Psalm 13 for Orlando

The Psalmist writes:

How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?

And we echo that tonight asking:  Oh MY God, HOW freakin’ LONG? Harvey Milk, Columbine, Stonewall, Aurora, Matthew Shepherd, Sandy Hook, San Bernardino and Orlando and an endless list of hate and death that goes on and on and never ends!  Have you forgotten us forever?  The music has stopped.  How long will this painful, silent, darkness go on?

The Psalmist continues:

How long must I bear pain in my soul, and endure grief in my heart all day long? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?

And we hear that too, asking:  How long can we live in constant gut-wrenching, heart breaking grief day after day, month after month, year after year, city after city?  How long will those who sell hate and weapons and pain and fear continue to win time after time after time after time?

And the Psalmist goes on angrily writing:

Look at me and answer me, O Lord my God! Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death

And we too demand:  LOOK AT US!  DEAR GOD, ANSWER US!  Our light… the life in our eyes is going out.  If you don’t answer us, the light will most certainly be swallowed up in all of this horrible darkness.  

The Psalmist writes:

My enemy will say, “I have prevailed”; my foes will rejoice because I am shaken.

And we too cry out:  We hear every, single, time, “there is nothing we can do but pray”!  And then those who spout those platitudes laugh as they legislate away freedoms, dignity, safety, and lives in exchange for profits and power!  

And yet, somehow, the Psalmist is able to write:

I trust you God, I trust in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.

And miraculously, we too can somehow say:  That even when the LGBTQ community’s sanctuary has been invaded, desecrated and violated (and this their sanctuary because I confess, our sanctuaries have too often been unwelcoming or conditional) And even when Latinos and Latinas are treated as less than human… even with ALL OF THAT, Dear God, somehow we are able to proclaim tonight… even when reason says we shouldn’t… that Your never wavering, passionate, justice-demanding, all embracing love surrounds us, fills us, makes us holy, and shines a light that shatters even the darkest darkness.  

And then the Psalmist… and you and I, with the power that is love that is love that is love can boldly say:  We will not be quiet!  The music will not remain silent! We WILL sing and we WILL dance and we WILL be FIERCE for the Lord!  The Lord, who showers on us the wonders of this world!  Look at the people gathered here tonight.  Look in their eyes and in their hearts and SEE how generously God’s love has been poured out in them and through them on all of us!  Thanks be to God.  Amen.