It might seem a bit odd, if you know it, but Psalm 107 is one of my favourite psalms. It's the way it combines vivid descriptions in the first part of people released from distress - I am always particularly struck by the description of the sailors tossed about in the storm and coming safe at last into haven - with a wisdom hymn in the second part that has many parallels with other wisdom literature, not least the Magnificat. Reading a commentary on the psalm, I was taken back seven years to my Certificate in Theology and my first exegesis, of Genesis 1:1-3. The commentary stated that 'trackless wastes' in v.40 is a translation (in both the RSV and NRSV) of the Hebrew word tohu,and referenced the phrase tohu wabohu of Genesis 1:2 - 'formless void' or 'primeval Chaos' - marvellous!!
Coincidentally, 'primeval Chaos' is also a good description of the weather over the last 24 hours, of louring skies, and shrieking winds battering diffident rain against the windows.
Between September 2010 and September 2011, I lived alongside an Anglican Benedictine community of monks and nuns. In November 2010, we moved from Broad Marston Manor near Evesham to Mucknell Abbey, a new eco-monastery near Worcester. This blog was about things that I observed and things that interested me. I have now stopped writing it. Thank you to all who were also interested.
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