Hello,
Friends.
This is Mark Gladman,
Also known as Brother Frederick James,
Your friendly neighbourhood monk in dogs.
Welcome as we continue to walk with the pilgrims to Jerusalem.
As we take our time reflecting on the Songs of Ascents from the Book of Psalms.
As we begin,
As always,
Let's just take a moment to arrive in this moment.
Allow yourself to settle into a comfortable position.
Notice the gentle rhythm of your breathing.
And for these next few moments,
Just give yourself to being fully present right here.
Body,
And Han.
Take a nice slow deep breath in.
As your breathing becomes steady,
Become aware that you're being held in that loving presence of God.
The God who called Abraham to journey.
The God who led Israel through the wilderness.
The God who accompanied pilgrims on the road to Jerusalem.
The same God who accompanies you now.
Our pilgrimage has brought us to an important moment.
So far,
These Psalms have invited us to look honestly at the world,
To trust God's care,
To rejoice in God's presence,
To remember God's faithfulness and to continue sowing hope,
Even through tears.
Today,
However,
The pilgrim receives a question.
What are you building your life upon?
Because every one of us is building something,
A career.
A family,
A reputation,
A ministry,
A home.
The future.
Even our inner life is slowly being shaped one choice at a time.
But you'll notice the sum doesn't ask whether we're building.
It asks,
Who is building with us?
So let's listen to the words of Psalm 127.
And as you listen,
Just allow that word or phrase or words or phrases that stand out to you to sit with you and begin to speak to you.
Psalm 127.
Unless the Lord builds the house.
Those who build it,
Labour in vain.
Unless the Lord guards the city.
The guard keeps watch in vain.
It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest,
Eating the bread of anxious toil.
Before he gives sleep to his beloved.
Children are indeed a heritage from the Lord.
The fruit of the worm,
A reward.
Like arrows in the hand of a warrior.
Are the children of one's youth.
Happy is the one who has a quiver full of them.
They shall not be put to shame when they speak with their enemies in the gate.
And what phrases found you during that first reading?
Perhaps it was unless the Lord builds.
Or maybe God gives sleep to the beloved.
Whatever it was,
Just let it remain with you and become your prayer in this time of reflection.
Now this psalm's often been read as wisdom about work and family,
And it certainly is that.
Beneath those themes,
There's a much deeper invitation.
An invitation to stop carrying the illusion that everything depends on us.
How easy it is to believe that the future rests entirely on our shoulders,
That if we work harder,
Plan more carefully,
Stay awake longer,
Worry a little more,
Then maybe everything will hold together.
This psalm gently exposes that illusion.
To set us free.
There's that beautiful line,
God gives sleep to the beloved.
Sleep is one of the great acts of trust every evening.
We lay down our work,
Our plans and our unfinished tasks.
And the world keeps turning without us.
The God who neither slumbers nor sleeps as we heard in Psalm 121.
Invites us to rest precisely because God remains faithfully awake.
And there's a beautiful rhythm here.
God Keeps Watch.
So that we don't have to carry the weight.
Of the whole world.
Let's listen to that psalm again.
And this time as we do,
Just.
.
.
Rest in the silence and consider the question.
Where have you been carrying more than God has asked you to carry?
Psalm 127.
Unless the Lord builds the house.
Those who build it,
Labour in vain.
Unless the Lord guards the city.
The guard keeps watch in vain.
It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest,
Eating the bread of anxious toil.
For he gives sleep to his beloved.
Children are indeed a heritage from the Lord.
The fruit of the worm,
A reward.
Like arrows in the hand of a warrior.
Are the children of one's youth.
Happy is the one who has a quiver full of them.
They shall not be put to shame.
When they speak with their enemies in the gate.
So what rose up for you in the silence?
Maybe it was responsibilities or expectations or the pressure to hold everything together.
A lot of us confuse responsibility with control.
We're called to be faithful,
But we're not called to be sovereign.
In my Benedictine tradition.
We speak often of stability,
It's one of our vows.
And what that means is remaining faithfully present to the life that God has entrusted to us.
With stability.
Is never frantic.
It's rooted in the confidence that God is already at work.
Our task isn't to replace God's work.
Our task is to participate in it with God.
And maybe today God's inviting you to loosen your grip.
To trust more deeply,
To work with diligence,
To pray with openness,
And then at the end of the day,
Know that what you've done is enough.
And rest.
Let's listen one final time,
But this time Hear the psalm as an invitation.
To live more deeply.
From God's grace.
Will you join me in prayer as we close?
Faithful God.
You're the builder of every good thing.
You're the keeper of every life.
You're the giver of every breath.
Forgive us for the times we've carried burdens that you never asked us to bear.
It teaches us to work with faithfulness,
But not with fear.
It's a plan with wisdom,
But not with anxiety.
To love generously.
Without imagining that everything depends on us.
Give us the humility to receive the gift of rest.
May our work become an offering.
Our homes become places of peace.
Our relationships become spaces where your love is known.
And when evening comes,
May we lay ourselves down in quiet trust,
Remembering that while we sleep,
You remain faithfully at work.
Continue to build within us a life that rests upon your grace,
One faithful step at a time.
And may grace,
Peace and love be in every single step,
Today and always.
Amen.
I hope you'll join me when we continue the journey tomorrow,
Friends.
Until then,
Peace be with you.
