Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
I have sworn an oath and confirmed it, to observe your righteous ordinances.
I am severely afflicted; give me life, O Lord, according to your word.
Accept my offerings of praise, O Lord, and teach me your ordinances.
I hold my life in my hand continually, but I do not forget your law.
The wicked have laid a snare for me, but I do not stray from your precepts.
Your decrees are my heritage forever; they are the joy of my heart.
I incline my heart to perform your statutes forever, to the end.
15 July 2008
07 July 2008
How to Love Scary People
by Walter Hilton (d. 1396)
from his book "Ladder of Perfection"
"Ponder how Christ loved Judas, who was his deadly enemy.
Christ was good to him. He was courteous to one he knew to be damnable. He chose him as an apostle. He sent him to preach with the others. He gave him power to work miracles. He showed him the same good cheer in love and deed that he gave the other apostles.
He washed his feet and sat down at table with him.
He did not speak sharply to him in front of the others.
He never said an evil word about him.
When Judas betrayed him with a kiss, Jesus called him his friend.
In all of this, Christ did not pretend or flatter. He showed honest love.
Judas was not worthy of it. He deserved not even a token of love. Our Lord is love and goodness. It is appropriate for [God] to show love and goodness to all God's creatures, even Judas.
This kind of unconditional love is also required of us.
Jesus said, "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another." You protest. How can you love a bad person the same way you love a good one? Here is my answer. We are to love both, but not for the same reason. If you can love yourself only because you know you belong to God, you can love others the same way. If they are good and virtuous, you can love God who is in them. If they are bad and immoral, you can still love them--not as they are--but for the sake of God who can make them better."
from his book "Ladder of Perfection"
"Ponder how Christ loved Judas, who was his deadly enemy.
Christ was good to him. He was courteous to one he knew to be damnable. He chose him as an apostle. He sent him to preach with the others. He gave him power to work miracles. He showed him the same good cheer in love and deed that he gave the other apostles.
He washed his feet and sat down at table with him.
He did not speak sharply to him in front of the others.
He never said an evil word about him.
When Judas betrayed him with a kiss, Jesus called him his friend.
In all of this, Christ did not pretend or flatter. He showed honest love.
Judas was not worthy of it. He deserved not even a token of love. Our Lord is love and goodness. It is appropriate for [God] to show love and goodness to all God's creatures, even Judas.
This kind of unconditional love is also required of us.
Jesus said, "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another." You protest. How can you love a bad person the same way you love a good one? Here is my answer. We are to love both, but not for the same reason. If you can love yourself only because you know you belong to God, you can love others the same way. If they are good and virtuous, you can love God who is in them. If they are bad and immoral, you can still love them--not as they are--but for the sake of God who can make them better."
02 July 2008
The Righteousness of Faith
By Douglas G. Grace
For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendents through the law but through the righteousness of faith. If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. For the law brings wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there violation. Romans 4:13-15
As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him. And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” But when he heard this, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.” Matthew 9:9-13
Are you well or sick? Righteous or a sinner? Do you adhere to law or faith? Do you desire mercy or sacrifice? The imagery of New Testament dualism intrigues my mind -- in truth, it probably confuses my mind even more! Do we sit with our sacred texts and reflect upon what is really meant by “sickness” or “wellness,” and how Jesus and Paul turned traditional religious and cultural understanding of the righteousness of faith on its head? It is easy for modern theologies to miss the significance of continuing dualistic thinking in western culture. Often we read contemporary theologians point-out in a politically correct fashion that in reality we are all “sinners who fall short,” but that really isn’t Matthew’s point here is it? A general melting pot of sin or sickness is not present in these passages, but a pointing out of the clear prejudice of the so-called righteous over the so-called unrighteous. Jesus’ mercy levels the Way of the Lord and restores the so-called sinner to the status of righteousness.
We in the Presbyterian Church USA need to deeply wrestle with the fact that culture and religious “law” continues just as it did in Jesus’ time to call some sinfully sick and others well and righteous. I believe that sacrifice of some continues to be the way of the church as it responds today to the dualistic thinking of righteousness and unrighteousness. Church and society often scapegoat some in the name of unity. But I wonder how the church honestly grapples with the fact that this passage from Matthew leads to Jesus concluding in the next chapter that he “did not come to bring peace, but a sword.” Unity often gets mistranslated into uniformity. But for Jesus, his table was hardly properly uniform as he sat with tax-collectors and sinners while temple leaders boasted of lawful righteousness in the name of peace, unity and purity!
