Lamentations 3:22-24

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,

   his mercies never come to an end; 

they are new every morning;

   great is your faithfulness. 

‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul,

   ‘therefore I will hope in him.’ 

Comment:

The Lamentations, traditionally ascribed to Jeremiah, are dirges over the city of Jerusalem after its destruction by the Babylonians in 586 B.C.E.  Chapter 3 reminds me a lot of the Book of Job; it has the same flow of accumulated suffering ("I am the man who has seen affliction") followed by a somewhat resigned affirmation that despite the worst that can—and does—happen, we are always safely in the "steadfast love of the Lord." We are here in this human experience and therefore subject to its challenges and pains. But in spiritual Truth we are infinite expressions of the Divine. Knowing that—remembering it every morning as we move into another day—we will always have reason to hope.

Blessings!

Rev. Ed