Turn Gloom to Noon

¹⁰ And if you give yourself to the hungry
And satisfy the desire of the afflicted,
Then your light will rise in darkness
And your gloom will become like midday.

These words haunt me. In a good way. (like Casper) In this Scripture the cure for gloom isn't more stuff, more noise, more church gatherings. It is serving people who are hurting. The cure is getting up and giving some love away.  

I love to try all kinds of other things to cure my gloom.  Almost anything will do in a pinch, to shove down the sad. To quiet the disquiet. But when I engage with the Scriptures, and with Jesus, I find I am challenged to turn the focus outward and love someone else. 

I do not understand this. I struggle to live this. Often I don't even struggle...I just wallow in the not-living-this. 

But I do find hope in Isaiah 58 with the challenge to love and serve. To share my things, my time, to give something to someone afflicted with anything. 

¹¹ “And the Lord will continually guide you,
And satisfy your desire in scorched places,
And give strength to your bones;
And you will be like a watered garden,
And like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.
¹² “Those from among you will rebuild the ancient ruins;
You will raise up the age-old foundations;
And you will be called the repairer of the breach,
The restorer of the streets in which to dwell.

Some Scriptures are like a meal. The richness of the poetry is dwarfed by the enormity of the kingdom of heaven pressing down on all the small things, snuffing out any vanity or futility of a life spent chasing anything else but a part in that kingdom.

Hopesprings in Sioux City has this way of life at the center of who we are, of who we are becoming. Today it looks like sharing some time with some kids at an after-school program that is centered in a low-income neighborhood. We hope it may grow into a partnership...into a place where relationships are built and maybe even some streets get restored.

May we give ourselves to anyone hungry around us, realizing we get a meal for our deepest hunger in the process.