Today's Daily Lesson comes from Mark chapter 5 verses 21 through 43:
21 And when Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered about him, and he was beside the sea. 22 Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, he fell at his feet 23 and implored him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live.” 24 And he went with him.
And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him. 25 And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, 26 and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. 27 She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. 28 For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.” 29 And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. 30 And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my garments?” 31 And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’” 32 And he looked around to see who had done it. 33 But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. 34 And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”
35 While he was still speaking, there came from the ruler's house some who said, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?” 36 But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” 37 And he allowed no one to follow him except Peter and James and John the brother of James. 38 They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and Jesus saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. 39 And when he had entered, he said to them, “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but sleeping.” 40 And they laughed at him. But he put them all outside and took the child's father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was. 41 Taking her by the hand he said to her, “Talitha cumi,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” 42 And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement. 43 And he strictly charged them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.
This, for me, is one of the most powerful stories in all of Scripture, as it speaks so deeply to the power of pain and even terror of social exclusion and the universal need for mercy and compassion.
At the two ends of the story we have a very powerful family in the village, the ruler of the synagogue Jairus, his wife and their 12-year-old daughter. They would certainly be the envy of almost everyone in the village, except for one thing -- the daughter his sick, gravely sick. And in a moment of desperation, the most powerful man comes and does a most desperate and even shameless thing, he falls down at the feet of Jesus.
In the middle of the story is a woman, afflicted with an issue of bleeding which left her a social outcast for twelve years. It is impossible for me to imagine what kind of shame and pain she must have endured those during that long time. She was silenced and excluded and driven to separation. As a friend recently wrote in a monologue for this woman, she was "cursed". She too is desperate. And when this Jesus arrives in her town, she too comes to him, reaches out her hand and touches him. She reaches out to hold on with and to whatever last sense of personal agency she has left. And what she grabs is Jesus' outer garment, or as one translation says, "the fringe of his garment." She reaches out and hangs on to the fringe -- the fringe of his cloak, and the community, and life.
And there in the center is Jesus -- between two very different people from very different stations in life, one male and the other female, one named the other not, one powerful and the other pariah. And they are both there, reaching out to him, longing for his healing, for his compassion. And Jesus ministers unto both.
My great aunt used to say that it's not only the down and out who need mercy, but the up and out need it too. At some point every one of us, the rich and powerful and the poor and powerless, comes to a point of needing mercy and compassion. Some have to come Jairus, powerful in the eyes of so many, yet desperate and humble enough to bow down. Others come as the nameless woman came, exerting the single bit of power she has left, which is the power to not remain paralyzed in shame and victim hood, the power to reach out on behalf of herself. And there at the center we discover this amazing and beautiful truth -- that all who come are healed, that Jesus heals all.
Monday, February 29, 2016
Friday, February 26, 2016
Daily Lesson for February 26, 2016
Today's Daily Lesson comes from Psalm 69 verses 13 through 15:
13 But as for me, my prayer is to you, O Lord.
At an acceptable time, O God,
in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness.
14 Deliver me
from sinking in the mire;
let me be delivered from my enemies
and from the deep waters.
15 Let not the flood sweep over me,
or the deep swallow me up,
or the pit close its mouth over me.
We would like rescue to come before we get bogged down in the mire and prior to the rising of the flood tides.
But that wouldn't really be rescue; and it wouldn't demand our prayers -- not mine anyways.
Rescue comes. It always comes because God is the great rescuer. God's saving faithfulness knows no end.
But rescue always comes in its own time and in its own way. We have to wait upon it. We have trust it. We have to hope in it. This is what we call learning to have faith, which the Bible describes as "the substance of things hoped for, yet unseen." We see the tide rising and we feel overwhelmed. The bog is thick and we're mired down with no prospect for either forward progress not backward retreat; we're stuck. This is when we know we can't rescue ourselves. Salvation won't be our own doing. It has to come from somewhere else. And, therefore, we will have to wait on it -- right where we are.
And in the meantime, there's prayer.
13 But as for me, my prayer is to you, O Lord.
At an acceptable time, O God,
in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness.
14 Deliver me
from sinking in the mire;
let me be delivered from my enemies
and from the deep waters.
15 Let not the flood sweep over me,
or the deep swallow me up,
or the pit close its mouth over me.
We would like rescue to come before we get bogged down in the mire and prior to the rising of the flood tides.
But that wouldn't really be rescue; and it wouldn't demand our prayers -- not mine anyways.
Rescue comes. It always comes because God is the great rescuer. God's saving faithfulness knows no end.
But rescue always comes in its own time and in its own way. We have to wait upon it. We have trust it. We have to hope in it. This is what we call learning to have faith, which the Bible describes as "the substance of things hoped for, yet unseen." We see the tide rising and we feel overwhelmed. The bog is thick and we're mired down with no prospect for either forward progress not backward retreat; we're stuck. This is when we know we can't rescue ourselves. Salvation won't be our own doing. It has to come from somewhere else. And, therefore, we will have to wait on it -- right where we are.
And in the meantime, there's prayer.
Thursday, February 25, 2016
Daily Lesson for February 25, 2016
Today's Daily Lesson comes from Mark chapter 4 verses 26 through 28:
26 And he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. 27 He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. 28 The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.”
There is an old Grimm's Fairy Tale I've always loved about a little tailor on a long journey who encountered a great giant. The giant would not let the little tailor pass unless the tailor could defeat him at a test of strength. The tailor agreed, so long as he himself could choose the test of strength. "How about a rock throwing contest," he said. Elated with the tailor's choice, the giant picked up a huge rock, spun around and hurled it into the air. The rock went as far as the eye could see before finally coming back down with a thunderous crash. Then, quietly, the little tailor bent down and picked up a tiny pebble off the ground. Then he reached into one side of the coat and opened the breast pocket which he himself sewed inside. Out of the pocket he pulled out a small string and tied it to the rock. Then, still without a word, he reached into the other side of his breast and slipped his hand into yet another pocket he himself had sewn inside. Slowly and carefully he pulled his hand back out, to reveal a small dove cupped in the palm of his hand. He removed the dove from the coat then tied one of its legs to the string which was tied to the stone. He cupped them all three in his hands, said a prayer, then tossed the dove gently into the air. It never came back; and neither did the pebble.
