When I was little, Psalm 23 is one of the first psalms I recognized. In catechism, it was illustrated with tender little lambs in the arms of a European Jesus with light eyes. And that was the image that stuck in my mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There was another verse I didn’t quite understand, which I remembered as: \u201cEven though I walk through the darkest of ravines, I will fear no evil.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The feeling this phrase evoked in me was as if Jesus were a superhero who would come to rescue the little lamb entering the darkness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And you, do you remember what comes up for you when you hear this part of Psalm 23?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To begin with, I didn’t even know what a ravines was\u2026 hahaha\u2026. It wasn’t until I started listening to different translations that I heard \u201cvalleys,\u201d instead of \u201cravines.\u201d And then I was able to understand a little better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But even if I understood the place where the little lamb was, that didn’t change my childish expectation that Jesus would come to rescue it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In your case, do you have any expectations in your prayer about what God will do in the dark valley?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It wasn’t until a few years ago, when I had the experience of being hospitalized and undergoing emergency surgery, that this Psalm took on a different meaning for me. It came alive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And to my surprise, God didn’t come to rescue me, but rather to accompany me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He didn’t take me out of the dark valley, but rather accompanied me in the dark valley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As much as I wanted to practically fly out of the hospital, it didn’t happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And you, have you noticed if you have expectations of God when you are in dark valleys?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do you expect Him to rescue you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do you allow Him to accompany you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It’s human to want to avoid suffering. And suffering, passing through dark valleys, is also part of the human experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How would you like to cross those valleys?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If the Spirit leads you, share with Jesus the carpenter what you discover your expectation is when you are in dark valleys. And perhaps you will discover a new way in which God wants to be with you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Marisol<\/p>\n\n\n\n
P.S. We can hear about being with God in suffering and in his love in the readings for the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All souls), Year\/cycle C.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When I was little, Psalm 23 is one of the first psalms I recognized. In catechism, it was illustrated with tender little lambs in the arms of a European Jesus with light eyes. And that was the image that stuck in my mind. There was another verse I didn’t quite understand, which I remembered as: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9816,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9818","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general-2-2"],"yoast_head":"\n