Page 5 - Your Extravagant Kindness

created in the image of Godde as beloved creatures – and only discern the goodness or evil of
our actions so that we can correct whatever leads us away from blessing.

This is so important that I want to say it again: we begin with the affirmation that the Creator
of the Universe is in love with Creation. You are Godde's Beloved.

In our hearts – at the centre of our being – we are inspired by Godde, we have the capacity to
reflect Godde's goodness. Yet, once we've crossed a line that marks proximity to Godde – and
move away from trusting and listening to Godde – it becomes easier for us to act contrary to

the will of Godde. And it is in this contrariness that we see the extraordinary vulnerability that
has been manifested by the Love that created us and the Love which seeks to restore us to our
deepest most loving human potential.

When we assert our own individual and often ill-informed will, we distance ourselves from
Godde and others. Traditionally this crossing over an intuitive and/or taught line (of
demarcation that signifies relationship with Godde) has been called trespass. Not complying

with divine guidelines for living is labelled “sin” a term understood to mean “missing the
mark.” Raised in a world where “sin” has been used too often as a weapon against the
vulnerable; where “sin” is a word that is often ignored, I’ve sometimes substituted the words
“broken” or “wounded.” These adjectives help us understand that we are works in progress.

We cannot heal if we deny or ignore our wounds or brokenness. We are invited to examine
our thoughts, words, and actions, but before we do this, we recall the divine love that
surrounds and supports us. Notice how often the Psalmist vacillates between

lamenting/blaming/raging, and giving thanks for Godde's power and mercy.

In working with these psalms, I have compared various translations, pondering the nuances of
difference between the translations. I have taken liberties with line breaks and word order and
have added or subtract some words, knowing that many of the phrases offered to us in the

various authorized editions, are translated from phrases that are no longer fully understood
even by those whose first language is Hebrew. I understand my work as a poetic endeavour
rather than a work of translation. I am a contemporary poet in conversation with ancient

poetry. I find I approach a phrase differently from one day to another depending upon the
influences of that moment in my life.

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In some ways Righteousness and righteous could be seen as descriptions of our proximity to