I love you, LORD God and you make me strong.
You are my mighty rock, my fortress, my protector,
The rock where I am safe, my shield,
My powerful weapon, and my place of shelter.
Psalm 18: 1-2
You are the living LORD! I will praise you.
You are a mighty rock.
I will honor you for keeping me safe.
Psalm 18: 46
Reflect on the word ROCK for a few moments.
A rock brings many memories to mind:
I remember little rocks on the edge of the school playground; the stinging pain when one was thrown at me; the rocks over which I tripped when camping in summer and the bruises that needed band aids when I was pushed.
Years later I learned to see rocks differently. I now know that rocks contain a beauty of their own. The minerals and the energy that live in them are essential to the environment. They give balance to the ecology and provide a place of safety for many creatures in forests and waterways. They are an integral part of Planet Earth.
My childhood perceptions of God have changed. Knowledge gives me strength. Yet sometimes I wonder if I understand and honour God as an adult should, or is it with the lingering perceptions of a child.
God of Strength and Energy, you are sometimes referred to as a Rock and a Refuge. I pray that I will remember to “honour you for keeping me safe.”
© Ranjini Wickramaratne-Rebera
For a number of years, our dear friend Ranjini Rebera wrote Biblical reflections for the use of Gungahlin Uniting Church and others, usually for Advent and Lent. We were privileged to receive these, as Ranjini had a working history of writing and teaching on a global stage. Each time she completed the considerable work on one of these studies for us she would announce firmly, ‘That’s it. That is the last one I’m writing. No more. End of story!’ But as Advent or Lent came around again she would start hinting that she’d had an idea for a reflection – and she would write another one.
When she completed a Reflection for Lent 2021, we were not to know that this really was the last one. Ranjini died on 13 October 2021. We miss her intellect, her leadership, her vivid personality, her artistic gifts, her deep faith and her pastoral heart. We have lost some colour from our world.
The Gungahlin Uniting Church Worship Team, where Ranjini served for several years, offers Ranjini’s study material, first produced in 2015, as we give thanks for her life shared among us.