Festooning of Psalm 23 by Falon Barton

The Lord is our shepherd, we want for nothing.

When we cannot go to concerts or to restaurants or even to church,

God shows us the trees coming back to life,

and the flowers that are in bloom all around us.

The Lord leads us through the forest, along the banks of Radnor Lake.

For once, we have nothing to distract us.

So God shows us the turtles sunbathing on logs,

the cardinals playing among the tiny new leaves,

the blue jays hopping between branches.

The Lord compels us to breathe, to take note of our souls,

and the Lord begins the long, arduous process of restoration.

As the trees around us resurrect, God breathes new life into our bodies,

into our lives, and we — we resurrect, too.

In the midst of anxiety and hoarding,

in the midst of uncertainty and mystery,

in the midst of fear for our health and finances,

yes, even in the midst of illness and death,

the Lord beckons us to resurrect — to follow the righteous and just paths of the Lord.

We walk in the shadow of the valley of death.

Images of Italian doctors and nurses appear before our eyes as if in a crystal ball.

They warn us of our future.

We weed through headlines about people who maybe could have helped us all, instead of helping their own wallets.

They make us lament our past.

Yet, we are the people of God, and we fear no evil.

The Lord is with us.

Do you hear me, O people of God?

The Lord is with us.

Our God is a protective shield, a guiding compass, a compassionate shepherd.

We take comfort in the presence of the Lord.

We do not know what the immediate future brings,

but we know what the ultimate future has in store.

The Lord prepares a table for us,

and all of us are welcome —

even in the face of tornados,

even in the face of climate change,

even in the face of the corruption, greed, and pride that threatens to overcome us.

Yes, even in the face of invisible, life-upending viruses —

the Lord declares that we are God’s people, and that the Lord is our God,

and the Lord will provide for us in abundance.

Surely, goodness and mercy will follow us all the days of our lives,

and, unafraid of harming one another with an embrace or a hand shake,

we will dwell in the house of the Lord together.