Monday, December 21, 2020
Vulnerability before God
An excerpt from 1 Samuel 1:1-18 (NRSV)
Hannah answered, ‘No, my lord, I am a woman deeply troubled; I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the Lord.’
Reflection from Max Smith:
Hannah’s faith, dignity and hope are great treasures. Childless and rebuked daily by her “sister-wife”, she pleads with God to grant her a son. Rebuked again, this time by Eli, Priest of the temple, she responds with integrity and honesty.
She is unashamed to be caught wholly vulnerable. When I am willing to be as unguarded as Hannah, as intimate with God, as trusting, as full of faith in God’s power to deliver, the comfort of God never fails me.
For further study and prayer, the readings assigned for today are:
Luke 1:46b-55; 1 Samuel 1:1-18; Hebrews 9:1-14
Painting by Ellie Stadelmann, “A Woman.”
Music
“Woman, Why Weepest Thou?”
by Rob Gardner
“Woman, why sorrowest thou?
Know ye not that heaven’s eyes
are on thee?”