Amelia

     As a young boy, I was fascinated by the life and mysterious ending of Amelia Earhart. I dreamed of some day being a pilot, and I have always loved mysteries. A few months ago, I watched the 2019 National Geographic documentary on the search for evidence of her final crash landing. New technology enabled scanning of the steep Nikumaroro Island beach and ocean shelf for remaining pieces. The corrosive salt water would destroy most metals over time. The waves and tide would wash away rest. Could they find any clues? Aircraft aluminum would not rust over the decades. Would there be anything lasting that could point to her final resting place? I won't spoil the mystery if you haven't seen it. I will point to reality of what lasts and what fades away. Today's Psalm is a beautiful tribute to God's unending, unfading awesomeness.

     After reading, consider what things you still have after a long amount of time. What things are in exactly the same shape as when you bought or acquired them? Do you collect things, and do they increase in value because you have kept them carefully from any form of decay? 

Psalm 102:12-28

But you, O Lord, are enthroned forever; your name endures to all generations.

You will rise up and have compassion on Zion, for it is time to favor it; the appointed time has come.

For your servants hold its stones dear, and have pity on its dust.

The nations will fear the name of the Lord, and all the kings of the earth your glory.

For the Lord will build up Zion; he will appear in his glory.

He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and will not despise their prayer.

Let this be recorded for a generation to come, so that a people yet unborn may praise the Lord:

that he looked down from his holy height, from heaven the Lord looked at the earth,

to hear the groans of the prisoners, to set free those who were doomed to die;

so that the name of the Lord may be declared in Zion, and his praise in Jerusalem,

when peoples gather together, and kingdoms, to worship the Lord.

He has broken my strength in midcourse; he has shortened my days.

“O my God,” I say, “do not take me away at the mid-point of my life, you whose years endure throughout all generations.”

Long ago you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.

They will perish, but you endure; they will all wear out like a garment. You change them like clothing, and they pass away;

but you are the same, and your years have no end.

The children of your servants shall live secure; their offspring shall be established in your presence.

God of all the ages run, you are the ending and the beginning far beyond our understanding and existence. We give you thanks for all good things that last. We praise you for short and wonderfully vibrant times in our lives that were fleeting but wonderful. We give you glory for all the things that we have had and lost, we can not hold them, but nothing is lost to you. We are deeply grateful to those that we have known and loved. We adore you for your embrace and welcome of  all who have entered your eternal now. In the Name of the Alpha and the Omega, we pray. Amen.