The point? Anyone you like I suppose. But my point today is this: if it was not meant to fly, no matter what strength you put in it will always come crashing back down to earth; but if it has wings of itself, if it was meant to fly then all we have to do his sit back and watch it soar.
That's a pretty good lesson for life.
Wednesday, February 24, 2016
Daily Lesson for February 24, 2016
Today's Daily Lesson comes from Psalm 119 verses
89 Forever, O Lord, your word
is firmly fixed in the heavens.
90 Your faithfulness endures to all generations;
you have established the earth, and it stands fast.
91 By your appointment they stand this day,
for all things are your servants.
92 If your law had not been my delight,
I would have perished in my affliction.
93 I will never forget your precepts,
for by them you have given me life.
94 I am yours; save me,
for I have sought your precepts.
95 The wicked lie in wait to destroy me,
but I consider your testimonies.
The heavens and the earth bear witness.
In times of struggle and travail, worry and doubt, the firmament is fixed. The moon shines. The earth courses around its light. The Stars abide.
They bear their witness.
Witness to what, you ask? Witness to a North Star. Witness to a light that gives light. Witness to a God who is faithful.
As the old Celtic mystic so imaginative put it, "Goodly are the stars to behold; for they are the unstrung and scattered rosary of Holy God."
And what if a bead be lost? What if all be lost? What if the heavens and the earth should pass away?
God's Word shall not pass away. God's promises shall not pass away. Our faith shall not pass away. Our hope shall not pass away. Our love shall not pass away. These things abide. Even longer than the stars, they abide.
This is the promise. When things fall apart, when what was new has grown old and then falls apart and then the dust turns to dust, when the heavens be rolled up like scroll and all which were are no longer . . .
God is. Alpha and Omega. God always is.
89 Forever, O Lord, your word
is firmly fixed in the heavens.
90 Your faithfulness endures to all generations;
you have established the earth, and it stands fast.
91 By your appointment they stand this day,
for all things are your servants.
92 If your law had not been my delight,
I would have perished in my affliction.
93 I will never forget your precepts,
for by them you have given me life.
94 I am yours; save me,
for I have sought your precepts.
95 The wicked lie in wait to destroy me,
but I consider your testimonies.
The heavens and the earth bear witness.
In times of struggle and travail, worry and doubt, the firmament is fixed. The moon shines. The earth courses around its light. The Stars abide.
They bear their witness.
Witness to what, you ask? Witness to a North Star. Witness to a light that gives light. Witness to a God who is faithful.
As the old Celtic mystic so imaginative put it, "Goodly are the stars to behold; for they are the unstrung and scattered rosary of Holy God."
And what if a bead be lost? What if all be lost? What if the heavens and the earth should pass away?
God's Word shall not pass away. God's promises shall not pass away. Our faith shall not pass away. Our hope shall not pass away. Our love shall not pass away. These things abide. Even longer than the stars, they abide.
This is the promise. When things fall apart, when what was new has grown old and then falls apart and then the dust turns to dust, when the heavens be rolled up like scroll and all which were are no longer . . .
God is. Alpha and Omega. God always is.
Tuesday, February 23, 2016
Daily Lesson for February 23, 2016
Today's Daily Lesson comes from Mark chapter 3 verses 22 through 30:
22 And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.” 23 And he called them to him and said to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. 26 And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. 27 But no one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house.
28 “Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”—30 for they were saying, “He has an unclean spirit.”
In today's lesson it's like Jesus is saying, "Now look, I know you're a bunch of fishermen and grew up the sons of fishermen and are bound to take the LORD's name in vain every once in a while, and you need to know that's not right. GD is just not okay -- even if you've been fishing all day and haven't caught a thing. But let me tell you boys that that is going to be forgiven. God's just bigger than that. God's bigger than you saying GD. Don't let that keep you from thinking you can't be with God. God's going to forgive your foul and blasphemous mouth and a whole lot more.
"But let me tell what the real blasphemy is -- the blasphemy which won't be forgiven. And that's when God is up to something, something surprising and good and people call it evil. It's when somebody is doing the LORD's work -- reaching out, crossing the tracks, including, healing, restoring, and casting out demons of all sorts -- demons people didn't even know they had -- and it's called the work of the devil. That's the real blasphemy -- calling the work of the LORD the work of Satan. And it will never be forgiven because the people who do it don't know to ask for forgiveness. They don't even think it's a sin. Imagine that, they think it's God's Word they're speaking and it turns out it's a sin. It's the eternal sin, the sin of every age -- saying the work of the Holy Spirit is the work of evil."
That's my interpretation anyway.
Monday, February 22, 2016
Daily Lesson for February 23, 2016
Today's Daily Lesson comes from 1Corinthians chapter 4 verses 8 through 13:
8 Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! Without us you have become kings! And would that you did reign, so that we might share the rule with you! 9 For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. 10 We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. 11 To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, 12 and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; 13 when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things.
As part of my own spiritual preparation for our church's adult retreat in Santa Fe this past weekend I read Willa Cather's great Southwestern novel "Death Comes for the Archbishop". It is a fictionalized account of the permanent establishment of the diocese in northern New Mexico and the missionaries who founded it. One has only to gaze at the austerity of the land to imagine the physical hardships those men endured. Heat, cold, snakes, bandits, hostile native peoples, lack of water, and lack of connection with the outside world are but the things which immediately come to mind. All for the sake of the Gospel.
Our retreat leader for the weekend, Dr. Will Willimon, challenged us also to live for the sake of the gospel. One of his underscoring themes is that the Christian way is not a way of comfort and ease, but always one of risk. And it's risk that gives our Way its appeal -- it's witness. But according to Willimon, the North American church has mostly lost its sense of adventure and risk and as settled for comfortability.
