Words 7.18

 Words Twice a Week          7.18

If you are more into listening than reading, Words Twice a Week is available, along with other good stuff, as a podcast from St Paul’s Episcopal Church.  Click here.

A few days from the church calendar -

July 22  Mary Magdalene – a follower of Jesus and witness to crucifixion and resurrection. (I come to the garden alone, while the dew is still on the roses….) She was mentioned by name twelve times in the canonical gospels, more than most of the apostles and more than any other woman in the gospels, other than Jesus's family.  The portrayal of Mary Magdalene as a prostitute began after a series of Easter sermons delivered in 591 when Pope Gregory I conflated Mary Magdalene, who was introduced in Luke 8:2, with Mary of Bethany (Luke 10:39) and the unnamed "sinful woman" who anointed Jesus's feet in Luke 7:36–50.  In 1969, the identification of Mary Magdalene with Mary of Bethany and the "sinful woman" was removed from the General Roman Calendar by Pope Paul VI, but the view of her as a former prostitute has persisted in popular culture.  While The DaVinci Code was a heck of a book, and it would be nice to think of this little community of common people somehow preserving and protecting a bloodline, there is probably no truth to it.  

July 24  Thomas a Kempis - born around 1380, he was a German/Dutch “canon regular” – kind of like a monk.  He wrote The Imitation of Christ.  Thomas spent his time between devotional exercises in writing and in copying manuscripts. He copied the Bible no fewer than four times.  A few quotes -

   +"Without the Way, there is no going,

     Without the Truth, there is no knowing,

     Without the Life, there is no living."

   +"At the Day of Judgement we shall not be asked what we have read, 

     but what we have done." 

   +"For man proposes, but God disposes" 

A shortened form of his motto – “In a little corner with a little book”.  (Where he found peace.) And then this is kind of touching (to me at least!) “A monument was dedicated to his memory in the presence of the archbishop of Utrecht in St Michael's Church, Zwolle, on November 11, 1897. In 1964, this church closed, causing his shrine to be moved to a new St. Michael's Church outside the centre of Zwolle. In 2005, this church also closed and his shrine was moved to the Onze-Lieve-Vrouw-ten-Hemelopneming kerk (Assumption of Mary church) in the centre of Zwolle.”  (Wikipedia)

July 25  Saint James the Great (to distinguish from James the Less, with “great” meaning taller or older, not more important!), one of the “sons of Zebedee”, one of the “sons of thunder.”  James and John were two of the first disciples to follow Jesus, and several times in the gospels are two of the three disciples who are set apart with Jesus.  

A few days from the Earth/World calendar -

July 20

+ birthday of Edmund Hillary (1919), he climbed Mt Everest; of Carlos Santana (1947), he played Black Magic Woman, a song actually written by British musician Peter Green, which first appeared as a Fleetwood Mac single in various countries in 1968.  I didn’t know that.  And apparently it’s some guy named Gregg Rolie singing it.  Huh.

July 21  

+ Capital Hill Hot Dog Lunch  -  The National Hot Dog and Sausage Council in the USA, designates July as National Hot Dog Month; National Hot Dog Day falls on the 3rd Wiener Wednesday of July, which in 2021 is on Wednesday, July 21 – historically based on when the North American Meat Institute hosts its annual Hot Dog Lunch on Capitol Hill.  So I put it on my calendar, and always think it might be kind of fun to have a hot dog with the senators and representatives guys and gals.  On the other hand, with all the stuff that’s coming out of Washington these days, I don’t know if I would enjoy hanging out with them or not.  That’s kind of sad.

+ last space shuttle landing (2011)

+ in 1983, the lowest temperature ever recorded.  In Antarctica, it was -128.6 (F).

+ in 1969, Neil Armstrong took “one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.”  Any response by the “man in the moon” was not recorded!  It’s almost as full moon – what do you see, a man in the moon?  The woman in the moon?  It’s really red/orange – smoke/haze from the fires out west, I guess.

July 22

+ it’s the birthday of Emma Lazarus in 1849.. She wrote The New Colossus, among other works.