Many know all too well how damaging rigid dualistic thinking can be – potentially resulting in not only injustice but also in individual neurosis, shame or guilt. How many adult theologies were shaped by a strict childhood emphasis on being “righteous?” Not only should the church be concerned about restoring the shamed to righteous, but it should also be concerned about creating an environment where all can embrace the wholeness of Christ’s love and freedom.
The past academic year, the Conservative Jewish movement’s leading seminary, The Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City, opened its doors for the first time to openly gay candidates to become rabbis. In announcing the seminaries historic decision of inclusion, the chancellor wrote:
We believe that the law can be modified, and therefore should be modified, in accord with our society’s changed knowledge about and moral attitudes toward homosexuality, knowledge and attitudes far different than those of our ancestors that guided their reading of law and tradition. Core Jewish teachings such as the imperative to treat every human being with full respect as a creature in God’s image urge us strongly in this direction. We do not alter established belief and behavior casually. But we are convinced that change in this case is permitted and required, precisely in order to preserve the tradition charged with guiding us in greatly altered circumstances. (From In Our Community, The Jewish Theological Seminary, March 26, 2007)
Christians and particularly Presbyterians must ask themselves, “How is it that Conservative Jews are able to carry out the Biblical prophetic teaching, which Christians believe Jesus embodied as reflected here in Matthew’s Gospel and Paul’s letter, yet Jesus’ own contemporary disciples remain unable?"
Creator God,
At your command, all of creation was good. Restore our understanding of your goodness. Silence the confusion we hear in our minds so that we may be open to the wholeness of your spirit and the goodness in our lives. Sustainer God, inspire us to center your love within ourselves so that we may acknowledge the depth of true loving righteousness in our heart, mind, soul and strength. In loving you, may we open to truly loving and understanding our neighbor, no matter how sinful they may seem. And may the strength we find in your love guide your church in its understanding of law. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ we pray, AMEN.
For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendents through the law but through the righteousness of faith. If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. For the law brings wrath; but where there is no law, neither is there violation. Romans 4:13-15
As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him. And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” But when he heard this, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.” Matthew 9:9-13
Are you well or sick? Righteous or a sinner? Do you adhere to law or faith? Do you desire mercy or sacrifice? The imagery of New Testament dualism intrigues my mind -- in truth, it probably confuses my mind even more! Do we sit with our sacred texts and reflect upon what is really meant by “sickness” or “wellness,” and how Jesus and Paul turned traditional religious and cultural understanding of the righteousness of faith on its head? It is easy for modern theologies to miss the significance of continuing dualistic thinking in western culture. Often we read contemporary theologians point-out in a politically correct fashion that in reality we are all “sinners who fall short,” but that really isn’t Matthew’s point here is it? A general melting pot of sin or sickness is not present in these passages, but a pointing out of the clear prejudice of the so-called righteous over the so-called unrighteous. Jesus’ mercy levels the Way of the Lord and restores the so-called sinner to the status of righteousness.
We in the Presbyterian Church USA need to deeply wrestle with the fact that culture and religious “law” continues just as it did in Jesus’ time to call some sinfully sick and others well and righteous. I believe that sacrifice of some continues to be the way of the church as it responds today to the dualistic thinking of righteousness and unrighteousness. Church and society often scapegoat some in the name of unity. But I wonder how the church honestly grapples with the fact that this passage from Matthew leads to Jesus concluding in the next chapter that he “did not come to bring peace, but a sword.” Unity often gets mistranslated into uniformity. But for Jesus, his table was hardly properly uniform as he sat with tax-collectors and sinners while temple leaders boasted of lawful righteousness in the name of peace, unity and purity!
Many know all too well how damaging rigid dualistic thinking can be – potentially resulting in not only injustice but also in individual neurosis, shame or guilt. How many adult theologies were shaped by a strict childhood emphasis on being “righteous?” Not only should the church be concerned about restoring the shamed to righteous, but it should also be concerned about creating an environment where all can embrace the wholeness of Christ’s love and freedom.
