Week 7

"When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like a people who dream.


Then our mouth was filled with laughter and our tongue with shouts of joy.


Then it was said among the nations, the Lord has done great things for them.


The Lord has done great things for us and we rejoice." (Psalm 126:1-3)





This was the part of Psalm 126 that I carried with me as I ran this past week. I think this Psalm comes out of the time when Israel was in exile and longing to be restored to her land. As I was running, I thought about what it must be like to be exiled from one's home, removed from that place of safety and security against one's will and forced to live in some other place not of one's choosing. I can imagine that after a while it's hard to dream when you live in exile. I can imagine that the longer the exile continues the harder it is to remember what it was like before and the harder it is also to imagine any kind of hopeful future.





I wondered if this Psalm was written while the people were still in exile or if it was written after they were allowed to return to their homes. Was it written in celebration of something that had already happened or was it written to inspire hope and faithfulness in those who were continuing to live in exile with no end in sight?





Either way, I imagine these words were helpful to the people who sang them and held them in their hearts. It will be possible to dream again. The Lord has not left us completely but will or has restored our fortunes. Maybe the people were able to laugh and shout with joy even in the midst of their time of exile. Maybe they could find things to be happy about and to give thanks to God for even if some of their physical circumstances were less than ideal. I hope this is so.





As I was musing about Israel and her time of exile I started also thinking about the people of Haiti and realized that in some ways many Haitian people have been living in exile since the earthquake. They are still in their country but their homes and so much of what they relied on is destroyed, no longer part of their day to day reality. Where are they finding hope? Are they finding the strength and the imagination to be able to dream of a future not marked by the challenges of living without a home? Or, are the day to day struggles simply to stay alive draining all of their energy and creativity?





I don't know the answer to these questions but I pray that somehow in the midst of all this loss and chaos and ongoing threat of further disaster as the rainy season quickly approaches and people still don't have adequate shelter that the people of Haiti are finding ways to continue to dream, to still be able to laugh and rejoice, in some way. I pray these words from Psalm 126 as I run and I dream of a day when Haiti will be a strong, independent, just and peaceful nation. Maybe if they can't dream right now it will help if those of us who live relatively easy, stable lives can dream and hope for them and on their behalf.





I dedicate all my hours of running, all the sweat and muscle aches and moments when I can't imagine taking another step to Haiti. I am developing the ability to dream of what it will be like to run 26.2 miles. I am developing the mental and physical and spiritual strength needed to make my way through this test of endurance. I pray for Haiti's marathon of recovery and hope that each day she grows in mental, physical and spiritual strength and that every day that the compassion of those who are helping with the recovery along with their desire to be partners in the recovery and not dictators of it wins out over exhaustion, judgment, paternalism and fatalism.





When the Lord restored the fortunes of Haiti, we were like a people who dream.


Then our mouth was filled with laughter and our tongue with shouts of joy.


Then it was said among the nations, the Lord has done great things for them.


The Lord has done great things, and we rejoiced.