Conversations with a Rabbi

In this final episode of season, Rabbi Joe and Pastor Glenn sit down in person to conclude our reflections on Psalm 13. How does praise coexist with pain? How can God’s goodness be resting on us even while we feel the silence, distance, and even the absence of God? We explore the disintegration of grief and the unlikely journey toward wholeness.

In this episode, Rabbi Joe Charnes and Pastor Glenn Packiam discus verses 3-4 of Psalm 13. Why is the psalmist asking God to look? Where else have we seen God as the one who looks and sees us? The significance of light and its connection to creation and awakening is also explored. Finally, they encourage us to think of ways that we, as God’s image-bearers, can reflect His face to others in grief and sorrow.

In this episode, Rabbi Joe and Pastor Glenn discuss the first few lines of Psalm 13, examining the meaning of the phrase that is repeated four times: "How long...?" Rabbi Joe reflects on the uniqueness of this phrase in the Hebrew Bible and the reason for the repetition, while Glenn offers connections with the theme of uncertain waiting and longing in Israel's history from the exodus to the exile. Toward the end, both meditate on the three connection points of this phrase: to the divine, to the self, and to the Other.

Rabbi Joe and Pastor Glenn Packiam continue the conversation on lament by exploring the theme of covenant. Rabbi Joe expounds on covenant as "with-ness", and the two discuss the many implications of that from seeing grief as a breach to recognizing covenant as both the basis for lament and the response to it. Then, they begin a slow study of Psalm 13 with a look at the inscription, "To the choirmaster", exploring the many ways of understanding that phrase. Through the conversation, we see how the psalm is set within community and addressed intimately to God. The song that begins with sorrow ends in praise.

Why do we struggle with expressing grief and sorrow? Pastor Glenn Packiam dialogues with Rabbi Joe Charnes about the place of grief in the Jewish tradition. Rabbi Joe talked about being present to ourselves in our sorrow, being present before God, and being present to others. Prayer can be a way to lay our hearts bare before God, or it can be a way to hide from God. He describes the Jewish practices of sitting with the bereaved for seven days and covering mirrors, and finding a way forward though it means walking with a limp.