Psalm 62: 1-2: “Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from him. Truly he is my rock and my salvation, he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.”

The readings of Advent are not nearly as comfortable as the themes of peace, joy and happiness in the “outside world” at this time of year. The Scriptures for this particular day deal with the destruction of the city of Damascus, the imprisonment of the Beast that has been deluding mankind for eons, and even a rather cross lecture from Jesus to the unbelieving temple priests. But then we come to the Psalms—specifically Psalm 61 and 62—and I suggest that anyone who tends to be despondent at this time of year read these psalms.

Truth to tell, this is not a particularly cheery time for me. I have some unpleasant and unexpected complications from my surgery last March, coupled with a nasty and lingering head cold; my oldest daughter is still suffering physically, emotionally, and mentally from Long Covid; one of my customers (whose name is now Mud) is delaying payment for a large order which was due 6 weeks ago; consequently, one of my rent checks was returned NSF (I believed Mud when he said “the check’s in the mail”, stupid me); and to top it off, our drains became clogged this week, requiring a messy and complicated repair that cost $4000, which we didn’t have.

But we have the assurance that God is our rock and our fortress. Thus, our beloved family has come forward to bail us out financially; I have every confidence that God will provide healing for me and my daughter, through the excellent doctors he has provided. And Mud? Well, he is in God’s hands; if God can imprison the Beast through his angel, I expect he can encourage Mud to pay us, and our landlord to be...understanding. Or maybe he won’t, but whatever happens, we know that “He is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, and I will not be shaken.” And that is worth more than all the holiday cheer and expensive presents and parties in the world!

Jackie Halstead