July 23

+ Henry Ford sold his first car in 1896, and the Ford Motor Company sold it’s first car, a Model A, in 1903

+ birthday of Daniel Radcliffe in 1989.  He was a cute little kid.

July 24

+ birthday of John Newton.  He wrote Amazing Grace.  He also wrote Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken.  Captain of a slave ship turned abolitionist, he lived to see the British Empire abolish the slave trade in 1807, just months before he died in December.

July 25

+ birthday of Emmett Till (1941)

Ok – That’s what I got for now…..  I’m taking a week or two off to have knee surgery.  Should be back with you in August!

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Words 7.15

 Words Twice a Week          7.15

If you are more into listening than reading, Words Twice a Week is available, along with other good stuff, as a podcast from St Paul’s Episcopal Church.  Click here.

Shepherd images weave themselves through today’s readings – even Psalm 23.  The Catcher in the Rye was published on 7.16.1951.  Is that a shepherd image?

2 Samuel 7.1-14a

+ this story comes at the high point of David’s life – after he has united the nation, moved the Ark to Jerusalem, and dealt with external threats, and before his serious troubles begin!

+ we meet Nathan for the first time and come to trust him.  This will be important when Nathan comes again to confront David over Bathsheba!

+ David lives at Mar-A-Lago and the Ark is in a Winnebago parked at Walmart?

+ actually the Ark is in a tent, as we saw last week, signifying that God can take care of God’s self without any help from humans, thank you very much; and that God can/will move with the people wherever they go/are.  God is not bound to a single place.  We may encounter God in “our building” (or our tradition) but that does not mean God is not also elsewhere.  Or perhaps even a more significant question – how are we the church beyond “the people who worship in our building.”?

+ “God will chose a place for the people” – Well, how has that worked out?  What else might it mean?

+ “House” as dynasty.  Only the whole monarchy thing has not worked out so well so far.

+ a “pious motivation to do something which does not in fact represent God’s wishes” is a form of blindness.  Back to Abraham – God does not want blind adherence, God wants conversation, communion, “going out for coffee”!  Does doing the liturgy week after week help or hinder this?

Jeremiah 23.1-6

+ Previous shepherds have not attended to the flock, but God will raise a branch from David’s tree.

+ vs1-4 are a word to the flock, first a judgment on the shepherds and second a word of salvation – God will attend to them and raise up good shepherds.

+ vs5-6 promise salvation from David’s line.

+ “King” is an ideal, but rooted in flesh and blood.  It has not worked out well for Israel, even if we keep calling him a “shepherd”!

Ps 23

+ why do you suppose this psalm has become probably the most famous and well loved – the form or the content?

+ “a table in the midst of our enemies” – how do you picture that?  Is it different if “we” are the poor or the rich?  Are we called to share with our enemies from this table?

Mark 6.30-34, 53-56

+ a couple of not too exciting stories that surround a couple of fantastic ones – feeding the 5000 and walking on water!

+ in vs 30-34 the disciples return successfully (Mark even promotes them to “apostles”, although this is the only place he uses that term!).  And the 12 are not so good in the two intervening stories.

+ Jesus leads them to a quiet place, but still the crowds find them.  Jesus saw they were like sheep without a shepherd.  How does it feel to be “like sheep without a shepherd”?  How does it feel to be faced with a bunch of people who are “like sheep without a shepherd”?

+ we all need times to be alone – where do you go?  What are “lonely places” for you?  (National parks? Which are now apparently getting crowded!) Are there times when it is less appealing to be in a lonely place?  What do you do then?

+ in the first story Jesus teaches the people, in the second he heals.  How are the two the same?  Different?

+ Jesus seeks the desert, but engages with the crowds when they interrupt him.  Rather than being an intrusion, the crowd becomes an object of concern.  Can we hear this from the crowds perspective?

+ at Gennesaret there is no "Jesus hesitancy" and Jesus heals many!

That’s what I got for now…..

