Do not remember against us the iniquities of our ancestors; let your compassion come speedily to meet us, for we are brought very low. Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of your name; deliver us, and forgive our sins, for your name’s sake. – Psalm 79:8-9 (NRSV)
Vague spirituality is common in the wake of public tragedies. Politicians send generic “thoughts and prayers” in the wake of a mass shooting. Pastors add the tragedy of a flood to the endless list of “thoughts and prayers” in the bulletin. Journalists publish analytical “thoughts and prayers” about wildfires and hurricanes and starvation within the rush of a news cycle. Many of us publicize our “thoughts and prayers,” too: Substack essays about whether to mourn or to rage; Facebook posts about whether to set politics aside or to organize with partisan passion; tweets that sympathize and tweets that blame.
Explicitly woven throughout the massive word cloud of so many thoughts and prayers: a cry for compassion.
Implicitly understood in our thoughts and prayers: a certainty that we (collectively) will not be convicted by the iniquities of this tragedy, or the next one, or the next one.
Because vague spirituality prefers not to remember past sins or to contend with present wickedness.
Vague spirituality prays for deliverance from our unresolved histories but not for resolution itself, and certainly not for reparations.
Vague spirituality talks a lot about speedy compassion, in pursuit of shared forgetfulness.
Vague spirituality is Psalm 79:8 without Psalm 79:9—a prayer for relief without a desire for salvation.
Salvation does the hard work of holistic relief, not swept-under-the-rug consolation. Salvation is relief plus remembrance. It is compassion plus reparation. It is grace plus accountability. Salvation is a prayer wed to an ongoing commitment. Salvation is a thought born of disillusionment and confession, enfleshed in grace and humility. Salvation seeks the glory of the holy whole, not the Band-Aid of the few.
Prayer: Forgive me, O God. I have no prayers for the wicked and little hope for their redemption. Turn my thoughts to a holier and whole-ier salvation, for your name’s sake.
cross-published with the UCC Daily Devotional