PSALM 23
by Rev. Danette Kong
In these last few days leading up to the Election there are a lot of emotions I am experiencing, and probably you are, too. There’s a bit of “churning” within, and I don’t know whether to interpret it as a sense of “Impending Doom” or “Impending Celebration.”
If there is anything we have learned over these past four years in America, it is that NOTHING EXTERIOR IS IN OUR CONTROL! We can stand up, speak out, write letters and postcards, donate to candidates, protest, call our senators, meet and encourage one another. And we certainly can pray and meditate together. But sometimes, these efforts can seem futile, and we can become discouraged when we witness the shenanigans of those around us and in our government.
So, this website was created as a means for us of like minds to connect. Even though we may be separated by thousands of geographical miles,
- We share in mutual goals for peace and justice in America;
- We long for civility and mutuality.
- We hope for
* a reckoning,
* restoration, AND
* a healing of our country.
But as we negotiate the ups and downs which are expected over these next few days, and in the weeks and months to come:
- How shall we center ourselves?
- Where shall we find our sense of strength and the will to persist?
The writer of the 23rd Psalm used the allegory of a good and kind Shepherd — in Hawaiian, the word is, “Ke Kahulip’a” [“the Shepherd”] — to help us envision the caring Presence of the Divine in our lives. As a minister, I have read this passage of scripture countless times — in the hospital, at memorial services, or at the bedsides of dying individuals and their loved ones… and for those who were very alone.
Today, I’d like us to recall that passage of Scripture, with the intention of it being something to steady and focus the beating of our hearts. But instead of reading those familiar words, I want to share with you a paraphrase of the Psalm, written by a Japanese woman in the 1960s. We don’t even know her real name, because it has come up in our research as either, “Taki,” or “Toki” Miyashina. But the words she wrote express a sense of franticness, and busyness much like to what we have become accustomed in our society all these sixty years later.
Ms. Miyashina took Psalm 23 and refashioned it to become even more meaningful for herself. I hope as you hear her words, they can apply to whatever sense of underlying TENSION you may be experiencing this week:
The Lord is my Pace-setter, I shall not rush.
He makes me stop and rest for quiet intervals.
He provides me with images of stillness, which restore my serenity.
He leads me in ways of efficiency through calmness of mind, and His guidance is peace.
Even though I have a great many things to accomplish each day, I will not fret for His presence is here.
His timelessness, His all-importance will keep me in balance.
He prepares refreshment and renewal in the midst of my activity by anointing my mind with His oils of tranquility.
My cup of joyous energy overflows.
Surely harmony and effectiveness shall be the fruits of my hours.
And I shall walk in the pace of my Lord and dwell in His house forever.
May we continue to sense the Presence, the Tranquility, and the Comfort of the Divine through whatever we ALL face in the days ahead. Please continue to SHINE and SHARE your Light. Aloha ʻoukou. Peace be with you.
The Rev. Danette Kong is a retired hospital chaplain, an ordained minister with the United Church of Christ and a member of Keawalaʻi Congregational Church on Maui. She was born and reared on the island of Oʻahu. After studies in Oklahoma and Kentucky, she has served as a health care chaplain in Hawaiʻi. She feels incredibly blessed to be a member of the Shine Your Light team and to have this opportunity to connect with people of LIGHT in Hawaiʻi and around the world.
