November 4: Cornerstone

After they had given them a severe flogging, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to keep them securely. Following these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. (Acts 16:23-25)

How often have you seen a movie or television show have a character end up in prison only to sit there dejected and hopeless, singing in almost monotone voice, “Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen, nobody knows my sorrow?”

It is one of those songs that I associate with despair. Despair is more than sorrow or trouble… despair is a complete lack of hope, it is the loss of life. Soren Kierkegaard calls despair the sickness unto death, and considers it actually worse than death itself.

So why do I reflect on this now? Because this is not the song Paul and Silas are singing – they are singing hymns to God… and whatever they are singing everyone WANTS to listen to (even in the middle of the night).

I imagine we all have visuals of characters and people in jail that go a different route – that are filled with anger and rage and ready to strike out at anyone who comes near them. Anger and rage may just be very similar to despair – because they aren’t a way towards life and hope and they are as destructive to the person who is consumed by them as they are to the object of their hate.

Paul and Silas do not hate, in fact a few verses later they will stop the guard from killing himself.

And of course we all have seen lots of shows and movies about prison breaks, there was even a television show called Prison Break. Here there are daring and intricate plots to escape the cell that holds the person. Paul and Silas do not break out of prison. In fact when the jail cells are rocked open in the earthquake a point is made (in saving the guard from killing himself) that they are all still there. Not only has Paul and Silas not left, everyone is sitting in their cells – not running!

Despair… Fight… Flight… these are response we know and expect in moments of great adversity. We lose hope. We strike out. We run from reality.

Paul and Silas go a different route. They sing hymn and say prayers to God. They witness hope to the other prisoners and captivate them with their faith. They show love and grace to the guard and not only save his life but offer a new way of life to that guard’s entire family. And finally they push a confrontation with the very people who put them in jail in order to unmask that what was done was wrong, they don’t flee but their confrontation is not one of malice and hate.

Their actions are counter to all our instincts. Their actions are based in a very deep trust in God – more than I can imagine. Their actions are rooted in a hope that survives beatings, shackling, mocking… they have an abundant life that cannot be contained.

How do we get that life? Haven’t you ever met someone who so exuded grace and quiet peace and said to yourself – I want that! Here is the thing… you don’t just get “that”… you live it. You practice it – you let grace shape you so you can shape your life and the lives around you with grace.

You learn to allow sorrow – without falling into despair.
You learn to confront injustice – without resorting to anger and hate.
You learn trust God – without needing to flee adversity.
And you learn it all one small step at time… and until then – you sing.

What is causing you sorrow… anger… fear?
Have you spoken your grief, angst and anxiety to God… to a companion?
Do you trust that God is strong enough for you… with you in your pain… enabling you to have life?

God our Cornerstone,
It truly is you that holds our worlds together. So often we find ourselves too weak and helpless, and we move to despair. Remind us that you are not too weak to hold us up. Strengthen us to respond in trust and love to a world that too often stays in anger, hate and fear. Amen.