There’s nothing like an emergency room or a critical care unit in a hospital to give a person a kind of perspective, a window into suffering and pain, on all different levels. In the depths. Overwhelmed by the chaotic waters. It’s real. It hits home. This is where some people are regularly at, more often than any of us would like to admit. When we read Psalm 130, we aren’t sure whether it’s the depths of sorrow or grief, or the depths of emotional frustration or psychological pain.

Our frail human bodies are very much like tents – earthly tents. Yes, they can be knocked down, even flattened or ripped apart.