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Words 7.11

 Words Twice a Week          7.11 (Do you remember where you were?  I was having breakfast at what used to be the Sweetwater with the Marquette area United Methodist clergy.  And now, 20 years later we are pulling out of Afghanistan.  Huh.)

And hey – if you are vaccinated and entered the drawing, today’s the day you might have won a million.  If I do, I’ll give you a call and we’ll go have coffee.  I’ll buy, and even add a doughnut or two.  (see below!)

If you are more into listening than reading, Words Twice a Week is available, along with other good stuff, as a podcast from St Paul’s Episcopal Church.  Click here.  Well, I haven’t been keeping up with the podcast thing.  Maybe this week.

From camp, so limited access to information, and not many links!  But a delightful afternoon -

Some days from the church calendar -

July 12  Nathan Soderblom  He was a Swedish clergy, Archbishop of Uppsala.  He was one of the principle founders of the ecumenical movement, and began the work for intercommunion between the Church of Sweden and the Church of England.  He was awarded the Nobel Peace prize in 1930. He died on July 12, 1931.

July 14  Argula von Grumbach  She was a Bavarian noblewoman and writer.  She got involved in the Protestant Reformation, the first Protestant woman to publish letters in support of Martin Luther and Philip Melanchthon.  She became well-known when she wrote a letter supporting a young teacher arrested for Protestant views.  An excerpt - When I heard what you had done to Arsacius Seehofer under terror of imprisonment and the stake, my heart trembled and my bones quaked. What have Luther and Melanchthon taught save the Word of God? You have condemned them. You have not refuted them. Where do you read in the Bible that Christ, the apostles, and the prophets imprisoned, banished, burned, or murdered anyone? 

July 16  The Righteous Among the Nations (Righteous Gentiles)  These are people (non-Jews) who, at risk to their own, lives helped Jews escape the Holocaust.  Who would we risk our lives for today?

Some days from the earth/world calendar -

July 12

+ Walter Mondale named Geraldine Ferraro as running mate for Vice-President.

+ First Rolling Stone performance in 1962.  I would say they probably got some satisfaction over the years.  One of my favorite songs – As Tears Go By – not exactly what you might expect from Mick Jagger and the boys.  And a caution, if you won that million, “My riches can’t buy everything, I want to hear the children sing”...Can’t remember the rest of that verse!

+ Alexander Hamilton died in 1804 after being shot in a duel with Aaron Burr the day before.

+ the Seneca Falls convention was held in Seneca Falls, NY.  Organized by Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, it is recognized as the beginning of the women’s rights movement in the United States.  And how’s that going, we might ask.  We have a female vice president, but women are still not keeping up with men wages-wise, except in women’s tennis and maybe now women’s soccer!

July 13

+ Krispy Kreme doughnuts founded.  I’m not sure I’ve ever had one.  We have a new Dunkin’ in Marquette – would that be a reasonable substitute, or stick with the Huron Mountain Bread Co?  Or make your own?  In any case, a doughnut today…?

+ the Carabinieri (Italy’s national military police created).  I just like the name, especially in mystery novels set in Italy.

July 14

+ Storming of the Bastille in 1789.

+ Birthday of Ingmar Bergman – game of chess, anyone?; of Woody Guthrie in 1912 – this land was his land, and it is yours as well; and of Gustav Klimt in 1862.  He painted something called “The Kiss” and other things.

+ Billy the Kid died in 1881 at age 21 after escaping from jail.  Billy the Squid (song by Tom Chapin, sorry, no link for it!) is a different story.  

July 15

+ Anton Chekhov died in 1904.  Can you just enjoy The Sea Gull and The Cherry Orchard, or do you have to understand them?

July 16

+ First atomic bomb detonated in 1945.

+ The Catcher in the Rye was published in 1951.

+ Amazon sold it’s first book in 1995

+ May Sarton, poet, novelist, journalist, died in 1995.

July 17

+ James Whistler died in 1903, best known for his portrait of his mother.  Actually it was called A Study in Gray or something like that, wasn’t it.  We call it Whistler’s Mother.

