September 18, 2016 Jeremiah 8:18-9:1 There was a choice of psalms today. One was Psalm 113 - a very pretty psalm, full of joy and promise and thanks and praise for God. And then there was Psalm 79, the one we read a little bit ago. You might have noticed that it was not so pretty and joyful. It was full of anger and pain and violence and questioning. Our tradition at St. Aidan’s is that the preacher gets to pick if there is a choice of readings. No question! I told Eileen “ definitely Psalm 113 - the other one is dreadful!” And then I started delving into our reading from Jeremiah. Jeremiah is known as the “weeping prophet.” He was teaching and preaching during a time when the Israelites were in exile. Their enemies were destroying them. They were far from the security of Jerusalem and the majesty of the temple and they were constantly tempted to give up on God and each other. And so our reading is heavy. Painfully oozing with the suffering of the people of G