As he said in an earlier interview,
"We have lost precious few disciples because we've been so courageous or bold or radical . . . More people we've lost we've lost just through death . . . And it's hard to count the people we've lost through boredom -- [people who have] just given up on the idea of the church ever saying anything that was challenging . . . invigorating or even maddening."
Reading "Death Comes for the Archbishop" and hearing Willimon's words at the same time, the retreat was for me a reminder that we are called to be a church on mission -- a risk taking, invigorating, and certainly not boring people.
Near the end of Cather's novel one of the missionaries has grown old and frail. He catches a chill, which will take his life. But the old missionary has a broader perspective than this most recent illness. In Cather's words:
"The old man smiled. 'I shall not die of a cold . . . I shall die of having lived.'"
Indeed.
8 Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! Without us you have become kings! And would that you did reign, so that we might share the rule with you! 9 For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. 10 We are fools for Christ's sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. 11 To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, 12 and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; 13 when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things.
As part of my own spiritual preparation for our church's adult retreat in Santa Fe this past weekend I read Willa Cather's great Southwestern novel "Death Comes for the Archbishop". It is a fictionalized account of the permanent establishment of the diocese in northern New Mexico and the missionaries who founded it. One has only to gaze at the austerity of the land to imagine the physical hardships those men endured. Heat, cold, snakes, bandits, hostile native peoples, lack of water, and lack of connection with the outside world are but the things which immediately come to mind. All for the sake of the Gospel.
Our retreat leader for the weekend, Dr. Will Willimon, challenged us also to live for the sake of the gospel. One of his underscoring themes is that the Christian way is not a way of comfort and ease, but always one of risk. And it's risk that gives our Way its appeal -- it's witness. But according to Willimon, the North American church has mostly lost its sense of adventure and risk and as settled for comfortability.
As he said in an earlier interview,
"We have lost precious few disciples because we've been so courageous or bold or radical . . . More people we've lost we've lost just through death . . . And it's hard to count the people we've lost through boredom -- [people who have] just given up on the idea of the church ever saying anything that was challenging . . . invigorating or even maddening."
Reading "Death Comes for the Archbishop" and hearing Willimon's words at the same time, the retreat was for me a reminder that we are called to be a church on mission -- a risk taking, invigorating, and certainly not boring people.
Near the end of Cather's novel one of the missionaries has grown old and frail. He catches a chill, which will take his life. But the old missionary has a broader perspective than this most recent illness. In Cather's words:
"The old man smiled. 'I shall not die of a cold . . . I shall die of having lived.'"
Indeed.
Friday, February 19, 2016
Daily Lesson for February 19, 2016
Today's Daily Lesson comes from Psalm 40 verses 1 and 2:
I waited patiently for the Lord;
he inclined to me and heard my cry.
2 He drew me up from the pit of destruction,
out of the miry bog,
and set my feet upon a rock,
making my steps secure.
3 He put a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear,
and put their trust in the Lord.
Patience requires waiting. To grow in patience requires endurance which by its very name necessitates our learning to endure something unsettling, unpleasant or altogether trying. Patience is a teacher, reminding us that we are not God and the universe's timing is beyond our ability to control.
The opposite of patience is frustration and agitation and ultimately destruction. This is the man who has not accepted his existential reality and is still trying to escape the locked room by running through the walls. We see this when there is no obvious escape from the current job or family circumstance or physical condition. The man who cannot accept the reality of the locked room ultimately destroys himself and anyone else with him. The man who does learn to accept the reality of the locked room is free -- even though he be imprisoned.
One cannot gain the patience of Job without hardship and loss. To learn to wait on God is to have to wait on God -- to act, to move, to answer prayers, to heal, to deliver us from evil, and to rescue us from death.
No one is born with patience; if we were we'd have all died from lack of attention. But that was the beginning of life. The rest of life is a long journey leading us to a place where patience -- the faithful waiting on God -- is all we have left.
And that place is called Hope.
I waited patiently for the Lord;
he inclined to me and heard my cry.
2 He drew me up from the pit of destruction,
out of the miry bog,
and set my feet upon a rock,
making my steps secure.
3 He put a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear,
and put their trust in the Lord.
Patience requires waiting. To grow in patience requires endurance which by its very name necessitates our learning to endure something unsettling, unpleasant or altogether trying. Patience is a teacher, reminding us that we are not God and the universe's timing is beyond our ability to control.
The opposite of patience is frustration and agitation and ultimately destruction. This is the man who has not accepted his existential reality and is still trying to escape the locked room by running through the walls. We see this when there is no obvious escape from the current job or family circumstance or physical condition. The man who cannot accept the reality of the locked room ultimately destroys himself and anyone else with him. The man who does learn to accept the reality of the locked room is free -- even though he be imprisoned.
One cannot gain the patience of Job without hardship and loss. To learn to wait on God is to have to wait on God -- to act, to move, to answer prayers, to heal, to deliver us from evil, and to rescue us from death.
No one is born with patience; if we were we'd have all died from lack of attention. But that was the beginning of life. The rest of life is a long journey leading us to a place where patience -- the faithful waiting on God -- is all we have left.
And that place is called Hope.
Thursday, February 18, 2016
Daily Lesson for February 18, 2016
Today's Daily Lesson comes from Genesis chapter 39 verses 10 through 20:
10 And as she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not listen to her, to lie beside her or to be with her. 11 But one day, when he went into the house to do his work and none of the men of the house was there in the house, 12 she caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand and fled and got out of the house. 13 And as soon as she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled out of the house, 14 she called to the men of her household and said to them, “See, he has brought among us a Hebrew to laugh at us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice. 15 And as soon as he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried out, he left his garment beside me and fled and got out of the house.” 16 Then she laid up his garment by her until his master came home, 17 and she told him the same story, saying, “The Hebrew servant, whom you have brought among us, came in to me to laugh at me. 18 But as soon as I lifted up my voice and cried, he left his garment beside me and fled out of the house.” 19 As soon as his master heard the words that his wife spoke to him, “This is the way your servant treated me,” his anger was kindled. 20 And Joseph's master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king's prisoners were confined, and he was there in prison.
