Excerpt from Joel 2:18-29

"You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, who has dealt wondrously with you."

Reflection by Christina Villa

Do you know someone who is perpetually serene, someone who remains calm and in control while everyone else is running around having a catastrastroke? It can be good to have someone like that around to restore perspective and order in the midst of chaos. But sometimes these habitually mellow people get on my nerves. Don’t they ever get upset about anything?  What's the matter with them?

The prophet Joel was not one of these people. "Sound the alarm on my holy mountain! Let all inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming . . . a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness!" Today's scripture picks up after all that is over: the locust plague, the devastation, the scorched earth. All is now well. How did that happen? Was it just a matter of perspective? Of staying calm and realizing that, really, those locusts aren't the end of the world, after all?  Did they just control their breathing and visualize a soothing scene until everything seemed fine again?

Not exactly. This change happened—there's no way around it—because of repentance. Between "Terrible indeed, who can endure it?" and "Do not fear . . . be glad and rejoice," there's this: "Yet even now, says the Lord, return to me with all your heart."

Prayer

God, the next time all I can see are plagues on the horizon, I will try returning to you with all my heart. Amen.

About the Author Christina Villa is on the staff of the United Church of Christ in Cleveland, Ohio.

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