Grace calls us home: Speaking to the Soul, November 13, 2015

 November can often be a hard month. It can be a month of losses, starting with losing that precious hour of daylight when the clocks change. It is also the month of All Souls' Day and Veterans' Day and my late father's birthday- he would have been 93 years old tomorrow, and not a day goes by that I don't miss him. Yet November is also the month of Thanksgiving and homecoming, of love, friendship, and gratitude. 

November is the month when I think many of us need a shepherd to lead and protect us most of all. So when Thursday's daily office readings presented us with the 23rd Psalm, I felt the psalter singing me home.

The Good Shepherd, Trinity Episcopal Church, Tulsa.

My Shepherd is the Lord of Hope

For all my needs, my God provides;

In verdant fields God gives me rest,

By still waters are You my guide

Along the paths of righteousness;

For your Love’s sake my soul revives.

In wilderness or valley deep

My Shepherd’s voice I always hear.

No hand of evil troubles me

Although the stars be dimmed by fear

For death’s long shadow has no weight

While my Savior is ever near.

The guidance of the Lord of Love

Is comfort, salvation, and peace;

Before my foes I tremble not

For You bid me to rest and eat,

Attended by the Holy One

Whose love and mercies never cease.

My cup o’erflows with blessings, Lord,

My Shepherd knows my name;

With holy oil, You seal my heart,

Your mercy, bright within me, reigns;

When all my wandering days are through

Grace surely calls me home again. 



This post was first published at Episcopal Cafe's Speaking to the Soul on November 13, 2015.