+ Disneyland opened in 1955 – we call it The Magic Kingdom!

July 18

+ birthday of Nelson Mandela

+ and the Great Fire of Rome – Nero fiddled, maybe, and then blamed the Christians.

So maybe a prayer for the week -

God of all time and space,

now and then, here and there, day and night, past, present, and future,

from buildings collapsing to assassinations to heat-domes and fires

there seems to be something to grieve over wherever we look.

Confident of your presence with us,

we take comfort in your steadfast love.

Help us always lean towards a life of peace.

Anyway, that’s what I got for now…..if I get home later in the week maybe there will be more!

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Words 7.8

 Words Twice a Week          7.8

If you are more into listening than reading, Words Twice a Week is available, along with other good stuff, as a podcast from St Paul’s Episcopal Church.  Click here.

And if you are wondering what to do with the rest of that can of SPAM, you could try SPAMcakes.  Fry a thin slice of SPAM on both sides, then pour pancake batter all around the edge of it.  Flip carefully when the pancake part is ready.  Eat with maple syrup, or a syrup of your choice.  They are really pretty good, the saltiness of the SPAM combining nicely with the sweetness of the syrup.  That’s my recipe for the week -

Now, some thoughts on some of the lessons for this Sunday – Proper 10

2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19

+ so David has the crown/anointment, and the capital city – Jerusalem.  Now he needs the religious icon (the Ark) to solidify Israel as a Jewish state.  How do we feel about that?  Is it good to join religion and government, or keep them separate, or mix them somehow?  Interesting stories this week about Chinese politicians visiting communist party historic sites.

+ “dancing before the Lord” – what images come to mind?  Is this dancing for joy, or reverence, or fear, or passion?  When it says “David danced with all his might” I always thought it was out of fear, but maybe joy?

+ do we do anything like “dancing” before the Lord?  Praying? Singing? Genuflecting? Raising our hands to pray? Speaking in tongues?  Would a jazz service fit this mold?  What if anything do we do with the same passion as David dancing?

+ and it skips over the part about Uzza steadying the Ark and being struck dead by God.  Is that what happened, or do we chicken out and say “Maybe he just was so moved that he had a heart attack and died”?  What thoughts come to mind – that God doesn’t need our help? That some things are too holy/sacred for us to mess with, or that we mess with them at our own peril?  Would climate, genetic engineering, be a couple of those things?

+ the Ark represents God’s sole leadership of Israel and God’s ability to move with Israel, not be locked into any one location or building.  So this time of change is going to be risky.  One writer notes that change (in worship practice, attitudes, understandings) is inevitable, but that human motivation must not be the sole criteria and that change must be undertaking with much fear and trembling – and dancing?!

+ note the story climaxes in kind of a Eucharistic meal – with David serving a priest.  Issues there?

+ finally, it says David’s wife (one of them!), Michal, daughter of Saul, saw David dancing and despised him, whereas before she had risked her life for him.  Is it just that he ends up essentially naked?  Or that he has taken other wives?  We don’t know.

Psalm 24

+ “who shall ascend – those with clean hands, pure hearts, and who have not lifted up their souls to what is false, and who do not swear deceitfully”  Is this us?

+ in what ways do we “lift our souls up” to what is false or unworthy or inauthentic?  Would money, power, pride come into play?

Amos 7.7-15

+ starts with one of Amos’ visions – a “plumb line”.  Ok, we are not completely sure what that means.  (When I say “we”, I mean “scholars who are thus not able to tell me!)  Somehow it seems to represent some kind of a judgment on the Northern Kingdom and implies the destruction, downfall of same.

+ then the interaction between Amos and Amaziah, priest of Baal, who suggests Amos is in it for the money, and Amos replies “I am no prophet, or a prophet’s son, but a herdsman and dresser of fig trees, and the Lord took me and said ‘Prophesy to my people.’”  Wow.

Psalm 85:8-13

+ just some really nice words – “that God’s glory might dwell in our land.”  Steadfast love, faithfulness (from above), righteousness (from the ground), and peace.

