Words 8.31

Words Twice a Week    8.31

ok – so before I forget, here’s a recipe for raised waffles.  This is actually from the Betty Crocker Cookbook; it’s just about the same as the Fanny Farmer one.  

1 pkg yeast                               1 t salt

¼ C warm water                         3 eggs

1 ¾ C scalded and cooled milk ¼ C butter, melted

2 T sugar                                         2 C flour  [it says ‘all purpose’ – we use a 6 grain kind 

                                                                       of like whole wheat]

  Dissolve the yeast in the water.  Add everything else, beat until smooth.  [I’m just using a spoon.]  Cover, let rise in warm place for 1½ hrs.  Stir down.  Cover again and refrigerate 8-12 hrs.  Stir down.  Pour from cup or pitcher onto hot waffle iron.  They’re really good!  [Had to get the external keyboard so I can put an exclamation point there.]

From the church calendar -

- Sept 2  Martyrs of New Guinea.  When the threat of Japanese invasion reached the island, most missionaries fled.  Anglican Bishop Philip Strong encouraged his pastors not to flee as the early disciples had done before Jesus’ crucifixion.  Immediately after the occupation, Strong and seven others were executed.

- Sept 4  Paul Jones  Born in 1880 in Pennsylvania, he became a priest and served in Utah as pastor and later as Bishop. His ministry took him to many reservations of Native Americans, as well as among miner and railroad workers. He traveled many miles around the diocese visiting parishes by railroad, stagecoach, motorcar, horse and foot.  He was a socialist and a pacifist, and after declaring publicly in August 1917 that ‘war is unchristian’, was ‘encouraged’ to resign. He became a missionary in tiny Brownville Junction, Maine, on a railroad line to New Brunswick, Canada and near the end of what became the Appalachian Trail.   He helped the Fellowship of Reconciliation become an international movement and was their secretary for 10 years.  He helped found the Episcopal Pacifist Fellowship which in 1966 became the Episcopal Peace Fellowship.

From the World Calendar -

Aug 31 

 - Thomas Edison patented his motion picture camera.  One of these days we’ll go back to the movies.  

Sept 1 

 - Martha, the last known Passenger Pigeon died in 1914 at the Cincinnati Zoo.  She was named for First Lady Martha Washington and has become a symbol of the threat of extinction.

Sept 2  

 - J.R.R Tolkein died after taking us from the Shire to Mordor and back.

Sept 3

 - In 1783 the Treaty of Paris was signed between Great Britain and The United States of America, ending the Revolutionary War.

 - E. E. Cummings died.  Or should that be e.e. cummings?  He could handle my “no shift” keyboard just fine.

 - On this day in 1967 drivers in Sweden switched from driving on the left-hand side to driving on the right-hand side.

- Sept 4

 - Edvard Grieg died.  He immortalized his country’s [Norway’s] folk tunes and peasant imagery.  Here’s a video of his Morning Mood - 

 - Albert Schweitzer died.  He was a organist, pastor, lecturer, physician, and theologian.  He suggested that Jesus’ teachings were grounded in the conviction that the world would end in his lifetime.  His book The Quest for the Historical Jesus argued that attempts to understand the real Jesus say more about the interpreter than about Jesus.  [It’s one of those long, long books with one really good and accessible paragraph at the end.]  He left his academic career and mastery as player and interpreter of Bach to become a medical missionary in Africa.  He lived a radical reverence for life of all kinds.He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1954.

Sept 5  

- After surrendering, Native American Sioux freedom fighter Crazy Horse was assassinated while in U.S. custody.  He had helped Sitting Bull defeat Custer the previous year.

- Mother Teresa died in 1997.  She started the Missionaries of Charity, devoted to serving the poorest of the poor.  She left Albania for the Sisters of Loreto Convent in Ireland to learn English for service in India.  On 10 September 1946, Teresa experienced what she later described as "the call within the call" when she traveled by train to the Loreto convent in Darjeeling from Calcutta for her annual retreat. "I was to leave the convent and help the poor while living among them. It was an order. To fail would have been to break the faith.”  She said "By blood, I am Albanian. By citizenship, an Indian. By faith, I am a Catholic nun. As to my calling, I belong to the world. As to my heart, I belong entirely to the Heart of Jesus.”

