mindset

We read this Psalm at lunch.  Dwelling on it tonight:

Psalm 145:8,9
The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love.  The Lord is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made. 


Psalm 145:17-19
The Lord is righteous in all his ways and loving toward all he has made.  The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.  He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them.  


That time of no hope is upon me again.  So predictable now.  Why do you suppose the Lord gives women this time of month?  This time of tears, downtrodden face, doomsday musings?  Do we need a time to call out to him desperately, with abandon?  Does it keep our pride...our independence, in check?  Perhaps it's just part of Eve's sin curse--lumped with the "pain in childbirth" thing?  I've not dealt with this rhythm regularly since the year 2000.  Rediscovering the uncanny nature of it, I suppose.

The trash man came today.

I studied his face, as he picked up rain-sogged trash bags, one by one.  It was not a happy face.

Is he well paid?  Have benefits?  Does he have a family?

Does he wonder why some people get to go to their cushy desk jobs, while he has to deal with our filth?

My husband cleans for a living.  Same as the trash man--other people's filth.

No, he doesn't like it either.

Some have talents.  Some have sharp minds.  Some have both.  Some only have their bodies.  For whatever reason, their minds don't bring home a paycheck.  A learning disability?  A poor education?  A disorder that limits?  No ambition?  A checkered past?

When man lived off the land, it was a given that talents were passed down from generation to generation.  Now, labor is specialized.

Can't fix your clogged sink?  Call the plumber.

Can't churn your own butter?  You need the grocery store.

Can't build your own house, or fence?  Call a carpenter.

Progress has made us all more helpless, in a way.  When you lose your job, you're in a fix for a while.  Changing fields is never simple or quick, no matter how many mouths there are to feed.

I read some economic news today.  Depression.  They're throwing that word around again.  Are we headed for it?  How many families will wish they had multiple talents?  How many will wish they could trade food for their labor?

Back to the trash man and my husband.

God gave out talents and differing levels of intelligence. And he gave out disabilities.

Some disabilities can be overcome.  Compensated for, rather.  Some can be medicated.

Others must be endured.

I thought about the trash man, and my husband, when I read this today.

The Lord is righteous in all his ways and loving toward all he has made.


He does not value the trash man less.  He who cleaned up our filth, with his blood.  


We put value on men.  We say, "How can he stand that?!  Who would want to do it?"


Lord, I don't know what to say tonight.  Your ways are mysterious.  Bless the man whose face I studied today.  Bless my husband.  Encourage their hearts.  Help them to have a kingdom mindset.  Your mindset.  Disengage them emotionally from society's hierarchy.  May they be the best they can be, and give the glory to You.  May they know, deep within, the truth of these words:

The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love......The Lord is righteous in all his ways and loving toward all he has made.


In your name, Amen.