Psalm 133: Dew Point.
Being Right but Having Awareness of How We Have Harmed Another
Morning Dew Down by the Dock George Taylor
1 How very good and pleasant it is
when kindred live together in unity!
2 It is like the precious oil on the head,
running down upon the beard,
on the beard of Aaron,
running down over the collar of his robes.
3 It is like the dew of Hermon,
which falls on the mountains of Zion.
For there the Lord ordained his blessing,
life forevermore.
In a recent issue of Sunday’s Coming in the Christian Century,1 Methodist pastor Melissa Earley reminds us that Psalm 133 compares our living together in unity to dew forming on the snow-capped mountains of Hermon in the North and falling on Mt. Zion in Jerusalem in the South.
Dew forms when air cools at night and condenses into liquid water droplets. It forms when grass and leaves cool below the surrounding air temperature. The same happens when we take a shower. Warm water droplets condense on the cooler mirror in our bathroom.
When we are having difficulty with someone, a moment sometimes comes in a mediated conversation when, by God’s Grace, we begin to listen and hear beyond our need to be right, and to hear and see the pain we have caused in the other person’s voice. We realize we have a part in the disagreement. 12-Step work calls it a moment of clarity. We have caused harm as well as been injured ourselves. We have reached the dew point in the midst of conflict, that moment when the heat of our anger is suddenly cooled by a flash of deeper understanding and compassion, perhaps by way of the Holy Spirit. It no longer matters whether we might be right. What matters is the hurt we have caused and our desire to repair what we can of the relationship.
I pray for forgiveness for all the conflicts in which I never reached a dew point and, as a result, lost a friendship I once treasured.—1Melissa Earley, “Once Estranged,” Sunday’s Coming, Christian Century, August 16, 2026
Joanna joannaseibert.com