JULY42026

On national holidays there is an option to choose scripture readings which might be relevant for that day. I prefer to do it the other way around and say, what does the reading for this day have to say to us as a nation? For example, today’s reading from the Prophet Amos: On that day I will raise up the fallen hut of David … Yes, days are coming. Up until this point Amos has been fussing at the people, pushing them to conversion, to reform. He issues dire warnings about what will happen if they don’t. Now, at the end of the book, he offers hope. He says God isn’t done yet, that something new will arise. In our country at this time there are deep divisions and a profound inability to understand and respect other points of view. It can cause one to wonder about the future. What Amos demonstrates is that even when things seem at lowest ebb the God of peace and justice will make a way out of no way. We celebrate our national holiday not in a congratulatory mode but in a hopeful one that better days are possible in God.