Hatreds and Hope [Psalm 137 - Proper 22C]
The Rev. Jeremiah Williamson Psalm 137 Hatreds and Hope There are parts of the Bible that are difficult to read. There are scriptures that are difficult to read because they are confusing or obscure. There are passages that are difficult to read because they are nothing more than a long list of unfamiliar, difficult-to-pronounce names. And then there is Psalm 137 – a chapter of the Bible that is difficult to read because the writer says things in this psalm that most of us would never otherwise utter. The writer paints a picture that is simply too gut-wrenching to imagine, to disturbing to envision. And it is a prayer. A prayer that feels wrong; a prayer that causes one’s tongue to retreat from the poetry. But not one’s mind and not one’s soul. The soul, it seems, cannot help but puzzle over that disturbing final verse, forcing us to wrestle with the haunting question of why: why is this verse found in our sacred, holy scr...