Sept 6 

- Ferdinand Magellan had set out from Seville, Spain, on Sept 20, 1519 with 5 ships to sail around the world.  One of them, the Victoria, with 18 crew members returned to Seville on this day in 1522.  Magellan unfortunately died on April 27, 1521.  That was one long cruise.  

Geez – a lot about people dying!  Here are some things that started this week (not really people getting born, but the best I could do)

Sept 3 – Ebay founded in 1995

Sept 4 

- Google founded in 1998

- Who Wants to be a Millionaire on British TV in 1998

- Kodak founded in 1888

Here’s a prayer -

God of each day and all times,

whatever we do and wherever we go,

help us live this day so that when we come to die

we will feel that we have lived it well,

caring for the littlest and the least,

having reverence for all life.

Words 8.30

 

• So here’s what happened with this -

I got to camp, spent an hour or two writing this up, went to transfer it to my phone so I could post it using the cell data, and discovered I had brought our home phone (which doesn’t have the Blogger stuff on it) with me and left my phone (which does have the Blogger stuff on it) at home.  So that took another day to straighten out -

Some thoughts on some of the Lectionary Lessons for Sunday -

Exodus 3.1-15  Moses meets God in the burning bush, take off your shoes, the ground is holy, I AM WHO I AM

- This is a “call narrative”, a distinctive literary form.  Looking at how God called Moses, we can perhaps think more clearly about how God might call us.  Several things to notice – 1) Moses was just going about his daily routine, not off looking for a spiritual or meaningful or holy experience.  2) a call begins by establishing a relationship with God.  3) a call is specific.  4) objecting to a call is orthodox.  Humans are inadequate, and a call involves risk.  5) the objection is met with divine reassurance, and 6)  often there is a sign involved.  (What is the sign here?  It might be that all the people worshipping on the mountain will be the sign that it has all worked out.  Or, it might be that the burning bush is a sign that will be in Moses’ heart and mind even though nobody else sees it.  What seems most likely to you?   And, how do you tend to think about signs from God in general?)

- “Take off your shoes, you are standing on holy ground.”  I am intrigued by cultures where you take off your shoes (and perhaps are offered slippers or house-shoes) before entering a home.  Mr Rogers! Is all ground holy?  And there is that poem about “earth’s aflame with heaven, only those who see take off their shoes, the rest pluck blackberries” or something like that.  I don’t have the internet at hand! Where would you expect to meet God, where would you be surprised to encounter God?

- here’s an idea: write a haiku with the last line “this ground is holy” or “this ground holy, too” or something like that!

- It never struck me before that Moses was a shepherd.  God called him from tending the flock to tending God’s people.

- Buechner has a classic piece about the power of knowing another’s name – he says God told Moses his name and hasn’t had a moment’s peace since.  Remember that Jacob wrestled with God and prevailed, but still did not learn God’s name.  In our day it might be a little like having or not having someone’s cell phone number.

- Of course, what kind of a name is I AM or I AM WHO I AM anyway?  How do you think about it? One writer notes that the bush which burns but doesn’t burn up is symbolic of the God who creates but does not deteriorate.  

- After all that, have you ever felt a call from God?  Where were you and what were you doing?  What was/is the risk involved?  Was there a sign?  My call into the ministry was somehow wrapped up with the dinner bell at church camp – I don’t remember exactly how anymore, but that was a part of it.

Psalm 105.1-6, 23-26, 45b   The Lord can be trusted

- once again, praying to and praising God is linked with telling others, it’s not just a private experience.

- you belong, yes, you!

    All of us are members, all of us are members, all of us are members of the family

    And I bid you to remember as you carry out your plan

    All of us are members of the family of woman and man.

- vs 25  “God made the Egyptians plan hateful things against them.” Well, that’s the psalmist’s understanding.  Is it yours?

Alternate track

Jer 15.15-21   Jeremiah complains (again!) and God replies

- vs 17  “I don’t go to parties and have a good time.”  How does “having a good time” fit into the life of faith?

