Psalm 84:1-6

1 How dear to me is your dwelling, O Lord of hosts! My soul has a desire and longing for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh rejoice in the living God.

2 The sparrow has found her a house and the swallow a nest where she may lay her young; by the side of your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God.

3 Happy are they who dwell in your house! they will always be praising you.

4 Happy are the people whose strength is in you! whose hearts are set on the pilgrims' way.

5 Those who go through the desolate valley will find it a place of springs, for the early rains have covered it with pools of water.

6 They will climb from height to height, and the God of gods will reveal himself in Zion.

(This year, Monday Matters will focus on wisdom conveyed in the treasures of the book of Psalms. We'll look at the psalms read in church before Monday Matters comes to your screen. Please note that these days in the church, there are two tracks of readings in the lectionary, offering a choice of psalms. Your church may or may not have read the psalm included in this email.)

Some years ago, the former Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey visited a parish in the states, and noted that it was “rooted and restless and ready to grow.” That assessment can apply to individuals and congregations and denominations. We’re a wonderful, sometimes even contradictory mix, we human beings. Perhaps the question the Archbishop’s description prompts: Is it a 50/50 split? Many congregations I’ve witnessed are really good on the rooted part. They may not be so restless and ready to grow, because that involves change. I don’t think I’ve ever run across a cleric who has not heard the dreaded words: We’ve never done it that way!

That idea of restlessness was famously articulated by Augustine in his Confessions. Early on in the book he confesses to the Holy One: “Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee.”Augustine knew about restlessness. It finally brought him to conversion after living the high life as a young man, when he prayed “Give me chastity but not yet.” In his simple nod to restlessness, he identified something true of all of us, going all the way back to Father Abraham in the book of Genesis.

Abraham was apparently well rooted, living a comfortable life until God interrupted with a call to journey to a new land, to a new home. In a marvelous picture of the spiritual life, scripture says that Abraham launched out, not knowing where he was going. You go, Abraham! He must have known some kind of restlessness.

In the gospels, the disciples meet Jesus. He simply says to them: Follow me. For all the disciples’ foibles (and they are numerous), it’s impressive that they set out with Jesus. No letter of agreement. No 5 year plan. No itinerary. They just follow. They must have been ready to embrace their restlessness. Perhaps they were anticipating Thomas Merton’s famous prayer which begins: Lord, I have no idea where I’m going.

We get pictures of restlessness in many of the psalms, including the one you may have heard in church yesterday (reprinted in this email): My soul has a desire and longing for the courts of the Lord. (Psalm 84:1) That is the aim of that restlessness. It is to find oneself in the dwelling place of God. It is to find oneself at home. Seems to me that our spiritual journey is that process of heading for that place.

The psalm describes wanting to take up residence in the house of the Lord, presumably the temple in Jerusalem. But centuries later, we need not take that to mean travel to the Holy Land. As wonderful as that is, and much to be encouraged as a spiritual practice, we can aim for our own Jerusalem, that place which we imagine to be our holy home.

That process is captured in the verse that always stops me in today’s psalm: Happy are those who travel the pilgrims’ way (Psalm 84:4). It’s one of the few places in the Bible where the word pilgrim is used. So think with me about the difference between pilgrim and tourist. My guess is that a pilgrim is looking for a home. Again, biblical precedent might be the children of Israel meandering through the wilderness until they reach the land promised by God. It may be those same folks, centuries later, longing for a way out of exile to their homeland. (By the waters of Babylon, we sat down and wept when we remembered you, O Zion. Psalm 137:1ff) Maybe it’s the voice of St. Paul who confesses to the Corinthians that his real desire is to be a home with the Lord (II Corinthians 5: Yes, we do have confidence, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.)

All of which is to lead into these questions this Monday morning. Do you see yourself as both rooted and restless in your own spiritual journey? What will you do with that restless part? Do you see yourself as on a pilgrimage in your life? What is the goal? What would you regard as home? What will you do this week to take steps towards that place?

A closing insight from Psalm 42:1,2: As the deer longs for the water-brooks, so longs my soul for you, O God. My soul is athirst for God; athirst for the living God. When shall I come to appear before the presence of God?