There is a favorite story I have of an old Chinese peasant who was very poor and used his one horse to work the fields and keep his family alive. One night a storm came and blew down the peasant's fence and the horse ran off. The next morning all the other villagers came over to the peasant's house. "What bad luck, what bad luck," they said. "How do you know it's bad luck?" the peasant man asked. Then, three days later that horse came riding back into the peasant's pen leading five wild horses following. Here came the villagers. "What good luck, what good luck," they said. "How do you know it's good luck?" the peasant asked. Then two days after that the peasant man's only son was out in the field breaking one of those wild horses when he was thrown and trampled and his leg seriously broken. Here came the villagers. "What bad luck, what bad luck," they said. "Bad luck," the peasant asked, "How do you know it's bad luck?" That very night the emperor's army rode into the village and conscripted all the men of fighting age and led them off into a battle where all were killed and none spared. But the peasant's son was spared because of the broken leg because of the wild horse because of the storm.
Joseph was falsely accused of and imprisoned for attempted rape. Good luck, bad luck? Obviously bad. But God works all things for good.
Always has. Always will.
10 And as she spoke to Joseph day after day, he would not listen to her, to lie beside her or to be with her. 11 But one day, when he went into the house to do his work and none of the men of the house was there in the house, 12 she caught him by his garment, saying, “Lie with me.” But he left his garment in her hand and fled and got out of the house. 13 And as soon as she saw that he had left his garment in her hand and had fled out of the house, 14 she called to the men of her household and said to them, “See, he has brought among us a Hebrew to laugh at us. He came in to me to lie with me, and I cried out with a loud voice. 15 And as soon as he heard that I lifted up my voice and cried out, he left his garment beside me and fled and got out of the house.” 16 Then she laid up his garment by her until his master came home, 17 and she told him the same story, saying, “The Hebrew servant, whom you have brought among us, came in to me to laugh at me. 18 But as soon as I lifted up my voice and cried, he left his garment beside me and fled out of the house.” 19 As soon as his master heard the words that his wife spoke to him, “This is the way your servant treated me,” his anger was kindled. 20 And Joseph's master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king's prisoners were confined, and he was there in prison.
There is a favorite story I have of an old Chinese peasant who was very poor and used his one horse to work the fields and keep his family alive. One night a storm came and blew down the peasant's fence and the horse ran off. The next morning all the other villagers came over to the peasant's house. "What bad luck, what bad luck," they said. "How do you know it's bad luck?" the peasant man asked. Then, three days later that horse came riding back into the peasant's pen leading five wild horses following. Here came the villagers. "What good luck, what good luck," they said. "How do you know it's good luck?" the peasant asked. Then two days after that the peasant man's only son was out in the field breaking one of those wild horses when he was thrown and trampled and his leg seriously broken. Here came the villagers. "What bad luck, what bad luck," they said. "Bad luck," the peasant asked, "How do you know it's bad luck?" That very night the emperor's army rode into the village and conscripted all the men of fighting age and led them off into a battle where all were killed and none spared. But the peasant's son was spared because of the broken leg because of the wild horse because of the storm.
Joseph was falsely accused of and imprisoned for attempted rape. Good luck, bad luck? Obviously bad. But God works all things for good.
Always has. Always will.
Wednesday, February 17, 2016
Daily Lesson for February 17, 2016
Today's Daily Lesson comes from Psalm 119 verses 49 and 50:
49 Remember your word to your servant,
in which you have made me hope.
50 This is my comfort in my affliction,
that your promise gives me life.
A week ago, the congregation came forward and put on the dark crosses of Ash Wednesday. Rich and poor put them on. Young and old. Clergy and lay alike. This is a part of the sacred liturgy of death. It is a part of our preparation for learning to accept what must be accepted: We are dust; and to dust we shall return.
It is only when we have learned to come forward and take on our ashes and accept the profound reality of our dying, our death, and grieve the world-shattering news that all is truly lost that we can begin then to live in the hope of resurrection. Just as the Phoenix must rise from his ashes, so too the man or woman of resurrection must "live, even though they die," (John 11:25).
In a sermon John Donne considered Adam's curse:
The punishment that God laid upon Adam "In sweat and in sorrowe shalt thou eate thy bread", is but till Man returne to dust: but when man is returnde to Dust, God returnes to the remembrance of that promise: Isay. 26.19"Awake and singe, yee that dwell in the dust."
It is those who have learned to dwell in dust who are also able to live now in heaven. It is those who have accepted the truth that nothing else can save -- nor be saved -- aside from the promise of God.
Again, Donne:
"You must weepe these teares, teares of contrition, teares of mortification, beefore god will wipe all teares from your eyes: you must die this death, this death of the righteous, the death to sinne, before this last enemie, Death, shallbee destroyed in you, and you made partakers of euerlasting life in soule and body too."
The calendar says we are on the other side of Ash Wednesday; those who live here truly live because they have first learned to die.
49 Remember your word to your servant,
in which you have made me hope.
50 This is my comfort in my affliction,
that your promise gives me life.
A week ago, the congregation came forward and put on the dark crosses of Ash Wednesday. Rich and poor put them on. Young and old. Clergy and lay alike. This is a part of the sacred liturgy of death. It is a part of our preparation for learning to accept what must be accepted: We are dust; and to dust we shall return.
It is only when we have learned to come forward and take on our ashes and accept the profound reality of our dying, our death, and grieve the world-shattering news that all is truly lost that we can begin then to live in the hope of resurrection. Just as the Phoenix must rise from his ashes, so too the man or woman of resurrection must "live, even though they die," (John 11:25).
In a sermon John Donne considered Adam's curse:
The punishment that God laid upon Adam "In sweat and in sorrowe shalt thou eate thy bread", is but till Man returne to dust: but when man is returnde to Dust, God returnes to the remembrance of that promise: Isay. 26.19"Awake and singe, yee that dwell in the dust."
