By Brian Yoder Schlabach, News & Media Manager
Scripture: Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24 (NRSV)
This happens to be my last week of work at Goshen College.
I’ve been here nearly 10 years, and for most of that time, I’ve been the one managing these online devotions alongside campus pastors. But I’m a communications person, not so much a theological one, so I feel much more comfortable behind the scenes than I do putting my face alongside my thoughts for a Lenten reflection.
But we needed someone to write today’s devotion, so here we go.
This week’s theme is “From Certainty to Openness,” which is an interesting thing to reflect on as I transition between two places of employment on Easter weekend. Endings and beginnings. Can an illustration be more on the nose; moving from the certainty of a job you know well and feel comfortable in, into the openness of a new career adventure, full of unknowns, yet ready for what’s to come?
During major life changes, sometimes the line in the sand between the old and new is very clear, sometimes less so. We call this liminal space – a limbo between the “before” and “after.” Whether you know what’s coming next or not, this is a period of waiting, of reflection, of growth, of openness. In the Easter story, it’s those three days that Jesus is in the tomb. Something is happening, although all appears calm on the surface. The future is unknown, and it is full of possibilities. A quiet time of reflection where we learn to trust a deeper wisdom within ourselves.
As we move from the confidence of knowing how things are, to the unsettling openness of what’s next, my hope is that we are able to surrender our certainties and make space for the unknown.
Scripture: Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24 (NRSV)
O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his steadfast love endures forever!
2Let Israel say, “His steadfast love endures forever.”
14The Lord is my strength and my might; he has become my salvation.
15There are glad songs of victory in the tents of the righteous: “The right hand of the Lord does valiantly;
16the right hand of the Lord is exalted; the right hand of the Lord does valiantly.”
17I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the Lord.
18The Lord has punished me severely, but he did not give me over to death.
19Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord.
20This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it.
21I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation.
22The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.
23This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.
24This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.