Washington Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

By Pam Scott, Washington Conference associate treasurer and risk manager

The anger rises in me so often lately

Things that I can’t seem to control

We often say be still and listen

Because God speaks in the still small voice

I know though that God also speaks in the noise

He speaks in the thunder of a failure

He speaks in the deep pounding drum beat of grief

He speaks over the cacophony of voices that just go blah blah blah without any action

God is a God of the fiercest emotions

The most passionate feelings

The Mama Junco in my back yard

Carefully builds her nest

Lays her four little eggs

Hatches and feeds them

And they are destroyed by a cat or a raccoon.

She finds a new place and builds a nest again.

Because of their vulnerability

Juncos often have 4 or 5 nests a year

The instinct inside of them is to build their nest on the ground

God sees the Junco, but the instinct inside of them never changes.

It never teaches them to build in higher or more protected spaces.

It never teaches them that they have the capacity to protect their children.

When the hot lava starts to burn in my chest

Threatening to boil from my mouth

God says I am here with you.

I can calm the storm

I will calm the storm

You are more than a sweet little Junco

That just follows the program inside their brain

The emotions are here to help you process and feel life

And to teach you to move forward

They make you alive and passionate

They allow you to learn and grown

Emotions give you the capacity to be a better person

More thoughtful, more disciplined, more loving, more patient

And I, God, am with you

Because I love you above all.