— Midweek Meditations:
thoughts, inspiration and encouragement
from ACF community members —
The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.
Psalm 28:7
A shield, armor against evil. Pondering my topic for a meditation, I fell upon the metaphor of a shield. Two reasons: The first is because I am in the hospital, surrounded by lead walls. Nothing terribly serious. Many of you know I have been annoyed by Graves disease, a thyroid dysfunction that can also affect one’s eyes (as in my case). We living in Germany are, as Vinod also experienced, blessed with excellent health care. And so it was decided that a bolus of radioactive iodine shrink the thyroid, the trouble-maker. I am not in discomfort, but rather enjoying forced solitude. Yes, surrounded by lead walls, floors and doors until I stop glowing, my thoughts wandered to this image of a shield. The walls shield the public from….me!!
The other reason for this metaphor comes from an early TV show in the US, “The Twilight Zone”. It was a delightfully unique mixture of science fiction, the bizarre and morality show. One particular episode, “Time Enough at Last”, came to mind. In it, the actor Burgess Meredith plays a character, Harry Bemis. Bemis is rather downtrodden, belittled by his boss at his job at a bank, tormented by his wife. All he really wants to do is read. One day, he happens to be in the vault of the bank and there is a nuclear attack. Everyone except him is killed. But there are still buildings, including the public library. Harry survives the attack owing to the protection of the vault and is thrilled to finally have enough time to be able to read to his heart’s content. He was shielded by the walls of the vault from the harmful effects of the bomb.
This concept of the protection of the vault or, in my case, the leaden walls, makes me think of the shield that is God’s love around us. Around you, around me. I searched for Bible references to “shield” and found that all appear in the Old Testament. Odd. But I think Ephesians 6:16 has the clue as to why: “In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one.”
And so the transition to the New Testament comes where we read in John: “For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.” Our shield is our faith. Our faith is our shield. I imagine – that is my faith – that it is God, surrounding and protecting me like these lead walls. Not necessarily protecting me from harm or injury or tragedy, but enfolding me in love and grace. How comforting. I want to take and keep with me this image of God between me and that which can hurt me. May you walk in the vault of God’s love as well.
The ACF Midweek Meditations
are written by a diverse group of our church members with the intention to seek God’s fingerprints in our lives. They range from somber to humorous and are inspired by all facets of live and faith. Written by ordinary people from all walks of life, they reflect a wide range of Christian backgrounds and spiritualities.
Each week’s text portrays the individual viewpoint of its author. They might not always resonate with everyone, and are not meant to be understood as representing the Anglican Church Freiburg as a whole. Yet, as a church that is aiming to ‘Build a Community of Grace’ we seek to practice learning from and listening to one another.
We pray that these humble ponderings add a small spark of blessing to your week.
Freiburg Anglican Church 