- “I will be there to rescue you” God says.  Reminds me of the hymn How Firm a Foundation.  Or of the joke about the guy in the flood who turns down 3 or 4 rescue attempts because he is waiting for God to rescue him.  Or about the guy who complains that God doesn’t let him win the lottery, even though he promised to give a percentage to the church, and God replies “Give me a break – you have to at least buy a ticket.”

- But how about us – does the life of faith feel like a good time, or like a heavy responsibility?  If it is just one or the other, does that maybe suggest we are not “all in”?

Mt 16.21-28   First Passion Prediction, those who save their lives will lose them…...

- Peter’s big turn around from being “The Rock” to “Satan.  Why?  Well, Jesus’ words  - suffering, dying, being raised – are pretty hard to accept and process.  Peter is “Satan” in that he tempts Jesus away from this path.

- “Get behind me” is not “Get lost”, but rather “Fall in as a faithful disciple.”  Jesus used the same word to call Peter and Andrew in Mt 4.19.

- Jesus identifies Peter’s thoughts as “thinking like a human.”  The call of God is to something “beyond human”?

- Picking up your cross, giving up your life...what would you give to get back your soul?  These are hard statements, easy to give lip service to, but when it really comes down to it….?

- vs 27  The “Son of Man” will come and reward people for what they have done.  Not meant as a call to work-righteousness, but simply the realization that how we live makes a difference.

Here’s a prayer for today from Pope Benedict XVI -  (apparently it was for some particular day)

  God grant that violence be overcome by the power of love,

  that opposition give way to reconciliation

  and that the desire to oppress be transformed 

  into the desire for forgiveness, justice and peace…

  May peace be in our hearts

  so that they are open to the action of God’s grace…

  May all members of the family community,

  especially children, the elderly, the weakest,

  feel the warmth of this feast,

  and may it extend subsequently to all the days in the year.

There was a piece on the radio about some Native American tribe in the hurricane’s path, and the spokesperson said “We evacuated all the elders to a safe place.”  It kind of had a different ring to it from “We emptied out the nursing homes.”

Words 8.24

Words Twice a Week

Whoa – I hope you catch this in time.  I should have put an alert on last Thursday’s post – Today, Monday, August 24, is Waffle Day!  The Waffle Iron was patented in the United States on 8.24.  Now on with the week -

A few notes from the church calendar -

Aug 24 – St Bartholomew  So the question with Bartholomew is, was he also Nathanael.  In Mt, Mk, and Lk, Phillip and Bartholomew are mentioned and Nathanael isn’t; in John, Bartholomew is not mentioned, but Philip and Nathanael are.  Tradition says he went to India and Armenia and started churches there.  One tradition is that he was martyred by being crucified upside down, another [caution – some readers may find this next bit too strong] says he was skinned alive [flayed] and so he is the patron saint of tanners, plasterers, tailors, leatherworkers, bookbinders, farmers, housepainters, butchers, and glove makers. [Sometimes I’m kind of glad United Methodists don’t pay that much attention to the stories of the saints, especially their deaths.]

Aug 27  Thomas Gallaudet and Henry Winter Syle  Both Episcopal priests, the former was involved with work for the deaf community – his parents founded the school that became Gallaudet University.  The latter was one of Gallaudet’s students who became the first deaf person ordained an Episcopal priest in 1883.

[note – in some versions of the calendar, Gallaudet and Syle are remembered on the 26th and Monica, mother of Augustine is remembered  on the 27th.  In other versions she is remembered on May 4]  

Aug 28  St Augustine of Hippo  He was apparently kind of a rogue in his younger years, then became a Christian [traditionally perhaps as an answer to his mother’s prayers] and a priest.  He was involved in forming the doctrine of original sin and the just war theory, along with many other things.

Aug 29  John Bunyan  Ok, hands up – how many people actually have read The Pilgrim’s Progress all the way through?

And from the world calendar -

Aug 24

 - as I said, it’s Waffle Day.  One of my favorite recipes for yeast waffles is in The Fanny Farmer Cookbook.  It’s at camp – I’ll fill it in here as soon as I get there.

 - Pluto was declassified as a planet and reclassified as a dwarf planet.  “My very educated mother just served us nine……”?

Aug 25

 - birthday of Leonard Bernstein.  A good day to Sing God a Simple Song – especially if you have listening to NPR and hearing the promo all week! 

