  This past year has been tempestuous.  My mom went home to heaven in April.  Two other dear family members joined her recently.  An elderly saint in our church also walked inside the pearly gates.  I opened a new school – more difficult than I imagined it would be.  And then our little church decided to disband … the most joyful of sad endings … a story all its own.  In the midst of those events, God has been faithful … his peace has permeated our lives … and there has been much joy.

I’ve been reading Eugene Peterson’s work on Jeremiah entitled Run With the Horses.  Peterson writes about Jeremiah’s persistence – explaining the word, “hashkem.”  He writes … “That is the secret of his persevering pilgrimage — not thinking with dread about the long road ahead but greeting the present moment, every present  moment, with obedient delight, with expectant home. ‘My heart is ready!'”  And how did Jeremiah achieve this sublime attitude, this ability to live clearly in the present?  He learned it from God himself.  Peterson writes, “God’s persistence is not a dogged repetition of duty.  It has all the surprise and creativity, and yet all the certainty and regularity of a new day.”

Our lives are on the cusp of change, at a crossroads … being here again feels a bit odd for some reason … and yet, I have this assurance … God is faithful.  I’m looking for, expecting adventure!  And like Jeremiah I shout with the Psalmist (Ps. 108) … “My heart is ready!”