A day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere.

 

Saturday, August 5, 2023


Psalms 82; 84

2 Samuel 13:20-14:3

John 10:19-39


Observance: Oswald, king and martyr (d. 642)


A day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere.


The BBC World Service recently produced a program on the exciting world of boredom. They went into the fascinating psychological and physical aspects of boredom; where it comes from; why it happens; and suggested a few reasons as to how it might be made useful for human flourishing. However, one cannot help but hear these well-meaning and thorough investigations into the human condition theologically.


There seems almost to be a pathological need to escape boredom. The whole ritual of clocking off from work, racing to the bottle shop, racing home again, finding a new recipe for dinner with which to kill an extra hour or two before bed, and then slumping on the couch flicking through the first five minutes of innumerable television programs and movies on one’s preferred streaming service: where does this come from?


Our Psalmist speaks of choosing between two worlds. One is the world of the Lord’s grace: a place where even the sparrows feel safe raising their young, a happy home filled with singing, a place where dry lands are filled with springs and pools, a solid structure of a house. The other place is anything but. “Tents of wickedness” does not sound particularly appealing. It describes a place where one is always on the move, and nowhere is safe to stop for any length of time.


The dwelling-place of the Lord is a wonderful place to be. There is no reason not to go there right now. In fact, we are there already: the Holy Spirit has made the body of every believer the temple of God (1 Cor 6:19). What do we know of boredom? The moment we get our minds out of the rush and bustle of the world and realise where we really are, our hearts sing for joy to the living God.



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