It is those who have learned to dwell in dust who are also able to live now in heaven. It is those who have accepted the truth that nothing else can save -- nor be saved -- aside from the promise of God.
Again, Donne:
"You must weepe these teares, teares of contrition, teares of mortification, beefore god will wipe all teares from your eyes: you must die this death, this death of the righteous, the death to sinne, before this last enemie, Death, shallbee destroyed in you, and you made partakers of euerlasting life in soule and body too."
The calendar says we are on the other side of Ash Wednesday; those who live here truly live because they have first learned to die.
Tuesday, February 16, 2016
Daily Lesson for February 16, 2016
So Joseph went after his brothers and found them at Dothan. 18 They saw him from afar, and before he came near to them they conspired against him to kill him. 19 They said to one another, “Here comes this dreamer. 20 Come now, let us kill him and throw him into one of the pits. Then we will say that a fierce animal has devoured him, and we will see what will become of his dreams.” 21 But when Reuben heard it, he rescued him out of their hands, saying, “Let us not take his life.” 22 And Reuben said to them, “Shed no blood; throw him into this pit here in the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on him”—that he might rescue him out of their hand to restore him to his father. 23 So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the robe of many colors that he wore. 24 And they took him and threw him into a pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it.
I am reading now a book by Caroline Moorehead titled "Village of Secrets" given to me by my cousin and friend Norm Shulman. It is about the community of Christians who hid over a thousand Jews in Le Chambon and other surrounding villages in Vichy France. The book's preface begins with a quote from Herbert Butterfield:
"The memory of the world is not a bright, shining crystal, but a heap of broken fragments, a few fine flashes of light that break through the darkness."
When you read a book like "Village of Secrets" you can't help but wonder, "What would I have done? Would I have had the courage -- or not?" We are supposed to ask such questions of ourselves; we need to ask them. Norm, a Jew himself, honored me by saying, "I believe you would have been one of the good guys -- the righteous Gentiles." I can only wonder.
Today's Lesson has Joseph about to be killed by his own brothers. But one of the brothers, Reuben, resists. His resistance is not outright. It's subversive and concealed. To resist straightforwardly would have been to put his own life in danger; if they're willing to kill one brother they're likely willing to kill two. So Reuben acts shrewdly. He buys Joseph time. And, as it turned out, a little time was all that was needed for Joseph to be saved.
There is an old poem which has meant a great deal to me over the years. It is said to have been written by a 19th century American slave:
You say the little acts I make
Will do no good
They never will prevail
To tip the hovering scale
Justice hangs in balance
I never said I thought they would
But I am prejudiced
Beyond debate
On which side shall feel
The stubborn ounces of my weight.
Sometimes all God needs is our stubborn ounces, our little acts, and our broken fragments in order for the few fine flashes of light to break through the darkness.
And it's my intent to be as stubborn I can be when I can be.
#DeepWisdom #CourageousFaith
http://www.amazon.com/Village-Secrets-Defying-Resistance-Trilogy/dp/0062202472
Monday, February 15, 2016
Daily Lesson for February 15, 2016
Today's Daily Lesson comes from Psalm 44 verse 22:
22 Yet for your sake we are killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.
There is a story about a young candidate for the office of ordained ministry in the Presbyterian Church who was put through quite the ringer by her examining Presbytery. She was a she -- which some of the elders on the board did not like as they thought the office of the pastor ought strictly to be reserved for males. Even worse, the young woman had foregone the usual course of study at one of the Presbyterian seminaries and had instead chosen Duke Divinity School, a Methodist school. For these transgressions she was tried by fire with each step along the ordination course. Finally, it came to the end of her examination, the final judgment soon to be rendered, and one of the staunchest of old guard Presbyterianism and strict Calvinism raised his hand to ask yet another question of the young lady. "Ms. Smith," he said, "I see you are quite studied and resilient; but just one final question. Are you be willing to be damned for the glory of God?" "Oh yes sir," the young candidate said. "In fact, not only am I willing to be damned; I am willing for this whole Presbytery to be damned -- for the glory of God, that is."
A prayer for today:
Have thine own way in my life today, LORD. I give myself, my hopes, my dreams, my ambitions, and the totality of who I am to you and to your will. Drown me in the forging fire. Spin me on the potter's wheel. Shape me, use me, set me aside, dash me to the ground in a thousand pieces, and raise me up again a thousand times -- for your glory, purpose, and praise. Kill me all day long on this journey called Lent; and raise me up anew in the destination we call Easter. In the name of the one who laid down his own life that I might take up mine. Amen.
22 Yet for your sake we are killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.
There is a story about a young candidate for the office of ordained ministry in the Presbyterian Church who was put through quite the ringer by her examining Presbytery. She was a she -- which some of the elders on the board did not like as they thought the office of the pastor ought strictly to be reserved for males. Even worse, the young woman had foregone the usual course of study at one of the Presbyterian seminaries and had instead chosen Duke Divinity School, a Methodist school. For these transgressions she was tried by fire with each step along the ordination course. Finally, it came to the end of her examination, the final judgment soon to be rendered, and one of the staunchest of old guard Presbyterianism and strict Calvinism raised his hand to ask yet another question of the young lady. "Ms. Smith," he said, "I see you are quite studied and resilient; but just one final question. Are you be willing to be damned for the glory of God?" "Oh yes sir," the young candidate said. "In fact, not only am I willing to be damned; I am willing for this whole Presbytery to be damned -- for the glory of God, that is."
A prayer for today:
Have thine own way in my life today, LORD. I give myself, my hopes, my dreams, my ambitions, and the totality of who I am to you and to your will. Drown me in the forging fire. Spin me on the potter's wheel. Shape me, use me, set me aside, dash me to the ground in a thousand pieces, and raise me up again a thousand times -- for your glory, purpose, and praise. Kill me all day long on this journey called Lent; and raise me up anew in the destination we call Easter. In the name of the one who laid down his own life that I might take up mine. Amen.