The past academic year, the Conservative Jewish movement’s leading seminary, The Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City, opened its doors for the first time to openly gay candidates to become rabbis. In announcing the seminaries historic decision of inclusion, the chancellor wrote:
We believe that the law can be modified, and therefore should be modified, in accord with our society’s changed knowledge about and moral attitudes toward homosexuality, knowledge and attitudes far different than those of our ancestors that guided their reading of law and tradition. Core Jewish teachings such as the imperative to treat every human being with full respect as a creature in God’s image urge us strongly in this direction. We do not alter established belief and behavior casually. But we are convinced that change in this case is permitted and required, precisely in order to preserve the tradition charged with guiding us in greatly altered circumstances. (From In Our Community, The Jewish Theological Seminary, March 26, 2007)
Christians and particularly Presbyterians must ask themselves, “How is it that Conservative Jews are able to carry out the Biblical prophetic teaching, which Christians believe Jesus embodied as reflected here in Matthew’s Gospel and Paul’s letter, yet Jesus’ own contemporary disciples remain unable?"
Creator God,
At your command, all of creation was good. Restore our understanding of your goodness. Silence the confusion we hear in our minds so that we may be open to the wholeness of your spirit and the goodness in our lives. Sustainer God, inspire us to center your love within ourselves so that we may acknowledge the depth of true loving righteousness in our heart, mind, soul and strength. In loving you, may we open to truly loving and understanding our neighbor, no matter how sinful they may seem. And may the strength we find in your love guide your church in its understanding of law. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ we pray, AMEN.
27 June 2008
Do Not Be Afraid
by David Paul
12th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Matthew 10:24-39
We have become really good as LGBT people at paying close attention to the world around us. When we feel out of place or notice something different about the way we experience the world from others, our senses are heightened. Perhaps it is our anxiety of feeling out of place that injects a bit of adrenaline into our blood streams, making us pay acute attention to the world.
This feeling of heightened awareness often reminds me of sitting with my Grandma at her Free Will Baptist church in eastern North Carolina. I was always hyper-aware of the people sitting around me, listening intently to the pastor. I would hope and pray that his sermon entitled, “When Were You Saved?” did not lead down the path to the sinfulness of homosexuality. And I am not sure why I got so anxious, because it had never happened. In all my visits to her church, not one of the pastors had ever condemned homosexuality from the pulpit. Yet that feeling of being out of place certainly got my heart racing, as fear crept into my psyche.
A consistent message throughout the Bible is this proclamation: Do Not Be Afraid. It appears in this passage from Matthew as Jesus instructs his disciples about the potential danger they will encounter as they spread the good news. Jesus tells the disciples to speak freely about their faith convictions regardless of the consequences. I can only imagine how isolated the disciples must have felt as they entered cities and villages spreading the word about Jesus. And they had real reasons to be afraid! I am sure their hearts were racing just as fast as mine as they encountered clear resistance and outright hostility from others. It is almost impossible for us, modern day Christians living in the US, to really grasp the jeopardy that many early Christians encountered by proclaiming Jesus as Savior. If you happen to be LGBT, however, perhaps this passage resonates a bit more profoundly with your own experience.
Jesus was well aware that truth-telling was often dangerous work and had severe consequences. Shining the light on places of darkness can bring both joy and fear - an experience LGBT people know all too well. Claiming our own identity, sexuality, and spirituality often puts us at odds with the church, our families, and even our own LGBT brothers and sisters. And yet, we are told time after time – Do Not be Afraid.
In a passage that almost normalizes the consequences of truth-telling, Jesus calls on us to have courage as we disclose our truth to the world around us. What an appropriate message for Pride month! Do Not be Afraid. Instead, go forth into the world armed with the courage of Jesus Christ who knew all too well the consequences of truth-telling.
12th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Matthew 10:24-39
We have become really good as LGBT people at paying close attention to the world around us. When we feel out of place or notice something different about the way we experience the world from others, our senses are heightened. Perhaps it is our anxiety of feeling out of place that injects a bit of adrenaline into our blood streams, making us pay acute attention to the world.
This feeling of heightened awareness often reminds me of sitting with my Grandma at her Free Will Baptist church in eastern North Carolina. I was always hyper-aware of the people sitting around me, listening intently to the pastor. I would hope and pray that his sermon entitled, “When Were You Saved?” did not lead down the path to the sinfulness of homosexuality. And I am not sure why I got so anxious, because it had never happened. In all my visits to her church, not one of the pastors had ever condemned homosexuality from the pulpit. Yet that feeling of being out of place certainly got my heart racing, as fear crept into my psyche.
