Let Your Light Shine Day 17
By the rivers of Babylon there we sat weeping when we remembered Zion.
If I forget you, Jerusalem, may my right hand forget. May my tongue stick to my palate if I do not remember you. Psalm 137:1, 5-6
Yesterday was Palm Sunday, the commencement of Holy Week. I did not get to sing my favorite hymns, “All Glory Laud & Honor” and “Ride on, Ride on, in Majesty”. It was tragically silent everywhere I went, when normally Palm Sunday is full of people getting ready for the joyous Easter-tide and Spring Break vacations. Yesterday, this heartbreaking Psalm ran through my head instead of songs of joy: “By the rivers of Babylon there we sat weeping when we remembered Zion.”
Biblical scholars explain this passage in the Catholic online bible that I read as follows:
“A singer refuses to sing the people’s sacred songs in an alien land despite demands from Babylonian captors. The singer swears an oath by what is most dear to a musician—hands and tongue—to exalt Jerusalem always.”
I remember a time when I accidentally slammed my hand into the car door. Beyond the pain, I was terribly worried about the effect that this injury would have on my musical work. To be a musician, you need two hands! The worry over my hand caused me to pass out on the kitchen floor while I was running my hand under cold water to stop the swelling. My poor husband had to rush me to the hospital for a Bruise! However, that is how connected a singer or musician is to their art. For the writer of this Psalm to refuse to sing the songs of their homeland in captivity, and to swear an oath by their “hands and tongue,” they must have been heartbroken to the point of death.
I remember the simple freedoms I took for granted just three short weeks ago. I could not hug my baby brother when he came home from California yesterday, because he had just come from the airport, and another “hot spot” State. Prior to this virus, I could never have imagined that I would not feel safe hugging my brother! If you told me that there would be a Palm Sunday in my lifetime where the whole country was legally forbidden from congregating to celebrate a pinnacle feast in the life of the Church, I would not have believed you. “By the rivers of Babylon there we sat weeping when we remembered Zion.” What a powerful image of the simple freedoms that so many of us took for granted prior to this virus.
“If I forget you, Jerusalem, may my right hand forget. May my tongue stick to my palate if I do not remember you.” Let this Psalm be a powerful reminder today of the good gifts that we all used to enjoy prior to the virus. The ability to hug our family members; the ability to join together to celebrate holidays, birthdays, weddings, and funerals; the ability to go to restaurants and enjoy good food and wine-- these are the simple freedoms in life that we must remember. It is the memory of our former joy and freedom that will spur us on to stay healthy, restore our freedom, and truly enjoy, and be grateful for, our full lives when they are restored after this virus.
“Holy Spirit, restore our freedom and joy, just as you restored the people of Israel after Babylonian captivity. Heal our bodies and heal our spirits from this virus and governmental restrictions. Bless all the people who work to heal and protect us from harm. Thank you that Your love and power have the ability to turn even the darkest situation into a moment of Grace. Amen.”