Friday, February 12, 2016
Daily Lesson for February 12, 2016
Today's Daily Lesson comes from John 17 verse 9:
"I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me . . ."
There is a saying about the dinner table which is proverbially about a lot more than just dinner: "I have more than I can say grace over."
We are called to pray at all times, but we cannot pray over everything. We are to bear each others' burdens, but we can't bear everyone's burdens all the time. To try leaves us overly worried and emotionally exhausted. Compassion fatigue is a real thing; it's the human being's natural defense against spiritual and emotional overload.
We don't have to pray for all the world, nor take on all its problems. Nor should we! We are to pray for and tend to only what has been given us -- in other words, what we can hold in our hands, at any one time.
Anything more than what we can say grace over really is more than we ought to have before us anyways.
"I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me . . ."
There is a saying about the dinner table which is proverbially about a lot more than just dinner: "I have more than I can say grace over."
We are called to pray at all times, but we cannot pray over everything. We are to bear each others' burdens, but we can't bear everyone's burdens all the time. To try leaves us overly worried and emotionally exhausted. Compassion fatigue is a real thing; it's the human being's natural defense against spiritual and emotional overload.
We don't have to pray for all the world, nor take on all its problems. Nor should we! We are to pray for and tend to only what has been given us -- in other words, what we can hold in our hands, at any one time.
Anything more than what we can say grace over really is more than we ought to have before us anyways.
Thursday, February 11, 2016
Daily Lesson for February 11, 2016
Today's Daily Lesson comes from Habakkuk chapter 3 verses 17 and 18:
17 Though the fig tree should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,
18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
Now here is one of the most challenging and inspiring words in all of Scripture. I have attempted to re-write it for today:
Though things didn't turn out like we hoped,
And the venture failed,
Everything went south,
And we just couldn't make anything grow,
The flock wandered away and didn't come back,
And the herd was lost amidst the storm,
Yet, I can still be joyful in the LORD;
I can still sing a hymn to God on Sunday.
17 Though the fig tree should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,
18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
Now here is one of the most challenging and inspiring words in all of Scripture. I have attempted to re-write it for today:
Though things didn't turn out like we hoped,
And the venture failed,
Everything went south,
And we just couldn't make anything grow,
The flock wandered away and didn't come back,
And the herd was lost amidst the storm,
Yet, I can still be joyful in the LORD;
I can still sing a hymn to God on Sunday.
Wednesday, February 10, 2016
Daily Lesson for February 10, 2016
5 I acknowledged my sin to you,
and I did not cover my iniquity;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah
Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Lenten season and the day set aside for Christians to don ashes on their foreheads and hands as a sign of penitence. A colleague in ministry told her flock yesterday that we wear the ashes to remind ourselves that we are dying and ought to live like dying people.
As we begin the Lenten journey, we follow along Christ's journey to Jerusalem, and to the cross. None of us will go all the way; no one else will die and descend into the very depths of hell as He did. We thank God we do not have to! The Lenten experience is Christ's invitation to us to come and be near -- to stay awake as he prays in Gethsemane, and to come and stand close as he is crucified at Golgotha. Christ's place is on the cross; but we have a place also -- at the foot, as close as we might dare.
The nearer we come to the cross the nearer we come to the truth of our own fears, shortcomings, and mortality. The further we go the more exhausted and exposed we are. To stand there, within voice distance of Jesus as he remains silent before ridicule, refuses to be put out of his own misery, and even expresses forgiveness to those who are killing him reveals to us just how frail and deficient our faith really is. This is what it means to stand under conviction. We too are dying; and this is how we ought to live as dying people.
And yet, not only those who kill Jesus, but we too hear his words. "Father, forgive them." We hear these words because we have dared to follow after, and come close -- as close as we can, even within earshot. And when we hear Jesus say these words, we know they are not only for his enemies who hated him, but also for his friends who love him, but do not love him enough.
The journey begins. May we take up our cross and follow. And may we follow as far and faithfully as we can.
Scrap Metal Cross, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=54353[retrieved February 10, 2016]. Original source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/aeortiz/307851438/.
Tuesday, February 9, 2016
Daily Lesson for February 9, 2016
Today's Daily Lesson comes from Philippians chapter 3 verses 3 through 9:
"[P]ut no confidence in the flesh—4 though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. 7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him."
In the end the good news is that nothing can save us except God. But the good news is also disturbing news because it forces us to accept the passing away of all that which is not God.
Tribe passes, along with all political parties and sectarian divides. Religion is swallowed up. Pride of nation is drowned in a vast sea of love. Javert's zeal finds peace in surrendering to the mercy found in Bishop Myriel. Righteous pretense is proved impure in the purifying light which exposes all things great and small. Heaven and earth pass away.
And all else save the gain of God and Christ are found to be rubbish, worthless, fool's gold.
It's good news for those who believe; but it's disturbing news to the present order and import of all things here and now.
In the end nothing will save us except God; all else must then die and be mourned.
"[P]ut no confidence in the flesh—4 though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. 7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him."
In the end the good news is that nothing can save us except God. But the good news is also disturbing news because it forces us to accept the passing away of all that which is not God.
Tribe passes, along with all political parties and sectarian divides. Religion is swallowed up. Pride of nation is drowned in a vast sea of love. Javert's zeal finds peace in surrendering to the mercy found in Bishop Myriel. Righteous pretense is proved impure in the purifying light which exposes all things great and small. Heaven and earth pass away.
And all else save the gain of God and Christ are found to be rubbish, worthless, fool's gold.
It's good news for those who believe; but it's disturbing news to the present order and import of all things here and now.
In the end nothing will save us except God; all else must then die and be mourned.
Monday, February 8, 2016
Daily Lesson for February 8, 2016
Today's Daily Lesson comes from Proverbs chapter 27 verse 5:
"Better is open rebuke
than hidden love."
and John chapter 18 verses 15 through 18:
15 Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. Since that disciple was known to the high priest, he entered with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest, 16 but Peter stood outside at the door. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the servant girl who kept watch at the door, and brought Peter in. 17 The servant girl at the door said to Peter, “You also are not one of this man's disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.” 18 Now the servants and officers had made a charcoal fire, because it was cold, and they were standing and warming themselves. Peter also was with them, standing and warming himself.
