Refuge

Protect me, O God, for in you I take refuge. (Psalm 16:1)

I remember the first time I visited Minnesota in the winter. It was mid-January, and one afternoon, some family members went for a walk after lunch. Being from California, wind chill in single digits was a new sensation for me—specifically, that it felt like my face was going to peel off. In true teenage fashion, I declared I wouldn’t go outside again and stayed indoors the rest of the trip.

“Refuge” takes on new meaning in extreme times—in severe weather, certainly, but also in devastation and loss. In Mark’s Gospel, Jesus describes a time when the temple, center of Jewish life, is destroyed. This was not the first time, nor the last, that Jewish people would be forced to flee, entering a time of diaspora. Seeking refuge, as the Psalmist prays, was a matter of life and death.

In what ways are you seeking refuge—through a roof over your head, relief from bodily pain, or rest from worries and stress? In what ways can our faith guide us to provide shelter, too, by seeking justice and fair access for our neighbors, or by being a listening presence to someone in our lives?