From concrete

Laura Digan December 18, 2023 4 2

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Psalm 126: 4-6 (NRSVA)

4 

Restore our fortunes, O Lord,
    like the watercourses in the Negeb.

5 

May those who sow in tears
    reap with shouts of joy.

6 

Those who go out weeping,
    bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy,
    carrying their sheaves.

Me and my son Mikael have a shared love of the late rapper Tupac Shakur. Tupac wrote a collection of poems called The Rose that Grew from the Concrete.

The title poem, about a rose growing from concrete because “it learned to walk” is short and powerful. The piece ends: “Long live the rose that grew from concrete / when no one else ever cared.”

The image of this rose growing through the cracks in the concrete kept my son going when he was going through a very difficult time in his life. He carried this image with him to give him strength each day. 

All the while I was praying to the Lord each and every day for him. 

In my faith I changed the last line of that poem in my heart. For me it is, ‘ Long live the rose that grew from the concrete, because the Lord cared for it.’ 

PRAYER:

Thank you Lord,

Thank you that you are with us in our struggles,

That you are with us in our tears.

Thank you that even though our pain can keep us far away from you,

You never forget us,

You are always there. 

Amen