     Dear God, here is my simple prayer/song for today.

     Thank you for the sun and rain that nourish the earth and provide food and flowers.

     Thank you for my home and family and that we are still healthy and safe.

     Bless and heal and help those who are sick, troubled, or depressed, 

     and show me how I can be part of that.

     Thank you for the power of love that allows us to face tomorrow with hope.

     I pray as one who trusts and follows Jesus, at least in my heart.

 - also on this day the National Park Service was established.

Aug 28

 - Emmett Till was murdered in 1955.

 - Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech in 1963.

It astonishes me that both of those events happened in my lifetime.  Here’s a prayer/litany from the Praying for Change series from Discipleship Resources….

                   Let Freedom Ring Litany

  Take heed that what you sing with your mouths you believe in your hearts,

  and what you believe in your hearts you show forth in your works.

                    (Fourth Council of Carthage, 4th century)

  From ev'ry mountainside let freedom ring!  

                       (end of stanza 1 of Samuel Francis Smith’s, “ America,”, 1831)

  When our works don’t measure up to our creeds,

  When our lives don’t match our songs,

  When our systems don’t uphold our ideals,

  From ev’ry mountainside let freedom ring!

     Where our works hollow out our professions,

     Where neighborhoods exclude,

     Where misery calls us to right the wrong,

     From ev’ry mountainside let freedom ring!

  In prison’s warehousing people of color,

  In zip codes that are food deserts,

  In statehouses mouthing clichés about race,

  From ev’ry mountainside let freedom ring!

     From pulpits and pews divorced from justice,

     From executive offices disconnected from truth,

     From police headquarters evading accountability,

     From ev’ry mountainside let freedom ring!

  With mouths singing hope for all,

  With hearts believing justice for all,

  With lives living love for all,

  From ev’ry mountainside let freedom ring!

                                             Br. Daniel Benedict, the Order of Saint Luke

Aug 29

 – Ingrid Bergman was born on this day in 1915 and died on this day in 1982.  “Play it, Sam.  Play As Time Goes By.”

[any comments would be moderated – by me – and may take a day or two to appear]

Words 8.20

 Words Twice a Week 

Some thoughts on some of the lessons for Sunday -

Exodus 1.8 -2.10   beginning of oppression, birth of Moses

- “a new king, too many immigrants” – hmm

- “If the baby is a boy – kill him.”  First to the midwives, the only people in the story whose names are preserved (Shiphrah and Puah – we’ll preserve them here as well!), and then to the whole population.  It’s a harsh, blunt word, but do we do the same thing in hidden, more subtle ways?  “If he baby is black?  If the baby is Native American?  If the baby is poor?”

-the whole “Levite couple, beautiful boy, baby in a basket in the bullrushes” is just a wonderful story.  With Moses, who will be called by God to save his people, this birth story is something of an “Old Testament Christmas.’  and like the Christmas Story with Mary and the angel, it all rides on the answer/action of a young girl.

- two kinds of power – the raw power of Pharaoh, the “hidden”? (Robert F Capon would say “left-handed”) power of the women – midwives, mother, sister (of the baby), daughter (of the Pharaoh!).  Once again, God works through the littlest and lowly.  Pharaoh may be more powerful in the moment, but the women have the edge in the long run.  You do feel like if we paid more attention to the women, things would maybe go better! A nice word for the week of the anniversary of the 19th amendment! 

- note there is no indictment of Israel – they are simply doing what God has commanded (be fruitful and multiply).  God’s love is proactive, not just reactive.  John Wesley called it “prevenient grace”!

Psalm 124   Looking back we are led to praise God

- God protected/saved us from the enemy – like a flood, like a wild animal, like a hunter’s snare.  Obviously a flood is not an enemy, nor in reality is a virus.  They are part of creation.  Who/what is “an enemy”?  Or – what do you feel you have been protected/saved from?

- life is not just a two-way “us – enemy”, but a three way “us – enemy – God” experience.

- God made all – heavens and earth – and so God cares for all creation.  So it’s not even just a three-way, but a multi-way experience.

