Last week I laughed out loud. Suddenly, words that I had found comforting took on a new dire meaning. It was such a surprise that I had to laugh, a good laugh at myself, that I had thought one thing but now had to suddenly adjust my thinking.
A reflection by Danny Nelson Schweers for June 1, 2025.
Last week there was a wave of thunderstorms that rolled through the mid-Atlantic. The TV news showed a car up to its door handles in water and a guy my age escaping through the passenger-side window into the waist-deep flood. That did not happen to me, but I was in my car as the torrents came down. I slowly drove through the pounding deluge. It felt good to pull off the freeway into downtown Wilmington. As I drove past our church, I noticed the sign:
LET JUSTICE
ROLL DOWN
LIKE WATERS
Like the waters I just drove through? Is that how I want justice to roll down?
I had previously thought the prophet Amos was talking about a gentle rain that crops and gardeners love, or a life-giving river, not a terrifying thunderstorm, not a flood that sweeps everything away. Everyone wants justice but who wants devastation?
Chapter five of the Book of Amos is a lamentation for Israel: “Fallen is Virgin Israel, never to rise again. … He who made the Pleiades and Orion, … who summons the waters of the sea and pours them over the face of the earth — the LORD is His name — He flashes destruction on the strong, so that fury comes upon the stronghold.” (NIV translation)
Specifically, Amos singles out those who are offering prayers and hymns. He says, “I cannot stand the stench of your solemn assemblies. … Take away from Me the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. But let justice roll on like a river, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”
Because my church has these words of Amos prominently displayed, it is a reminder to all who enter the church that worshiping stinks unless those worshiping love justice and righteousness. What matters is what is in our hearts, what we do, how fairly we treat one another.
Let us take that challenge to heart — we as Episcopalians, we as Christians, we as children of God. Then let us sing!
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Reflection 2025-07 by Danny N. Schweers. Danny chairs SsAM’s Communication Committee. He is an active photographer and writer. Click here to visit his website and make a comment.