A consistent message throughout the Bible is this proclamation: Do Not Be Afraid. It appears in this passage from Matthew as Jesus instructs his disciples about the potential danger they will encounter as they spread the good news. Jesus tells the disciples to speak freely about their faith convictions regardless of the consequences. I can only imagine how isolated the disciples must have felt as they entered cities and villages spreading the word about Jesus. And they had real reasons to be afraid! I am sure their hearts were racing just as fast as mine as they encountered clear resistance and outright hostility from others. It is almost impossible for us, modern day Christians living in the US, to really grasp the jeopardy that many early Christians encountered by proclaiming Jesus as Savior. If you happen to be LGBT, however, perhaps this passage resonates a bit more profoundly with your own experience.
Jesus was well aware that truth-telling was often dangerous work and had severe consequences. Shining the light on places of darkness can bring both joy and fear - an experience LGBT people know all too well. Claiming our own identity, sexuality, and spirituality often puts us at odds with the church, our families, and even our own LGBT brothers and sisters. And yet, we are told time after time – Do Not be Afraid.
In a passage that almost normalizes the consequences of truth-telling, Jesus calls on us to have courage as we disclose our truth to the world around us. What an appropriate message for Pride month! Do Not be Afraid. Instead, go forth into the world armed with the courage of Jesus Christ who knew all too well the consequences of truth-telling.
09 June 2008
What Shall I Return?
By Paula
11th Sunday of Ordinary Time
What shall I return to the Lord…
-PSALMS 116:12
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
-ROMANS 5: 1-5
Here we are once again, headed into GA! We enter with hearts that have been wounded and filled with suffering, some more than others. But today we are also blessed with the good news from Paul that we have PEACE.
I have to admit that sometimes Paul really ticks me off, but at times I want to hug him. I guess this would be a time where I would want to hug him. Paul is trying to help me change my tone, my view, my inner energy, and my thought process.
There have been several times in my life when I was not able to hear the words from Romans 5:1-5. In my mid-twenties, I was convinced that those words could not have been meant for me. During those times, I was mistaken about God’s call on my life. I said more than 1000 times, “What do you want from me, God?” Sometimes the tone I used to say these words was an angry shout, and sometimes a humble prayer. Sound familiar?
Even though we suffer as an LGBTQ community, and alone, we will endure. It is through our suffering and endurance that young people today and tomorrow will be able to accept God’s call with a little more ease. They will not have to shout out to God in tears and anger - “What do you want from me, God?” - because of the rejection they face in answering God’s call. One day our suffering and endurance will give others the freedom to serve without persecution.
Whether you are physically present in San Jose or not, pray for the GA this week. Pray that God’s love through the Holy Spirit comes alive in a stronger way than ever before. My hope is that, as a denomination, we can fall face first before God together and with humbled tears and pray, “What do you want from us, God?”
May the peace, grace, hope, endurance, and character that God has grown within each of us be with you this week … because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
Lord Christ,
At times we are like strangers on this earth, taken aback by all the violence the harsh oppositions. Like a gentle breeze, you breathe upon us the Spirit of peace. Transfigure the deserts of our doubts, and so prepare us to be bearers of reconciliation wherever you place us, until the day when a hope of peace dawns in our world.
Amen
-prayer by Brother Roger of Taiz'e, from the Book of Common Worship
11th Sunday of Ordinary Time
What shall I return to the Lord…
-PSALMS 116:12
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
-ROMANS 5: 1-5
Here we are once again, headed into GA! We enter with hearts that have been wounded and filled with suffering, some more than others. But today we are also blessed with the good news from Paul that we have PEACE.
I have to admit that sometimes Paul really ticks me off, but at times I want to hug him. I guess this would be a time where I would want to hug him. Paul is trying to help me change my tone, my view, my inner energy, and my thought process.
There have been several times in my life when I was not able to hear the words from Romans 5:1-5. In my mid-twenties, I was convinced that those words could not have been meant for me. During those times, I was mistaken about God’s call on my life. I said more than 1000 times, “What do you want from me, God?” Sometimes the tone I used to say these words was an angry shout, and sometimes a humble prayer. Sound familiar?
Even though we suffer as an LGBTQ community, and alone, we will endure. It is through our suffering and endurance that young people today and tomorrow will be able to accept God’s call with a little more ease. They will not have to shout out to God in tears and anger - “What do you want from me, God?” - because of the rejection they face in answering God’s call. One day our suffering and endurance will give others the freedom to serve without persecution.