Alternate track - 

Proverbs 8.22-31     Wisdom

- Wisdom was with God/of God from the beginning, before, and as, all things (oceans, mountains, heavens/sky/clouds) were made.  And Wisdom (with God/of God) was happy in all that was made.

John 1.1-3   In the beginning…

- was the Word, and the Word was with God/of God, and all things were made through the Word.

A Prayer -

Creator, and Creating, God,

from the beginning to the end of things,

you take delight in all that comes to be,

and especially, we believe, in the birth of each child.

Help us find that same joy in other children that we find in our own,

and help us live with an intensity that each child might grow to his/her full potential.

We remember Moses and his mother and his sister; 

we remember Jesus and his mother and his friends as we pray.

Matthew 16.13-20

- who do you/we say Jesus is?  A teacher, a prophet, a friend, a good person?  How do you understand “Messiah, Son of God”?  Peter obviously didn’t completely understand it – before he has time to turn around Jesus calls him “Satan”!

- unique to Matthew’s story is that Jesus goes on to talk about the church  In the gospels, the word is used only here and in Matthew 18.17 about how to deal with people who are sinning.

- so the church is rooted not in wisdom or understanding, not in good intentions or ethical behavior, but simply in the confession of Jesus as Messiah, Son of God.  So I guess it behooves us to think more about how that fits into our life together!

- the church’s context – conflict.  The church’s power – the “keys to the kingdom.”  What does that mean?

- Peter, and by extension the church, is called to work within the church and in the world.  

- Jesus expects the disciples to know what others are saying about him/them.  What are others saying about us today – With regard to pandemic? With regard to implicit racism? With regard to caring about each other?  With regard to working in the world?

Another prayer – for St Paul’s Church (or feel free to substitute your church’s name.)

God of us all, 

here and now you call us to be St Paul’s Episcopal Church.

Help us dream/discern/discover

what and where and how you might be calling us

to be St Paul’s Episcopal Church in the years ahead.

We pray in the name of Jesus, 

who always seemed to be wandering somewhere new.

[comments, should there be any, are moderated – by me – and may take a day or two to appear!]

Words 8.17

Words Twice a Week 

Answer from last week – Herman Melville left his mark on world culture in the name “Starbuck” – the chief mate of the Pequod.  The story is that Howard Schultz and friends were trying to come up with a name for their new venture, and wanted an “st” word – one of them thought it would sound strong.  After a couple of tries they settled  on Starbucks.  

And another “missed this” – Robert Johnson died on Aug 16, 1938;  Elvis died on Aug 16, 1977   Are you lonesome tonight?

A morning prayer for this week -

Wonderful God, we come to a new day, perhaps with the music of Elvis still playing in our minds,

perhaps with the aroma of a good cup of coffee surrounding us,

perhaps with a particular poem or picture or piece of music in our heart. 

Grateful for some events of the week - women getting the right to vote -

and sorrowing over others - the arrival of African slaves -

we pray for your guidance as we live this day.

Give us your wisdom, that we might see your way clearly;

give us your strength of character that we might make good decisions today.

Bless us all and surround us with your love and grace.

From the Church calendar - 

Aug 17   Samuel Johnson - He was a clergyman, educator, linguist, encyclopedist, historian, and philosopher in colonial America.   Johnson, Benjamin Franklin and William Smith together created a "new-model" plan or style of American College.   They decided it would be profession-oriented, with classes taught in English instead of Latin, have subject matter experts as professors instead of one tutor leading a class for four years, and there would be no religious test for admission. They also replaced the study of theology with non-denominational moral philosophy, using Johnson's "new system of morality" and his philosophy textbook as the core of the curriculum.  Johnson started and served as the first president of King's College in New York (renamed Columbia University following the American Revolutionary War).  Franklin and Smith would open the College of Philadelphia (now the University of Pennsylvania).  In 1720, he became a congregational minister, but 2 years later, he was one of a nine member book group who together questioned their ordination, were expelled from the Congregational Church and became Episcopalians.  He founded 25 parishes in Connecticut.  Probably a lot more students showing up at NMU this week because of his vision!

Aug 18  William Porcher Dubose  He was ordained September 9, 1866 in the Episcopal Church, after service as a chaplain in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War.  DuBose served as a Professor, Chaplain, and Dean of Theology at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee.  His books earned him a reputation for brilliance in England.  He has been described as possibly the "greatest theologian that the Episcopal Church in the USA has produced."