Most of the betrayal in life is not of the willful and active sort, but rather of the passive and silent kind. To betray is to "prove false"; and we can be proven false either by action or inaction, words or silence. Most of us are not Judas; but we are all Peter.
In a speech in the last year of his life, Dr. King said, "In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends." This was the same sentiment written in Book of Proverbs two millennia before: "Better is open rebuke than hidden love."
Last week at school my daughter Gabrielle was on the playground when she was confronted with a group of her classmates belittling another kind of classmate for something that was deemed disgraceful. Would she speak up or keep quiet?
We're not on the playground anymore but the same choice remains; and it doesn't get any easier.
"Better is open rebuke
than hidden love."
and John chapter 18 verses 15 through 18:
15 Simon Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple. Since that disciple was known to the high priest, he entered with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest, 16 but Peter stood outside at the door. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the servant girl who kept watch at the door, and brought Peter in. 17 The servant girl at the door said to Peter, “You also are not one of this man's disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.” 18 Now the servants and officers had made a charcoal fire, because it was cold, and they were standing and warming themselves. Peter also was with them, standing and warming himself.
Most of the betrayal in life is not of the willful and active sort, but rather of the passive and silent kind. To betray is to "prove false"; and we can be proven false either by action or inaction, words or silence. Most of us are not Judas; but we are all Peter.
In a speech in the last year of his life, Dr. King said, "In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends." This was the same sentiment written in Book of Proverbs two millennia before: "Better is open rebuke than hidden love."
Last week at school my daughter Gabrielle was on the playground when she was confronted with a group of her classmates belittling another kind of classmate for something that was deemed disgraceful. Would she speak up or keep quiet?
We're not on the playground anymore but the same choice remains; and it doesn't get any easier.
Friday, February 5, 2016
Daily Lesson for February 5, 2016
Today's Daily Lesson comes from Hebrews chapter 12 verses 5 through 10:
“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him.
6 For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and chastises every son whom he receives.”
7 It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness.
Yesterday I wanted very much to be somewhere with some people I care deeply about. Alas, one of my son's case of Strep Throat thwarted my plans. I was deeply disappointed. Then later in the day after we came home from the doctor's office with the official diagnosis, I look up and see the boys have decided to share the sucker the doctor was so kind to give us. Shared sucker. Shared strep. I nearly blew a gasket. I was angry at the boys, resentful of having to miss something important, and wondering if there was a hotline to call and report the doctor for violating her Hippocratic Oath to do no harm.
Today I see my own sin -- my own impatience, resentfulness, and tendency to blame. Today I can see more clearly what I do when life is beyond my control.
I don't like seeing all this in myself. I don't like seeing the sin. I don't like being stung with its truth. In short, I don't like being disciplined the way God disciplined me yesterday.
Yet like my one, and probably now two sons I have to take my medicine. I don't like the way it tastes, but I know it's good for me. I know it's God's way of making me well, making me whole, making me holy.
Anger and blame are besetting sins which come out when I can't control things. That's a serious diagnosis. And yesterday I had to take a strong dose of acceptance. I winced when I swallowed it.
And I didn't even get a sucker afterward.
“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him.
6 For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and chastises every son whom he receives.”
7 It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? 8 If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. 9 Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? 10 For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness.
Yesterday I wanted very much to be somewhere with some people I care deeply about. Alas, one of my son's case of Strep Throat thwarted my plans. I was deeply disappointed. Then later in the day after we came home from the doctor's office with the official diagnosis, I look up and see the boys have decided to share the sucker the doctor was so kind to give us. Shared sucker. Shared strep. I nearly blew a gasket. I was angry at the boys, resentful of having to miss something important, and wondering if there was a hotline to call and report the doctor for violating her Hippocratic Oath to do no harm.
Today I see my own sin -- my own impatience, resentfulness, and tendency to blame. Today I can see more clearly what I do when life is beyond my control.
I don't like seeing all this in myself. I don't like seeing the sin. I don't like being stung with its truth. In short, I don't like being disciplined the way God disciplined me yesterday.
Yet like my one, and probably now two sons I have to take my medicine. I don't like the way it tastes, but I know it's good for me. I know it's God's way of making me well, making me whole, making me holy.
Anger and blame are besetting sins which come out when I can't control things. That's a serious diagnosis. And yesterday I had to take a strong dose of acceptance. I winced when I swallowed it.
And I didn't even get a sucker afterward.
Thursday, February 4, 2016
Daily Lesson for February 4, 2016
"Yours is the day, yours also the night."
The psalmist who penned these words was writing from the ashes of the destroyed sanctuary. National calamity had befallen the nation. Everything had been torn down, profaned, and burned. Everyone was wondering if God had forgotten them, if the LORD had cast them off forever (verse 1).
It is into this time of desolation and grief that the psalmist's words defiantly speak: "Yours is the day, yours also the night."
It may be whistling in the dark; but it's more than that also. This is what true faith looks like.
Last night in a class at our church we finished watching the film "The Mission", staring Jeremy Irons and Robert DeNiro as two 18th century Jesuit priests serving a mission to the native peoples in South America. At the end of the film, the mission is attacked by colonial powers, all is destroyed, and the two Jesuits and most of the villagers are killed. It is a heavy and disturbing end. But then, just before the conclusion of the film a young village boy takes up and begins the cross of one of the fallen Jesuits. The final words into the film just before the credits are from the beginning of the Gospel of St John, "The light shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot overcome it."
Heartache, loss, calamity and devastation cannot be avoided in this mission of living. The experience of the darkness a part of the journey -- half of the journey. And yet, the darkness too belongs to God. It too is tamed by God. In the end, it too will be swallowed up by God.
The light within us is most manifest in the darkness; the life we bear is most meaningful in the shadow of death. To God belongs the day, and also the night; and to God belongs the children of light even in the darkest of midnight hours.
