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| Not our actual fort! |
Hymn:
“God of Our Fathers”
Text:
Daniel C. Roberts (1841-1907)
Tune:
NATIONAL HYMN
On
the hillside just above the house I grew up in, my cousins and I built a fort
out of discarded construction pallets. My mama called it our “hide out.” We
spent countless hours in the tiny structure… maybe 6’ x 6’, imagining how we
would fend off all manner of enemy attempting to overtake our secured
thirty-six square feet of safety.
Somehow,
memories of that little wooden fortress come mind when I sing the third stanza
of this hymn. True: not one alarm of war or threat of pestilence ever menaced
us as we played army; but we were convinced that we could defeat anything that
came our way.
During
these days while we are confined to our homes with only our closest family
members, a deadly pestilence lurks outside… perched to attack even the
most-Purelled soldier. We are cut off from our fellow-defenders, connected only
by the latest technologies. Even our corporate worship isn’t really corporate
anymore.
Most
of us, I’d wager, have been a bit more spiritual recently: praying more,
readily turning to Scripture, reading devotional poetry and literature,
watching more hymn-based videos on Facebook. That’s because we have come to
realize more profoundly than ever that the strong arm of God is indeed our
ever-sure defense. We are leaning on the Everlasting’s arms, safe and secure
from all alarms -- believing that it is there we will truly find refuge… we
will be fortressed against all forces that might offend… even the unseen Corona
Virus.
Like
my cousins and I gathered within the walls of an ill-built fort, hiding out
from all the troops of the imagined enemy, I hope you and I will continue to
huddle inside the embracing arms of the Almighty whose refuge is not
ill-constructed to keep us safe from the not-imagined enemy of our world today.
May
the true religion to which we are committed increase. May God’s bounteous
goodness nourish us in peace. Amen.
