I fear no evil, for thou art with me.
Psalm 23:4

      Recently I was listening to a radio talk show. The guest had just won an award for outstanding public service in mental health. When one caller with a sad voice finished a horrific story about the effects of her sister's schizophrenia on the lives of her seven children, I was overwhelmed by a sense of hopelessness and started to reach over to turn off the radio. But the guest said, "The good news is that you are not alone." He went on to give the caller a phone number she could call to find a community group of people with similar problems.
      I recently read Anita Diamant's The Red Tent, a fictional account of the lives of the women in Jacob's family (son of Rebecca and Isaac). The mixture of joy and suffering, good and evil, strong and broken people was both fascinating and distressing. The narrator closes the story with the words, "Wherever you walk, I go with you." As I was thinking about how important it is for people not to feel alone, Melanie Harding's Running In Faith contribution two weeks ago contained the same message. I think the assertion that God is always with us bears re-iteration.

Dear God,
      Thank you for your comforting presence in our daily lives and for the community of fellow travelers that surrounds us, all willing to stretch out a hand, even through time, when we feel concern. Amen.

Contributed by Susan L.
Published Sunday June 12, 2005
Week 29 of Liturgical Year A