+ “our land will yield it’s increase” - and the squirrels and the rabbits will get it!

Mark 6.14-29

+ the death of John the Messenger/Forerunner/Baptist.  As well as being a riveting story, a few things to note – it’s sandwiched between the sending out of the disciples and their (successful!) return; it’s the only story in Mark not about Jesus or the disciples; although Mark is the shortest gospel, it is the longest treatment of John’s death.

+ and the similarities between John/Jesus and Herod/Pilate – “Each (John and Jesus) innocently suffers at the hands of a vacillating political figure.  Herod and Pilate both see good in the accused men brought before them, and left to themselves both would choose freedom over capital punishment.  Yet, because of their own weaknesses, both let themselves be trapped by external circumstances and permit a violent death.  In both stories disciples come, take the body, and place it in a tomb.”  Mark writes about the passion and death of John, but wants us to be thinking about Jesus!

+ another reason for the Messianic Secret?

+ Herod feared John, was perplexed, but liked to listen to him.  Are there similar situations in your life?

+ the daughter dancing and then receiving the head on the platter – it’s a pretty graphic image.  At least I always picture a sweet, young, lovely, innocent girl.

+ it was Jesus and the disciples “doing mighty deeds” that leads to this whole flashback and foreshadowing.  “Thus, Mark reminds us that the power to do miracles is not the true significance of Jesus; rather, we truly grasp the meaning of the person and work of Jesus when we focus on his death on the cross.”

That’s what I got for now…..

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Words 7.4

 Words Twice a Week          7.4

If you are more into listening than reading, Words Twice a Week is available, along with other good stuff, as a podcast from St Paul’s Episcopal Church.  Click here.

July 5    SPAM Day!  

Here it is, this year’s SPAM-Ku, at least one of them -

    Stars twinkle over

    Sizzles and smells on the grill -

      It’s sparklers and SPAM.

So I hope you got your can.  AT the Negaunee SuperOne yesterday they were all sold out of the original (cans – they had individual slices), so we have SPAM with Bacon this year.

Anyway, that’s what I got for now…..check back tomorrow and maybe there will be more!

Comments are moderated – by me – and may take a day to appear

Words 7.1

 Words Twice a Week          7.1

If you are more into listening than reading, Words Twice a Week is available, along with other good stuff, as a podcast from St Paul’s Episcopal Church.  Click here.

Some thoughts on some of the lessons for this Sunday, July 4 – proper 9

2 Samuel 5:1-5, 9-10

+ so the transition from Saul to David continues to be kind of a messy story.  The context here is that David is king over Judah in the south.  Ishbosheth, one of Saul’s sons, is king in the north, propped up by Abner, one of Saul’s generals.  When Abner comes south to transfer his loyalty to David, he is killed by Joab and then some of Joab’s captains murder Ishbosheth. When David finds out about all of this, he says he’s not responsible (he blames Joab!), and he has the captains killed, just as he had with the messenger who told him about Saul (and perhaps embellished his part in it.)  So now David is entrenched in the south, and the north is leaderless.

+ the elders come from the north to cast their lot in with David.  They made a covenant and the elders anointed David.  (He had already been anointed by Samuel, and by the people of Judah.)  Leadership is a mixture of divine call and community buy-in.  What covenants do we make – with leaders, with groups, with ourselves?

+ note the shepherd image.

+ so now, David and his men capture Jerusalem.  What’s the deal with the blind and the lame – just a figure of speech? those who were not admitted to the temple?

+ Jerusalem was a Jebusite city, and on the border between Israel and Judah, so it was a good neutral location. Kind of like Washington DC for us.  Both then acquire a symbolic significance.

+ the north/south division.  Note that the “united monarchy” was something of a novel experiment, held together by David’s persona and cleverness that ultimately failed.

Psalm 48

+ a song of praise for God’s city/mountain/fortress/citadel.  Possibly part of a festival with people coming from elsewhere – “we have heard but now we see” and “go explore Jerusalem”.

