334 SE Tecumseh Road  P.O. Box 5  Tecumseh, Kansas 66542  (785) 379-5005  Fax - (785) 379-5061

Contact Us: | E-mail | Map & Directions

Singing of Songs - revisited Psalm 137 Three years ago, I wrote a meditation in response to Psalm 137. The fourth verse of that Psalm always jumps out : How could we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land? The question is somewhat haunting for me, especially because of my family’s personal history with immigration. For my mother, being in a foreign land has meant 52 years of homesickness, longing and pining for a place, a culture, a language that she has never been able to put behind her. She is almost 93 years of age, and Alzheimer’s disease is robbing her of memory, as well as her sense of who she is and was. Before Dottie and I left on our recent vacation, I shared with my mother that we were going to visit family in Holland. Her response, in Dutch, was: Oh, I’ve never been there. Just this week, Mama and I looked at the many photographs taken of her five sisters (ages 80-95), the very people for whom she has been heartsick for decades. She did not recognize anyone in the photos. The very people who, aside from her own children, have been most dear to her are now receding into the distance, soon to be totally forgotten. Unlike the Israelites who were captives in Babylon, Mama was not a prisoner or a captive. Nevertheless, her personal sacrifice and experience brought with it great pain and suffering. As her son, even though my own responses and experiences are vastly different, I feel with and for my Mama. And so at this particular time, when I have just been to my native land, when I have just been immersed once again in the language and the culture of my childhood and my youth; especially, when I have been immersed in and surrounded by the love of my incredibly beautiful, warm, close-knit family in The Netherlands; when I have been embraced as the long-lost child from far away; when Dottie has been similarly received with such sincere welcome and love; well, then, perhaps you may understand that right now, that right at this very moment, I too weep very personally as I read that question: How could we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land? Of course, I know that God is with all God’s people, those here, those there, those everywhere. I know that God is with my Mama, no matter what is left of her memory. And yet, and yet - sometimes, we can know all of those things, and still hurt. Can’t we? God be with all families, with my family and with yours. God be with my mother’s beloved sisters, and with Mama. - Pastor Piet – October 14, 2007