Dear Human is a Verb Community -

Psalm 23 is probably the most familiar psalm in the world. Most of us have heard it at funerals and memorized it as children.

I’ve been sitting with this psalm for the past several weeks, and I’m reminded that the psalm isn’t about a life without darkness. The shepherd leads the psalmist through the darkest valley, not around it. The table is set in the presence of enemies, not after they’re gone.

The rest I so need is not out there somewhere past the hard thing. The rest is with the Shepherd, inside the hard thing.

I don’t know about you, but I need to be reminded of this almost daily.

About this episode

This episode, the 5th in a seven-episode mini-series, uses Lectio Divina to slowly move through Psalm 23, using a food metaphor. We take a bite of the text, chew it, savor it, and rest while it digests.

You’ll also hear a song I developed based on the psalm called You Might Be Real. You can listen to it directly here: You Might Be Real; Psalm 23. It lives in the gap between “besides still waters” and the actual life most of us are living, where sickness happens, losses arrive without warning, and the valley is real.

Yet, I follow, though I don't feelI hope You might be realEven when I cannot seePlease lead me....If You're near, then show me howTo trust You in the right here nowI don't ask for skies to partJust be the hand that holds my heart

A prayer for hard places

Whether you listen to the full episode or not, I want to offer you this prayer. It’s what came out of me at the end of the recording, and it’s for anyone in a valley right now or anyone loving someone who is.

Shepherd God, you who hold the depths and shape the sea and still stoop to call us by name, we come to you from some very hard places today.

For the ones who are sitting in a hospital room right now, or who are doing the slow, exhausting, sacred work of caring for someone they love who is not going to be the same. God, we need the valley to mean something. We need you to be in it, not just waiting on the other side.

For those who find “I shall not want” almost unbearable to say right now, because they want their life back and don’t want to be this tired, don’t ask them to stop wanting. Just come near.

For the ones who are angry, who have lived through enough already and are not sure they have language for what they’re feeling, you are large enough to hold that. You have held that before. The psalms are full of it.

Prepare a table, even here, even now, even in this presence, even in this grief. Lead the ones who are too worn down to choose a direction. Feed the ones who have been doing all the feeding.

And for those sitting in a silence that is not peaceful but just empty, stay in it with them. Be the thing that does not leave.

Amen.

The full episode, including the breathing practice, the Lectio Divina, and the song, is above. If you’re in a season where you need someone to slow you down and help you pray, I hope you’ll press play.

And if this landed somewhere real for you, would you share it with someone who might need it? That’s genuinely one of the best ways to help this work reach more people.

The Whole Series

If you’ve missed a prayer practice in this series, you can access the first four here:

Here is the full schedule of practices/episodes:

Episode 1, Soften me, Oh God: Psalm 51

Episode 2, Hiding Place: Psalm 32

Episode 3, Still Walking: Psalm 121

Episode 4, Drop Everything: Psalm 95

Episode 5,You Might Be Real: Psalm 23

Episode 6, Wait for Morning: Psalm 130

Episode 7: We Are Still Here; Psalm 118

May you live and breathe and pray in such a way that you grow into your true humanity.

Peace,

Julene

Get full access to Human Is A Verb: Julene Tegerstrand, Ph.D. at humanisaverb.substack.com/subscribe