Words 9.21

 
Words Twice a Week 9.21
Answer from last week - “God does but I don’t, and God will but I won’t, and that’s the difference between God and me” - Lyle Lovett

From the church calendar
Mon 21 Matthew, Evangelist and Apostle He was a tax collector when Jesus called him. Mark and Luke tell about Jesus calling a tax collector they name Levi. It could be the same person. When Jesus goes to Matthew’s house for dinner, it leads the Pharisees to complain and Jesus to say it is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” Among others, he is the patron saint of bankers, tax collectors, accountants! Just as an aside, who needs a doctor today, and are they able to see one? Who has insurance and who is on their own? Well, here’s the collect for Matthew -
  We thank you heavenly Father, for the witness of your apostle and evangelist Matthew to the 

  Gospel of your Son our Savior; and we pray that, after his example, we may with ready wills 

  and hearts obey the calling of our Lord to follow him; (and maybe even invite him for dinner 

  at our house!); through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy 

  Spirit, one God, now and forever.       - BCP
Fri 25 Lancelot Andrewes An English bishop and scholar, he held high positions in the Church of England during the reigns of Elizabeth I and James I. During the latter's reign, Andrewes served successively as Bishop of Chichester, of Ely, and of Winchester and oversaw the translation of the King James Version of the Bible (or Authorized Version). Yes, there are some issues with the archaic language, but I don’t think any other translation matches the beauty and elegance. I guess sometimes you have to trade off some beauty and elegance for simple clarity. Maybe for this week anyway, we could get out the KJV. For a real treat, I have cd’s of Johnny Cash reading the KJV New Testament!
Sun 27 Vincent de Paul He grew up in poverty. His family sold their ox to send him to seminary and he became a priest. There are letters saying he was captured by pirates and sold into slavery, but historians question them. "Although Vincent had initially begun his priesthood with the intention of securing a life of leisure for himself, he underwent a change of heart after hearing the confession of a dying peasant.” He organized the wealthy women of Paris to raise money to help the poor.

From the world/earth calendar
Mon, 21 – last day of summer write a haiku ending with ‘summer meets autumn’? have a picnic? rip out the garden? plan a road trip to see the leaves? - how will you spend this day?
- The Hobbit was published in 1937. [so you could spend it reading about Bilbo!]
Thurs, 24
- nine children were escorted through an angry, cursing crowd to integrate Central High School in Little Rock in 1957. We were there a couple of years ago – there’s a National Park Interpretive Center across the street. It’s a pretty moving experience.
  Dear God,
  In our efforts to dismantle racism, we understand that we struggle not merely against flesh  

  and blood but against powers and principalities – those institutions and systems that keep 

  racism alive by perpetuating the lie that some members of the family are inferior and others 

  superior.

    Create in us a new mind and heart that will enable us to see brothers and sisters

    in the faces of those divided by racial categories.

  Give us the grace and strength to rid ourselves of racial stereotypes
  that oppress some of us while providing entitlements to others.
    Help us to create a church and a nation that embraces the hopes and fears
    of oppressed people of color where we live, as well as those around the world.
  Heal your family God, and make us one with you,
  in union with our brother Jesus, and empowered by your Holy Spirit.
                    - Pax Christi, https://socialjusticeresourcecenter.org/prayers/racism/
- Dr Seuss died in 1991. What is your favorite – Green Eggs, The Grinch, The Cat in the Hat, One Fish Two Fish, Yertle the Turtle, 500 Hats, Horton, Oh the Places You’ll Go, The Lorax?
- it’s the birthday of Jim Henson Hey, I could watch a Muppet movie tonight.
Sat, 26
-Shay’s rebellion in 1786 – the first armed internal conflict in the US as farmers protested economic and civil rights injustices
- the last known Bali Tiger was shot and killed. Anyone for extinction

a haiku -
green leaves shiver in
light breeze, turn red, yellow, gold -
summer meets autumn

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