ELOGOS for Wednesday

​Psalm 32:1-4
Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
Happy are those to whom the Lord imputes no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.
While I kept silence, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long.
For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. 
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Curiously, the psalmist doesn't begin this song in chronological order. The happiness of forgiveness is touted and then the heavy-handedness of guilt is described. It seemed awkward, at first, but then perhaps more true. We need to be reminded that forgiveness feels good. We are wildly creative when it comes to wiggling around in the discomfort of our guilt. It is like being still in bed half in and out of sleep, knowing that we would feel better if we just unknotted the sheets or reached out and pulled up the cover we kicked to the floor. But we don't do it, at least, not right away. We just remain still even though we know, we know what will take our discomfort away. Yet we allow our appendages to grow cold and impale ourselves on the wrinkles of the day trying to hang onto the illusion of sleep that abandoned us long ago. It is in remembering that the only one who ever pronounced hope over the ashes of this life is the one who stands ready to free us from the confines of pretending to be alive.
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Remember, O Mortal, thou art dust and to dust thou shall return. Amen.