Whether you are physically present in San Jose or not, pray for the GA this week. Pray that God’s love through the Holy Spirit comes alive in a stronger way than ever before. My hope is that, as a denomination, we can fall face first before God together and with humbled tears and pray, “What do you want from us, God?”
May the peace, grace, hope, endurance, and character that God has grown within each of us be with you this week … because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
Lord Christ,
At times we are like strangers on this earth, taken aback by all the violence the harsh oppositions. Like a gentle breeze, you breathe upon us the Spirit of peace. Transfigure the deserts of our doubts, and so prepare us to be bearers of reconciliation wherever you place us, until the day when a hope of peace dawns in our world.
Amen
-prayer by Brother Roger of Taiz'e, from the Book of Common Worship
02 June 2008
God of Angel Armies
by RevSisRaedorah
The Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Psalm 46 & Haggai 2:9
“God is a safe place to hide, ready to help when we need Him.… GOD-of-Angel-Armies protects us.” -Psalm 46:1ff (TM)*
""This temple is going to end up far better than it started out, a glorious beginning but an even more glorious finish: a place in which I will hand out wholeness and holiness.' Decree of God-of-the-Angel-Armies." -Haggai 2:9 (TM)*
Ponder –
Happy New Year – to Me! My birthday is Wednesday. Having spent most of the past month reflecting, as I usually do around this time, about the past year and my plans for the new one, I did so with uncustomary and unfamiliar grief. It took me about two weeks of praying, writing and being still as the Psalmist both instructs and challenges us that I understood that the catalyst of my grief – when I would ordinarily and joyfully be planning my annual charity party – was loss.
Three weeks ago I lost two parathyroid adenomas. Because of the radically invasive surgery, casualties of this procedure included significant damage to my vocal folds, my losing my voice, thereby rendering me aphonic for the past three weeks. As much as the adenomas were causing dis-ease throughout my body, generally, and through my preacher/poet/storyteller voice, specifically, I was not prepared to experience the loss of the ability to speak. Especially for such an extended period of time. Instead of sending out birthday party invitations three weeks ago, I sat still, in silence, and just let tears stream from my soul’s well.
SELAH: Beloved, do not fear naming the loss you feel…
In my loss of speech, I lost use of the most valuable and priceless tool of my vocation, pleasure and passion. In my loss of speech – and that accompanied with a very visible scar, medicinally managed pain, and sleeping on my back propped up at a 25 degree angle – I lost the ability to tell my son I love him, to ask a friend to bring me a napkin, to call maintenance when a pvc pipe gave way flooding the living room carpet, and the simple joy of laughing out loud like I am oft apt to do. For one very long day facing westward, overlooking the infinity of the Pacific Ocean, I sat still, in silence, and just let tears call out to Deep about my overwhelming reality of loss. Like the great waves cresting as the sun began to set, so were waves of grief so strong in my soul and weighed down my body. I sat still, in silence, and with every shed tear I felt an opportunity to be light snuffed out. Loss feels like that – silence and darkness.
SELAH: …your honest to God-ness feelings are safe in God’s place…
And so I stayed there – at the ocean, in stillness, in silence, in tears – feeling protected by God of Angel Armies! As the tide ebbed and flowed, so did my overwhelming sense of loss. Beloved Friends, know that this meditation is less about loss as a destination, but is in fact, a testimony of a journey through loss – one which I am still traveling. You see, as I sat out in the public paths along the beachfront that day, the more aware I became of my vulnerability in the loss of speech and all the more I became aware that God of Angel Armies was on patrol over my mind, body and spirit. God who protects me when can’t holler for help is the same God who is preparing me for a work and a witness that is incomprehensibly awesome!
SELAH: …and while you are hiding and still, healing and silent, I, God of Angel Armies is at work in you to restore you …
In plain sight I hid in stillness, silence and submission to God of Angel Armies at work in me and on my behalf.
Praise –
My praise to God of Angel Armies is this – which I will trust You for protection and I will trust in You that my silence will not silence my witness of Your great and mighty, mysterious and marvelous ways!
Beloved Friend, feel your loss, name it, and let it go! God of Angel Armies is on patrol! God of Angel Armies will use your loss to cause you to leap into the next manifestation of God’s will for your life. Expect the loss to leave. Prepare to receive a more glorious gift in its stead. In that place of loss, God of Angel Armies will pour out wholeness and holiness!