Wednesday, February 3, 2016
Daily Lesson for February 3, 2016
Last week I walked into Reginae's classroom with a special surprise tucked beneath my arm. "Guess what I've got," I said.
Reginae is in fourth grade and has been my Kids Hope Kid for three years now. Her older brother Reginald was my Kids Hope Kid the prior three before he graduated on to middle school. Kids Hope is about one mentor and one kid at one single school for one hour a week. After awhile the single hours add up; but to how much only God really knows. That's where faith comes in. Every hour put in by every one of our 20 mentors in Reginae's school is an act of faith. For faith, we are told by the Apostle Paul, is the "substance of things hoped for."
This year Reginae and I have been reading Ruby Bridges's memoir "Through My Eyes". It is her remembrance of the 1960 school year, when as a kindergartener she was the first black child to attend an all-white public school in New Orleans. Earlier in the year I had been asked by Reginae's teacher to help her with reading and comprehension. She chose "Through My Eyes" and page by page we have read together about Ruby's courage, poise and determination as she saw with her own eyes that giant new school with the giant and angry crowds outside and walked little step by little step up the steps into her new world. Reginae and I have talked about what courage Ruby's parents must also have had to allow their daughter to be the first to integrate the schools, and what character was demonstrated by Ruby's teacher and some of the public officials, ministers and other supporters who helped her and her family along the way.
We have read and re-read word by word and line by line and I have been amazed at Reginae's progress. "Let the punctuation do its work." "Breath for the sense of the meaning." "What's that word again?" Half a school year on the same book has paid off hour by hour, week by week. Reginae can read; and she can not only read but she also understands.
Then at church two weeks ago, in the sanctuary just before worship a woman grabs my arm. She is somewhat new to the church and new to Lubbock. She moved here to be close to her children because as she pushes against a terminal diagnosis. I look down at what she is holding in her hand. It's Ruby Bridges's book -- a signed copy. "I heard you were reading this with your little girl. I want her to have it."
I wondered if Reginae was ready for the book. Would she appreciate it? Would she understand the meaning? Someone else suggested I give it to my own daughter instead. But no, I decided. This book is for Reginae. It's meant for her.
We walk into the Kids Hope room with my surprise is still tucked beneath my arm. I am surrounded by such amazing things going on. One of our other mentors is using his architectural training to teach his Kids Hope Kid how to draft designs for a house. The little boy wants to be an architect and has started with his dream home -- the jacuzzi room is at the center and by far the largest room in the house. Another mentor is studying vocabulary words with her kid. Still another is playing charades. I get everyone else's attention. "I have something to give to Reginae that a nice lady from my church wanted her to have."
I pull out my surprise. "You ready to start reading?" "Yes." "Let's back up a little. How about back to the cover page." Reginae looks at me with an "Are your crazy?" look. It's taken us half a year to get as far as we've gotten and now I want to start over? "Just turn to the cover page." "Through My Eyes," I say, "by -- what does that say? The words on the bottom in cursive?" "Ruby Bridges," Reginae says. She reads it ; and she understands it. "A signed copy -- for you." "For me?" "For you."
We read for another hour together and at the end of the time I walk Reginae back to her classroom. After dropping her off, I stand outside and watch and wonder what if anything she will do with the book. Reginae starts for her seat, but then turns toward her teacher's desk. She presents the book to her teacher and turns presumably to the cover page. "How wonderful!" I hear her teacher say.
How wonderful indeed.
Tuesday, February 2, 2016
Daily Lesson for February 2, 2016
14 So Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away. And she departed and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba. 15 When the water in the skin was gone, she put the child under one of the bushes. 16 Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about the distance of a bowshot, for she said, “Let me not look on the death of the child.” And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept. 17 And God heard the voice of the boy, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Fear not, for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. 18 Up! Lift up the boy, and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make him into a great nation.” 19 Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water.
God made provision for both the sons of Abraham -- the firstborn Ishmael and the second Isaac -- and all their descendants. Though one child was destined to be the father of Israel, the other child found blessing and providence also. God was watching over both.
To say that I am blessed does not mean that you are not. For one to receive the favor or the call does not negate God's care and concern for the other. Ishmael and Isaac were both sons of Abraham; and we are all children of God.
God hears the voice of all His children when they cry. There is no voice which goes unheard or unknown. And there is no child seeking refuge who goes unnoticed.
There remains a terrible crisis going on in Syria. These are the children of Hagar; and God still hears their cry.
Please join us at Second B on the evening of Thursday, March 3 at 7pm as we too will listen to voices from the Syrian refugee crisis living here among us in Lubbock.
| Attribution: | Artaud, W. (William), 1763-1823 ; Bromley, William, 1769-1842. The Macklin Bible -- Hagar and Ishmael, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=54094[retrieved February 2, 2016]. Original source: A gift to Vanderbilt University from John J. and Anne Czura.. |
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Monday, February 1, 2016
Daily Lesson for February 1, 2016
8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.
Reinhold Niebuhr wrote in "The Irony of American History": "Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime; therefore we must be saved by hope. Nothing which is true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; therefore we must be saved by faith."
We are never really "there". We are always still arriving, still searching, still surveying, still building, still not knowing for certain. Like Abraham, we live in the Land of God's Promise, but we live there as sojourners and colonists, still looking forward to the building of the city.
Was the promise true? Yes, though an uncultivated land never seems very promising at first. Was the promise for us? Yes, the promise was for us -- and our descendants; which means no single generation can build it alone. Was the promise trustworthy? Yes, though the firmness of its foundation is solely a word which must be taken as an article of faith whose assurance can never be seen but only hoped in.
We are the spiritual descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jakob. Like them, our homes are makeshift tents with make do improvements. But, like Abraham, we too look forward to "the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God." And until we live there, we live here.
This is what it means to be a people of the promise.
Artwork:
Pilgrim with staff, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=54923 [retrieved February 1, 2016]. Original source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pilgrim_Path_Waymarker_(Ireland).jpg.
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