Author Archives: jlwaters87

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About jlwaters87

Bachelor of Science in Religion and Philosophy from The University of the Cumberlands. MDiv from Trinity School for Ministry. Pastor at Stanton First Presbyterian Church in Stanton, KY.

Psalm 88: Praying When Hoping is Hard

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O LORD, God of my salvation, I cry out day and night before you. Let my prayer come before you; incline your ear to my cry! Psalm 88:1-2

 

You have caused my beloved and my friend to shun me; my companions have become darkness. Psalm 88:18

 

These verses bookend the cry of Heman the Ezrahite, the cry of the afflicted man. We expect, as the Psalms have trained us thus far, that at the end of this exasperated, barely-breathed lament that there will be some kind of conclusion, some denouement that gently replaces each fallen stone of this poor man’s life. But that’s not what we find. We find that he is forsaken – by his beloved, by his friends. The only companion he has left is the darkness in which he is drowning. Continue reading →

For My Grandmother

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The train is coming.

As surely as the second hand

Moves in ticking repetition,

Counting the days by increments,

It comes.

And the readiness she possesses is not perfect,

But how can one be perfectly ready to leave?

All her leavings until now spoke of now,

The last departure to a far country.

In the station the children walk by

Talking of little everythings,

Filling the hollow with bittersweet tones.

One by one, they come and bid adieu.

And she kisses them

Gently, sweetly,

As a mother should.

Despite the many voices, a unified whisper,

“All aboard.”

Goodnight, and goodbye.

But in the finality of night,

The dawn speaks a limit,

And creation replies in groan –

“For now.”