Page 6 - Your Extravagant Kindness

Godde. It is not what we do that makes us righteous but where we locate ourselves. When we
move close to Godde then divine grace has the capacity to forgive, even transform/redeem

our failings; Godde's love stands in for, filling the void of, our failures in love – Of course this is
metaphorical language – for how else can one speak of One who is so different from us? But
understanding “righteousness” as location, (drawing close to Godde with humility and trust)
rather than the accomplishment of good deeds, is the only way most of us, including a man

with blood on his hands like David, could ever be described as “righteous.” Sometimes I have
substituted “integrity” for “righteousness,” hinting at the authenticity or wholeness that
comes from being the person one is created to be, most easily experienced by being located in

Godde’s loving presence.

With David I understand the impulse to flee from Godde's presence when I have failed to be
loving and just, but I also understand that I am invited to return and request Godde’s

forgiveness so that I might be transformed, so that I might serve as a partner in the healing of
Creation. Godde is not honoured or glorified if / when I/we become lost in woundedness.

* * *

At times I have taken liberties with metaphors. Tropes such as the “apple of my eye” no
longer startle us. I have made adjustments to many of the poetical images of the Psalms
which no longer speak to our post-modern (often urbanized) imaginations. I believe many of
us can resonate with the array of emotions – and the witness of the struggle to live as a

faithful embodied-spirit – that can be found within these poems.

Book One, Psalms 1-41 revised, Lent 2021.
Jan Jorgensen, Richford, Vermont.