Finding joy together: Matthew and me
by Libby Jewson
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O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth! Your glory is higher than the heavens (Psalm 8:1).
Read Psalm 8
These devotions reflect on the week’s readings through a narrative retelling. As the writer reflected, meditated and prayed over the texts, she says a story started to emerge. This is an imagined dialogue formed between Matthew and a Bethlehem mother affected by Herod’s massacre. The devotions follow this mother’s reflections across the week, inviting us to consider God’s compassion, faithfulness and hope.
The time you took to talk with me, Matthew, is so appreciated. Somehow, it has helped me to clarify my questions, look at things differently, and understand the impact of Jesus and his new way of being, which is also for us. I guess I have had time to reflect after each of our conversations, as I fetch water, bake bread and tend to my garden and family.
After our little boy’s death, it took a long time before I could find things to be thankful about; however, I couldn’t stop thinking about David’s magnificent song of praise, where he exclaims, ‘How majestic is God’s name in all the earth.’ I cried every time I tried to say these words. I couldn’t reconcile my sadness with faith, hope and love. Yet here it was, that Spirit again infusing me with faith, learning from those I loved, understanding Jesus’ story. I started by thinking of little things that brought me joy – the smell of bread from the oven, the sound of children laughing and playing in the street, the view of the hills behind Bethlehem, the rain watering those hills and the olive trees. Somehow, these little pockets of joy led me to thinking about God daily, and David’s psalms, and over time, I could start to find words of praise – just like King David did.
And today is the last day of the year. I feel like each day of this year has challenged me to search for the good and not dwell on the bad. ‘O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth! Your glory is higher than the heavens.’ I hear this passage, and I imagine the music and the singing of David, and I look to the sky and imagine the power and strength of the weather and the life all around me. I feel a responsibility to nurture and love the universe God has given us, and I guess I can do this by being thankful for everything I have, and everything I have had. Thank you, David, for opening up your psalms for me.
Majestic God of creation, help me find joy in the smallness of my life compared with your creation. Thank you for this year of life and love and even the smallest joys that have helped me face hard things. Thank you for faith, hope and love, which have been my companions this year. Amen.
Libby is recently retired and lives alongside the Moorabool Valley, in Central West Victoria. She loves walking, hiking, exploring, cycling on her beautiful bike ‘Ruby’, gardening, music, appreciating beauty, watching good movies and TV series, reading, sharing meals with friends and family and enjoys tending her orchard of heritage quinces. Libby is an active member of Living Faith Lutheran Church Geelong and spends time volunteering with the Melanie Jewson Foundation with her husband, Gary, and their other two adult children, André and Ashlee. Together, they run a small business called Quincey Fizz. Libby is very thankful to have had the opportunity to study in the Graduate Diploma in Divinity program at Australian Lutheran College this year.
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