The Psalter, an ancient songbook, proclaims a timely message for our world today, insisting that questions about spirituality and concerns for justice are inseparable. This summer, we will read the Psalms in ways that honor the Hebrew texts, contexts, and their questions – through the lens of faith and justice.
With Walter Brueggemann’s The Message of the Psalms as our guide, we will move through the Psalter in three parts:
- Psalms of orientation (June)
- Psalms of disorientation (July)
- Psalms of new orientation (August)
We’ll do this work by drawing on the rich content of the past year’s Faith and Justice curriculum. Video excerpts from webinars, quotes from readings, and reflections that arose along the way will enrich our study of the Psalter.
If you think this might be a fabulous way to review an experience that has felt, at times, like drinking from a fire hydrant, you’d be right! Or, if you are new to the Faith and Justice Network, this summer will be an excellent time to jump into our community.
According to Brueggemann, the Psalms express longing for justice and liberation, and to read these songs in such a light “does not reduce the Psalms to political documents. It rather insists that our spirituality must answer to the God who is present where the questions of justice and order, transformation and equilibrium are paramount.”
Indeed, to journey into the Psalms is to move deeper into a life of faith and justice – and that’s what we’ll be doing this summer.