Aug 20  Bernard of Clairvaux  He was a French abbot and a major leader in the revitalization of Benedictine monasticism through the nascent Order of Cistercians.  He is also credited with composing the hymns we now sing as O Sacred Head Now Wounded, and Jesus the Very Thought of Thee.

From the world calendar -

Aug 17  Davy Crockett was born – "King of the Wild Frontier". He also represented Tennessee in the House of Representatives. I had a hat - did you?

Aug 18 

 - 1920 -Tennessee passed the 19th amendment, providing the majority it needed to become law.

 - 1969 Jimi Hendrix closed Woodstock at 8:30 am.    I wasn’t there – were you?

Aug 20 

 - 1619  first African slaves brought to Jamestown, Virginia

 - 1912  (Salvation Army) Gen William Booth died and entered heaven.  Booth led boldly with his big bass drum – Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?  Along with the poem, there is also a William Booth rose.  He had been a Methodist preacher, but left to found the Salvation Army.

Aug 22 - birthday of Claude Debussy - if you know music history, you know what a big influence he had. "He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term." [Wikipedia] If you are not a scholar of music, you can simply enjoy his music here.

Aug 23

 - First Assembly of the World Council of Churches  1948

 - Edgar Lee Masters – Spoon River Anthology   I don’t know if I ever read it all the way through, but I just think it is such a neat idea. Kind of like Our Town.

 - First photo of Earth from moon orbit, taken by the lunar orbiter in 1966.

 - birthday [1884] of Will Cuppy.  He was a writer and satirist.  He wrote The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody, How to Be a Hermit, How to Become Extinct, How to Tell Your Friends from the Apes, How to Attract the Wombat.  For 23 years he wrote a column in the New York Tribune/Herald Tribune on Mystery and Adventure books.  Relevant to our time, seeking refuge from city noise and hay fever Cuppy "hermited" from 1921 to 1929 in a shack on Jones Island, just off Long Island's South Shore.  His book How to be a Hermit might be helpful for some of us stuck at home!

A poem - not quite a haiku - for the week -

Students returning

Women voting

Black lives mattering

It's an intense week!

(And the first woman of color nominated as vice President on a major party ticket!)

And an evening prayer for the week - (from Edward Hays)

Slowly we are turning once again to look into the dark, star-sprinkled space

through which our planet is traveling.

All life is aware of the approaching view, and the sunset beauty of this day's end

is an overture to the awesome grandeur of the eternal vision that awaits us.

As the earth turns outward, may my thoughts turn inward

to the Sacred Mystery that dwells in my heart.

At the end of this day I sing a song of thanksgiving for the wonder of life.

I lift up my voice in gratitude for all this day has held for me

as I turn my memory to its flood of gifts.

Blessed are you, divine Mystery, who has chosen to dwell within me

and has enriched this day with zestful life, beauty, love,

and the discipline of my trials and temptations.

Blessed are you, O God, most blessed are you.

[comments, should there be any, are moderated - by me - and may take a day to appear!]

Words 8.13

 Thoughts on some of this Sunday’s lessons -

(and I am doing this at camp so the formatting is not as helpful as I would like -)

Gen 45.4-20   Joseph and his brothers in Egypt

+And the brothers are coming begging because there is a famile at home, and they do not recognize Joseph, who has become powerful in Egypt.

+we can see three stages in Joseph’s story (Gen 37-50) -

    Family dreams                     Egyptian dreams                           Family dreams fulfillment

                                                   and fulfillment

and we note that God has not been a participant in this story so far.  God comes into the story as Joseph shifts from being a powerful Egyptian able to toy with this Canaanite family to being a brother, a member of the family.  As part of that, he gives a theological interpretation of his brothers’ treachery – “You did not send me, God did.”  One writer notes that revelation and ethical transformation are often complementary.  Not that one has to precede the other, but they often come together.

+this passage begins to reverse the family disunity from ch 37 – note the use of “son”, “father”, and “brother” in Joseph’s speech.

