Sunday Psalm

Yesterday's Psalm spoke to me.

Lord, you have been our refuge
from one generation to another.

Before the mountains were brought forth,
or the land and the earth were born,
from age to age you are God.

You turn us back to the dust and say,
"Go back, O child of earth."

For a thousand years in your sight are like yesterday when it is past
and like a watch in the night.

You sweep us away like a dream;
we fade away suddenly like the grass.

In the morning it is green and flourishes;
in the evening it is dried up and withered.

Return, O Lord; how long will you tarry?
be gracious to your servants.

Satisfy us by your loving-kindness in the morning;
so shall we rejoice and be glad all the days of our life.

Psalm 90:1-6; 13-14

I've been feeling a bit like the tree in the photo above...struggling and weatherbeaten by the winds of life. One evening last week, all of a sudden, something went wrong with my left eye. I was seeing flashes of light and big black blotches everywhere. I was scared. Everything that just a minute before I'd taken for granted seemed to be at risk. But fate was kind and the next morning, after some frantic searching, I got an immediate appointment with a specialist only 5 minutes away. The technical diagnosis is posterior vitreous detachment which will likely heal itself if I can rest and avoid heavy physical activity and reading.

Yes, reading...that's a hard one. Of course I read music, too, and my usual solitary hours of practice are out for awhile. But I now have the OK to do what I need to in order to play on Sundays and keep my students in order.

I am grateful that healing has begun and you can believe that I will take care of my eye. And that means signing off now...but one more thing: this Psalm spoke to Brahms, too-he used it in his Requiem.