Hey everyone, I'm Dr. Allison.

Today's scripture offers us a wiser way of being human as we step into the day.

If you've been feeling the heaviness, the weight of the world around us, you are not alone.

I've just felt heavy these past few weeks.

And in a time like this, when so many people feel

disoriented, discouraged, or even betrayed by leaders, institutions, and systems we once trusted,

it's so important to have the following reminder. Today's reading comes from Psalm 146. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, my soul. I will praise the Lord

all my life. I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. Do not put your trust in princes,

in human beings who cannot save when their spirit departs they

return to the ground on that very day their plans come to nothing blessed or those who help is the

god of jacob whose hope is in the lord their god he is the maker of heaven and earth, the sea and everything in

them. He remains faithful forever. He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry.

The Lord sets prisoners free. The Lord gives sight to the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are

bowed down. The Lord loves the righteous.

The Lord watches over the foreigner and sustains the fatherless and the widow. But he frustrates the ways

of the wicked. The Lord reigns forever. Your God O Zion for all generations. Psalm 146 begins with praise,

but it doesn't stay abstract for long. Very quickly, it issues a warning that feels almost

confrontational in a moment like ours. Do not put your trust in princes. Do not place your ultimate hope in human rulers.

That line is so important right now because many people are not only disappointed in leaders

and powerful people in elites and people running institutions, they believe often with good

reason that harm is being done, that power is being abused,

that cruelty, corruption, and indifference are being justified in the name of order, progress,

...