Hey everyone, I'm Dr. Allison.

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

As we begin the week, many of us are almost subconsciously bracing, mentally reviewing what's ahead,

emotionally preparing for what might be difficult, carrying responsibilities

that didn't go away just because you had a weekend. That instinct makes sense. It's how the human

mind tries to stay ahead of stress. But scripture offers us a different starting point, not urgency,

not vigilance, but rootedness.

Psalm 1 opens the entire book of Psalms by contrasting two ways of living.

It's not good people versus bad people, but two inner postures.

One way of life is rooted, grounded, and oriented toward what gives life.

The other is scattered, reactive, and shaped by forces that pull us away from what sustains us. With that in mind, today's reading is Psalm 1, 1 through 4. Blessed is the one

who does not walk and step with the wicked, or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the

company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law

of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by

streams of water, which yields its fruit in season, and whose leaf does not wither, whatever they do,

prosperous. Not so, the wicked. They are like chaff that the wind blows away.

The placement of Psalm 1 at the beginning of the book of Psalms is intentional. Before lament,

before praise, before anguish or joy, the Psalms begin by orienting us to a way of life.

The image the psalmist offers isn't dramatic, it's earthy, ordinary, a tree planted by streams of water.

I love the nature imagery in scripture because you can see it all around you.

The tree isn't exceptional or heroic. It doesn't overwork, it doesn't harden itself against the elements. It simply stays rooted

near a source that sustains it. Because of that, it stands tall, even in the wind, the rain, and the

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