+then note the invitation to Egypt – Joseph says “They will be given the best of everything.”  Well, that worked out fine for a while, but we know the rest of the story – “Many years later a new king arose in Egypt, and he did not know Joseph…”

+also note (I love this!) Joseph gives new clothes to all his half-brothers (fine), but he gives 5 new outfits and 300 pieces of silver to Benjamin, his full brother.  Wait a minute – favoritism, isn’t this kind of where this story started?

Ps 133    O Look and Wonder How Good It Is

+as with revelation and ethical transformation (above), the blessing of God is often complementary with community unity.  

+and this – being together – is what we are really missing these days.  Just a chance to eat lunch together, sit and have coffee, go out to a restaurant with other people.

+this is one of the “Psalms of Ascent”, perhaps to be sung by the group as they went along their pilgrimage to Jerusalem.  Kind of a “demonstration chant”?

+the oil image, while not exactly too appealing to us is an anointing image; the dew on “Mt Hermon” is an image of God’s blessing flowing from the holy places.  Would that be kind of like a church bell ringing through the community?  Or some churches used to have speaker systems to play hymns in the neighborhood (not always appreciated!)

 

Alternate track 

Is 56.1, 6-8   

+”Be honest and fair; soon I will come”, says the Lord.  Again, ethics, community unity are complementary with the presence/blessing of God.

+vs 6-8  foreigners are welcome to become part of God’s people; God’s house is a house of worship/prayer for all nations.  It doesn’t really address foreigners who might want to co-exist with Israel but not want to join them.  One step at a time, I guess.

Ps 67   Tell the Nations to Praise God   

+That’s the title in the CEV. and it pretty much sums it up.  “Be model citizens so everyone will be impressed by you and your God.”  Youth group used to discuss if it was alright to do certain behaviors – dance, go to movies, listen to rock and roll – or should we not do it because someone else’s faith might be harmed by it?  It didn’t make much sense then either!

+vs 6  ”God has blessed the earth with a wonderful harvest”.  It’s starting to happen, isn’t it? 
Tomatoes, corn, zucchini, beans – red, yellow, orange, green.  What’s your favorite color from the garden?

Matthew 15: (10-20), 21-28

+vs 10-20   ritual purity – the words that come out of your mouth make you unclean, not what you put into it.  Words and food images are going to play a big part in the second part of the lesson.

+”the blind leading the blind”  -  there was a story on the radio a week or two back about how Americans (I don’t know about other nationalities) are increasingly unwilling to accept expert knowledge, increasingly likely to trust their own individual knowledge (even if limited, and from whatever source) or even their own gut feeling more than expert information.  If this is so, what reasons can you think of that might be causing it?  Is it a problem just for the individual, or for all of us?

Vs 21-28    The Canaanite woman

+a really interesting story as Jesus first ignores her, then refuses her (with insult), then finally praises her and grants her wish.  (Note that the question of his ability to heal is never raised.)  So does Jesus learn something and change as a result of this encounter?

+Matthew is particularly careful to note that God has not abandoned the Jews, God’s faithfulness to the covenant remains, that Jesus came first for the lost sheep of Israel, and only after the resurrection is the door thrown open to all.  But given that, we see God’s grace beginning to seep out of Israel even here.

+Canaanites/”dogs” – who would we/you have in that category today?  Would it be a political issue? A racial issue? A cultural or nationality issue?  Brings the Prayer of Humble Access to mind – ‘we are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs from your table…’

+the woman’s single-minded faith effort contrasts with the scribes, the Pharisees, even the disciples in vs 10-20.  She could have been justifiably offended by Jesus calling her one of the dogs, but she was willing to put up with that for the sake of her daughter.  What would you be willing to suffer for the sake of your faith, for your family?  Would you say you had a “single-minded faith”?

A Prayer -

God of all times,

we come to the second half of “calendar summer”, 

gardens are producing treasures red, yellow, green, gold;

Labor Day and School Startings are just ahead.

And life is still this curious mixture of caution and risk-taking 

and trying to begin (again) and “not quite ready”.

Thank you for not abandoning us, 

for your continued presence in our lives,

in our families, in our church and community.

Guide us through these days to a better time,

for us and for all people, for all creation.

[comments, if there were any, would be moderated – by me – and might take a day to appear]