+ it can become idolatrous when the divine presence becomes too closely linked with a physical location.  In our experience, where, when, does tradition and affection spill over into idolatry?

+ foreign kings, soldiers, visitors(?) are terror-struck when they see the city.  How do our churches strike visitors?  I’ve always said there is not much spookier than being in a church alone at night.  I don’t know how the child Samuel did it!

Ezekiel 2.1-5

+ Ezekiel is called to speak to those in exile in Babylon.  We note that Ezekiel was big on dramatic, prophetic actions.  Maybe some of that stems from his call.

+ In what ways are we like those people in exile?  Have we rebelled against God?  Or how have we rebelled?  And does that have anything to do with how and why we are in exile?

+ “They shall know there has been a prophet among them.”  Are there prophets among us? How do we know?  What are they saying?  Are we listening?

Psalm 123

+ yeah, all kinds of servant(slave)/master and maid/mistress issues, but still I just like the sound of the line “as the eyes of a maid (look) to the hands of her mistress…”  Whose hands do we pay attention to?  Receive from?  Are threatened by?

+ “we have had more than enough of contempt” – all kinds of issues that could bubble to the surface here.  Racial/ethnic/income/wealth inequalities, Doctrine of Discovery issues, political/social speech.  We are more than ready for a time of peace, maybe even The Time of God’s Peace!

2 Corinthians 12:2-10

+ Paul is being “attacked” by people we call “super-apostles”, who can boast of visions and accomplishments, who can draw crowds, raise money, sell books, get on tv or have lots of followers on Twitter or Youtube(?)  Paul says he could boast of such things, but doesn’t.  How do our leaders – church, government – try to “self-authenticate”?  How do we?

+ The danger is that when we say “Oh, we’re not like the super-apostles” we can sometimes be using that to cover up the reality that we really are not drawing crowds, we really are not sharing the good news beyond our walls.

+ the “thorn in the flesh” and “my grace is sufficient”.  How has that worked out in your life?  Do you have a “thorn”?  Has grace been sufficient?  Note that a “thorn” would not be just any difficulty or disability, but something that hinders telling the good news – at least that’s how I see it.  “If you can’t preach like Peter, if you can’t pray like Paul, just tell the love of Jesus, just say he died for all.”

+ Paul boasts of his weakness so that others will see God and not Paul.  That’s not always an easy stance to keep up – boasting of weakness.  And also, boasting of weakness can sometimes be kind of a sick way of avoiding responsibility.

Mark 6.1-13

+ Jesus goes home, and is not well received.  Note that it is his teaching that causes the crowd to start questioning him, not the healings or exorcisms.

+ have you ever overlooked someone special because they were familiar?

+ the Christian confession is not “I believe in Christ”; the Christian confession is “I believe Jesus is the Christ”.  How are they different.  (That’s Fred Craddock!)

+ rather than having crowds looking at Jesus and being amazed by the goodness of God, now we have Jesus looking at the crowds and being amazed by their lack of faith.

+ it is not that faith is necessary for “miracles”, but “miracles” could lead to faith and it is surprising when they don’t.  Has a “miracle” played a part in your developing faith?  What was it?

+ sending out the 12.  2x2, so no one has to do it alone?  So everyone has come kind of accountability?  So you can “tag team” the witnessing?  When I was doing Clinical Pastoral Education, I was sent off in this hospital wing and I didn’t know what to do.  For part of the time I just wandered.  It would have made a world of difference if there had been someone else along.

+ And he gave them authority.  Do we operate on God’s authority or our own?  How is that different?

+ he told them 1) to “go lean”, not for asceticism, but for simplicity. (How does going with more stuff complicate the journey?); 2) to “stay put, not shop around for a more comfortable/lucrative setting”, and 3) to speak peace, not to pronounce judgment.  And they cast out demons and healed people!  This is one of the few places in the gospel where the disciples are actually successful.

+ he called the twelve – the church is a called community; the church is not a volunteer organization.  How does the church compare and contrast with the 12?

Anyway, that’s what I got for now…..

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