When we lived in Virginia 30-odd years ago, I attended the Lay School at Virginia Theological Seminary. It was scheduled in the evenings so I could go after work and was taught by the same professors that served the seminarians. I took Hebrew one year but unfortunately, like so much in life, "if you don't use it you lose it "as they say. One word that has stuck with me through the years is hesed, steadfast love and mercy, God's steadfast love and mercy for us and for all creation.

God's steadfast love and mercy echo through all the lessons appointed for today. From the collect calling for God's mercy, through the story of God's providing a way through the Red Sea/Sea of Reeds for the Israelites escaping from Pharaoh's army, where we see God's hesed at work in the world. The psalmist celebrates that event in his response (as does the alternative, Moses and Miriam's songs which are considered to be some of our earliest scriptures. In my Hebrew class, we memorized Exodus 15:21 in Hebrew along with other foundational verses, but they are long gone today.) In Paul's epistle to the Romans, he urges us to be merciful to those who are different, who have different perceptions of how to walk in the way of the Lord. He says, "Whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's," always enfolded in the steadfast love and mercy of God. And then our gospel points out that it is forgiveness that paves the way of love for one another, that through mirroring the steadfast love and mercy of God we can bring reconciliation into all our conflicts, no matter their magnitude.

We, each and all, are indwelt with hesed at the center of our souls. It is up to us, right here/right now, to allow it to bloom in our lives in all its fullness.