Today's reading: Joel 2:1-2, 12-17
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Joel 2:3-11
3 Fire devours in front of them, and behind them a flame burns. Before them the land is like the garden of Eden, but after them a desolate wilderness, and nothing escapes them. 4 They have the appearance of horses, and like war-horses they charge. 5 As with the rumbling of chariots, they leap on the tops of the mountains, like the crackling of a flame of fire devouring the stubble, like a powerful army drawn up for battle. 6 Before them peoples are in anguish, all faces grow pale 7 Like warriors they charge, like soldiers they scale the wall. Each keeps to its own course, they do not swerve from their paths. 8 They do not jostle one another, each keeps to its own track; they burst through the weapons and are not halted. 9 They leap upon the city, they run upon the walls; they climb up into the houses, they enter through the windows like a thief. 10 The earth quakes before them, the heavens tremble. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining. 11 The Lord utters his voice at the head of his army; how vast is his host! Numberless are those who obey his command. Truly the day of the Lord is great; terrible indeed—who can endure it?
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Why are we skipping verses 3-11? Is it because it’s hard?
Why do we always skip the hard parts? The day of the Lord is coming – either we believe that or we don’t*. If we do, why not lean into the description a little more? Why not feel the heat of the devouring flame, picture the war-horse-like things, hear the anguished cries, take in the pale, frightened faces dotting the darkness after the stars withdraw their shining? Why not acknowledge that this will not be good? Why glaze over the chaos and move right through to the comfort? It cheapens it.
Yes, the Lord is gracious and merciful, but we have to remember that we need it**. Like it or not, we live in a system in which we sin – sometimes consciously, sometimes not – and sin is binary. It’s a 1 or a 0, not a spectrum, not a curve, and even if we can point to people whom we’re less bad than, it doesn’t make us good.
This sounds way more fire-and-brimstone than I intended it to, but it’s good to dwell on the hard stuff sometimes. I need Ash Wednesday to remember that I am dust, because, if I’m honest, I would rate myself more like glitter. I am – we are – we will be, come Easter – but for right now, we’re not. We’re still in the hard part. The earth is quaking, the sun and moon are darkened, and things are terrible indeed.
We can endure it, and we’ll get to the promise – but we shouldn’t skip ahead.
*I say, holier-than-thouly… but if I’m honest, this is something I still need to work on believing
** See above, but 2x
— MeganPrestonMeyer
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Joel 2:3-11
3 Fire devours in front of them, and behind them a flame burns. Before them the land is like the garden of Eden, but after them a desolate wilderness, and nothing escapes them. 4 They have the appearance of horses, and like war-horses they charge. 5 As with the rumbling of chariots, they leap on the tops of the mountains, like the crackling of a flame of fire devouring the stubble, like a powerful army drawn up for battle. 6 Before them peoples are in anguish, all faces grow pale 7 Like warriors they charge, like soldiers they scale the wall. Each keeps to its own course, they do not swerve from their paths. 8 They do not jostle one another, each keeps to its own track; they burst through the weapons and are not halted. 9 They leap upon the city, they run upon the walls; they climb up into the houses, they enter through the windows like a thief. 10 The earth quakes before them, the heavens tremble. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining. 11 The Lord utters his voice at the head of his army; how vast is his host! Numberless are those who obey his command. Truly the day of the Lord is great; terrible indeed—who can endure it?
**************
Why are we skipping verses 3-11? Is it because it’s hard?
Why do we always skip the hard parts? The day of the Lord is coming – either we believe that or we don’t*. If we do, why not lean into the description a little more? Why not feel the heat of the devouring flame, picture the war-horse-like things, hear the anguished cries, take in the pale, frightened faces dotting the darkness after the stars withdraw their shining? Why not acknowledge that this will not be good? Why glaze over the chaos and move right through to the comfort? It cheapens it.
Yes, the Lord is gracious and merciful, but we have to remember that we need it**. Like it or not, we live in a system in which we sin – sometimes consciously, sometimes not – and sin is binary. It’s a 1 or a 0, not a spectrum, not a curve, and even if we can point to people whom we’re less bad than, it doesn’t make us good.
This sounds way more fire-and-brimstone than I intended it to, but it’s good to dwell on the hard stuff sometimes. I need Ash Wednesday to remember that I am dust, because, if I’m honest, I would rate myself more like glitter. I am – we are – we will be, come Easter – but for right now, we’re not. We’re still in the hard part. The earth is quaking, the sun and moon are darkened, and things are terrible indeed.
We can endure it, and we’ll get to the promise – but we shouldn’t skip ahead.
*I say, holier-than-thouly… but if I’m honest, this is something I still need to work on believing
** See above, but 2x
— MeganPrestonMeyer
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