Trust God today, let losses go and you, go with God to your manifest destiny!
------------------------------
*Peterson, Eugene H. The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language. Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2002.
The Ninth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Psalm 46 & Haggai 2:9
“God is a safe place to hide, ready to help when we need Him.… GOD-of-Angel-Armies protects us.” -Psalm 46:1ff (TM)*
""This temple is going to end up far better than it started out, a glorious beginning but an even more glorious finish: a place in which I will hand out wholeness and holiness.' Decree of God-of-the-Angel-Armies." -Haggai 2:9 (TM)*
Ponder –
Happy New Year – to Me! My birthday is Wednesday. Having spent most of the past month reflecting, as I usually do around this time, about the past year and my plans for the new one, I did so with uncustomary and unfamiliar grief. It took me about two weeks of praying, writing and being still as the Psalmist both instructs and challenges us that I understood that the catalyst of my grief – when I would ordinarily and joyfully be planning my annual charity party – was loss.
Three weeks ago I lost two parathyroid adenomas. Because of the radically invasive surgery, casualties of this procedure included significant damage to my vocal folds, my losing my voice, thereby rendering me aphonic for the past three weeks. As much as the adenomas were causing dis-ease throughout my body, generally, and through my preacher/poet/storyteller voice, specifically, I was not prepared to experience the loss of the ability to speak. Especially for such an extended period of time. Instead of sending out birthday party invitations three weeks ago, I sat still, in silence, and just let tears stream from my soul’s well.
SELAH: Beloved, do not fear naming the loss you feel…
In my loss of speech, I lost use of the most valuable and priceless tool of my vocation, pleasure and passion. In my loss of speech – and that accompanied with a very visible scar, medicinally managed pain, and sleeping on my back propped up at a 25 degree angle – I lost the ability to tell my son I love him, to ask a friend to bring me a napkin, to call maintenance when a pvc pipe gave way flooding the living room carpet, and the simple joy of laughing out loud like I am oft apt to do. For one very long day facing westward, overlooking the infinity of the Pacific Ocean, I sat still, in silence, and just let tears call out to Deep about my overwhelming reality of loss. Like the great waves cresting as the sun began to set, so were waves of grief so strong in my soul and weighed down my body. I sat still, in silence, and with every shed tear I felt an opportunity to be light snuffed out. Loss feels like that – silence and darkness.
SELAH: …your honest to God-ness feelings are safe in God’s place…
And so I stayed there – at the ocean, in stillness, in silence, in tears – feeling protected by God of Angel Armies! As the tide ebbed and flowed, so did my overwhelming sense of loss. Beloved Friends, know that this meditation is less about loss as a destination, but is in fact, a testimony of a journey through loss – one which I am still traveling. You see, as I sat out in the public paths along the beachfront that day, the more aware I became of my vulnerability in the loss of speech and all the more I became aware that God of Angel Armies was on patrol over my mind, body and spirit. God who protects me when can’t holler for help is the same God who is preparing me for a work and a witness that is incomprehensibly awesome!
SELAH: …and while you are hiding and still, healing and silent, I, God of Angel Armies is at work in you to restore you …
In plain sight I hid in stillness, silence and submission to God of Angel Armies at work in me and on my behalf.
Praise –
My praise to God of Angel Armies is this – which I will trust You for protection and I will trust in You that my silence will not silence my witness of Your great and mighty, mysterious and marvelous ways!
Beloved Friend, feel your loss, name it, and let it go! God of Angel Armies is on patrol! God of Angel Armies will use your loss to cause you to leap into the next manifestation of God’s will for your life. Expect the loss to leave. Prepare to receive a more glorious gift in its stead. In that place of loss, God of Angel Armies will pour out wholeness and holiness!
Trust God today, let losses go and you, go with God to your manifest destiny!
------------------------------
*Peterson, Eugene H. The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language. Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2002.
27 May 2008
Inscribed on God's Hands
by Rev. Doug King
The Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Isaiah 49:8-16a
Perhaps I am getting a little old-fashioned, but I am deeply concerned about this new tattoo trend. No, I am not overly disturbed about the spread of tattoos out beyond the biceps of Hell’s Angels to Soccer Moms and Vassar students. What concerns me is this new tattoo ink that has been developed that makes it easier to have a tattoo removed. In my mind the whole point of the tattoo is that you cannot remove it. The beautiful and gloriously short-sighted concept of having your current boy/girlfriend’s name tattooed on your backside loses all its devil-may-care charm if it can be removed with relative ease. What made the whole thing so utterly fascinating in the first place was a potentially temporal sentiment being permanent affixed to one’s body.
