This piece is, just as it says, a product of a disturbed night's sleep, prompted by rumination over recent events and the experience of a couple of friends, both in the past and currently. But following on from some reading and writing I started during my sabbatical, I woke to read dome notes I made when reading Paula Gooder's "Journalling the Psalms", and particularly Psalms 23 and 40.
There are numerous Psalms that seem to owe their origins to the times when David was unjustly on the run because of others' betrayal, either being hunted by Saul's forces, or during his son's rebellion. We don't know whether they were written by David or inspired by his story, but they have continued to speak into others' stories, including my own, right down to the present day, even though few of us (thankfully) have experienced the existential peril that David did. Few of us also have a working knowledge of the life of a shepherd beyond "One Man and his Dog" or "Shaun the Sheep" yet Psalm 23 continues to resonate in a powerful way, that I have reflected on previously... I may reblog/repost that piece tomorrow. But here is what emerged from my more recent ponderings...
I stir in the night, sweating,
feeling hunted by twin hounds
“What If” and “If Only”
seeking to finish me off, convinced
that my naivety and arrogance
conspired with the schemes of others
to drive me out of the place
that I thought was home.
But with the dawn I awake
to lampposts and road signs
installed in the still dark valley,
delineating a path to a better place,
whilst behind me I discover
the slavering hounds driven off
by two ever-faithful sheepdogs,
“Goodness” and “Mercy.”
Selah
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