After scanning today’s headlines —
by Elouise
A rude and rootless nation
Sits in the seat of scoffers
Indignant and outraged
Lock her up!
Lock him up!
Lock them up!
And throw away the key!
Chaff tossed on winds
Of overwrought words
Ruthless and homeless
We drift toward destruction
Lost in the wilderness
Of our own undoing
I’ve almost always read Psalm 1 with my life in mind. It’s a Psalm about choosing the way of wisdom, rather than the way of folly. I still think that’s a fair way of reading it.
Nonetheless, it’s also a Psalm directed to a nation of human beings with human leaders who make choices both wise and foolish. Not that everyone agrees to go one way or the other. There’s more than enough folly and wisdom to share on all sides.
It seems our nation is drifting down the path of folly. Often following in the footsteps of leaders who say and do foolish things. Or who respond to one kind of foolishness with another kind. Equally unrestrained and destructive.
Hence this reading of Psalm 1 as a cautionary tale. If we aren’t part of the wise resistance, we’re in danger of finding ourselves headed downhill along the destructive path of fools. Also known as the wicked who are like chaff driven by the wind. Drifting toward our demise. Full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.
© Elouise Renich Fraser, 23 October 2018
Photo of winnowing wheat taken in Iran by David Murphy, fineartamerica.com
Telling the Truth 
What a lovely post. I’m thinking a lot about anger just now, and how it is never effective, and never the answer, and only ever says anything useful about the person being angry, not the target.
I’m loving “The Choice” By Edith Eger, btw. Thanks for the recommendation. I’m pleased to see how far we have come to agreement, on many things! 😀 xx
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Thanks for this comment, Fran! I think anger has its place (as a signal something isn’t right), yet using it in the public arena takes fine-tuning if we want to be heard and redirected–which, it seems to me, is the goal of anger. Something isn’t right that needs to be brought round right–not by way of raw anger, but wise discernment about ourselves, not just about ‘the other.’ It’s gotten pretty noisy in the public (and probably private) arena right now. 😦
On a happy note: I so glad you’re enjoying Edith Eger’s book! And being in agreement with me about so many things…. 🙂
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