This is the long way around to thinking about the best line of this text from the prophet Isaiah, “See, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands.” It is an evocative image, the Divine’s large hands open and palms outstretched towards us with oh so many names permanently etched upon them. We naturally start to read through the names. I wonder what order in which they would be. Chronological? Alphabetical? Whatever the system, you begin to seek out your own name. The list is scanned with expectation and maybe a hint of anxiety. As you grow closer to where you hope your name will be, you hold your breath until you find it. There! There I am, inscribed upon the very hands of God, forever known and remembered by the divine. I belong to God. I belong to God.
Many times people try and label each other in order to place them on lists and in categories that limit who they are and what they can do. Sometimes these actions are powerful enough for us to begin to question our own worthiness, to wonder just how valuable we truly are. When we are in this dark place we need to reach out and feel the presence of the hands of God.
As we work our fingers across the names we eventually come to our own name and we stop moving. There is a voice in our ear, the voice of the servant. We are being called out of the darkness, “Come out.” We are being called forward, “Show yourselves.” And we shall “feed along the ways.” And we “shall not hunger or thirst, neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike us down.” And we “shall come from far away.” There are no more walls. “Highways shall be raised up.” And we will hear the heavens and the earth and the mountains all singing for joy. And we will raise up our voices and join the song. We are all the essential children of God forever inscribed upon the hands of God.
Reflection Question
This text speaks eloquently to God’s response to our needs. The Lords tells us that our cries have been answered and we have been helped. We are called out beyond whatever ways the broken-ness of the world has closed around us. We have been called to “Come out,” and to “Show ourselves.” Remember the times in your life when God has lifted you up and called you to come forward. How have these moments shaped your understanding of yourself and of the divine?
The Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Isaiah 49:8-16a
Perhaps I am getting a little old-fashioned, but I am deeply concerned about this new tattoo trend. No, I am not overly disturbed about the spread of tattoos out beyond the biceps of Hell’s Angels to Soccer Moms and Vassar students. What concerns me is this new tattoo ink that has been developed that makes it easier to have a tattoo removed. In my mind the whole point of the tattoo is that you cannot remove it. The beautiful and gloriously short-sighted concept of having your current boy/girlfriend’s name tattooed on your backside loses all its devil-may-care charm if it can be removed with relative ease. What made the whole thing so utterly fascinating in the first place was a potentially temporal sentiment being permanent affixed to one’s body.
This is the long way around to thinking about the best line of this text from the prophet Isaiah, “See, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands.” It is an evocative image, the Divine’s large hands open and palms outstretched towards us with oh so many names permanently etched upon them. We naturally start to read through the names. I wonder what order in which they would be. Chronological? Alphabetical? Whatever the system, you begin to seek out your own name. The list is scanned with expectation and maybe a hint of anxiety. As you grow closer to where you hope your name will be, you hold your breath until you find it. There! There I am, inscribed upon the very hands of God, forever known and remembered by the divine. I belong to God. I belong to God.
Many times people try and label each other in order to place them on lists and in categories that limit who they are and what they can do. Sometimes these actions are powerful enough for us to begin to question our own worthiness, to wonder just how valuable we truly are. When we are in this dark place we need to reach out and feel the presence of the hands of God.
As we work our fingers across the names we eventually come to our own name and we stop moving. There is a voice in our ear, the voice of the servant. We are being called out of the darkness, “Come out.” We are being called forward, “Show yourselves.” And we shall “feed along the ways.” And we “shall not hunger or thirst, neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike us down.” And we “shall come from far away.” There are no more walls. “Highways shall be raised up.” And we will hear the heavens and the earth and the mountains all singing for joy. And we will raise up our voices and join the song. We are all the essential children of God forever inscribed upon the hands of God.
Reflection Question
This text speaks eloquently to God’s response to our needs. The Lords tells us that our cries have been answered and we have been helped. We are called out beyond whatever ways the broken-ness of the world has closed around us. We have been called to “Come out,” and to “Show ourselves.” Remember the times in your life when God has lifted you up and called you to come forward. How have these moments shaped your understanding of yourself and of the divine?
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