“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; and those who are crushed in spirit he saves. Many are the troubles of the just man, but out of them all the Lord delivers him.” This is a beautiful Psalm, full of words of encouragement. The lessons today remind us that the Lord is good and God is trustworthy! The Lord will hear our distress and rescue us. That is good news indeed!
And yet, there is another story here. It seems to me that it isn’t just about the Lord hearing the cry of the just and destroying the evil doers. If that were the case, none of us would be here long enough to reproduce the species. I don’t think the words of encouragement are sent to make us feel good about our obedience to God. I think we need to feel a tension here between the part of us that is just and the part of us that does not repent of our evil doing. If we are honest, we have to admit that we carry that tension around inside ourselves each day as we decide whether we are going to trust God or trust the ways of this world.
Despite that tension, I think most of us can say that we have felt the Lord come near to us in our distress. Life is difficult but our faith keeps us trying to obey and trusting in God because we know that the Lord hears us. Those of us who have experienced delivery and rescue need to share that witness with those around us that we see who are crushed in spirit, those who are brokenhearted. We need to share those beautiful words of encouragement of how good the Lord is with others. That is one way we can bless the Lord today!
Barbara Dilly
I came to Creighton in 2000 and retired in 2020. My twenty years of teaching, research and service in the Jesuit tradition enhanced my own life. It was an exciting time of celebration. I loved teaching and interacting with Creighton students because they responded so eagerly to the Ignatian pedagogical emphasis on the development of the whole person. It is this spirit of whole person development and celebration of life that I hope to infuse in my reflection writings.
My academic background is eclectic, preparing me well for the Liberal Arts academic environment at Creighton. I earned my BA in World Arts and Cultures from UCLA in 1988 and my Ph.D. in Comparative Cultures from the University of California, Irvine in 1994. My research focused on rural communities in the American Midwest, Latin America, and Australia. I taught Environmental Anthropology, Qualitative Research Methods, Social and Cultural Theory, and Food Studies courses.
I retired to Shell Rock, a small rural community in Northeast Iowa where I enjoy gardening, cooking, quilting, driving my 65 Impala convertible an my 49 Willys Jeepster. I have lots of fun playing my guitars with friends from the Cedar Valley Acoustic Guitar Association. But most importantly, I am still working to make my community and rural America a better place. I host a community quilt studio and serve on the Mission Board of my church. I also serve as the Climate Committee Chair and on the Executive Board of the Center for Rural Affairs.
