Words 1.30

 Words Twice a Week        1.30

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 days from the church calendar -

Feb 1  Brigid of Kildare  one of the three national saints of Ireland, along with Patrick and Columba.  If she was a real person, she lived about 451-525 and founded several convents.  She shares a name with a Celtic goddess, and her feast day is also a Celtic holiday – Imbolc – marking the beginning of spring.  Often there was a special meal on St Brigid’s Eve (Jan 31) with stuff like “colcannon” (mashed potatoes with cabbage or kale – num?) and biscuits.  Sometimes people left articles of clothing outside on Jan 31 for St Brigid to bless – which were then thought to have healing properties.   Apparently starting next year St Brigid’s Day will be a national holiday in Ireland – the first one named for a woman.

Here is the herding blessing -

I will place this flock before me

As was ordained by the King of the World

Bride to keep them, to watch them, to tend them,

On ben, on glen, on plain,

Bride to keep them, to watch them, to tend them

On ben, on glen, on plain.

Arise, thou Bride, the gentle, the fair,

Take thou thy lint, thy comb, and thy hair,

Since thou to them madest the noble charm

To keep them from straying, to save them from harm.

Since thou to them madest the noble charm

To keep them from straying, to save them from harm.

From rocks, from drifts, from streams

From crooked passes, from destructive pits

From the straight arrows of the slender banshee

From the heart of envy, from the eye of evil

From the straight arrows of the slender banshee

From the heart of envy, from the eye of evil.

Mary Mother, tend thou the offspring all,

Bride of the fair palms, guard thou my flocks,

Kindly Columba, thou saint of many powers,

Encompass thou the breeding cows, bestow upon me herds.

Kindly Columba, thou saint of many powers,

Encompass thou the breeding cows, bestow upon me herds.

Feb 2   The Presentation of the Lord  a day that brings up two of my favorite lines of Scripture: “I would rather be a doorkeeper (custodian?) in the house of the Lord than dwell in the tents of wickedness”  -the psalmist.  Even though the tents of wickedness look pretty glamorous sometimes!  And “Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace…”  Simeon.  I just like the way it rolls off the tongue!  This is also known as Candlemas – last chance to take down Christmas decorations, and a day to bring your candles to the church to have them blessed for the rest of the year.  Ok – we didn’t do that growing up Methodist/United Methodist but I guess I could get into it now.  We don’t really burn much in the way of candles anymore.  And note this – in some places, France, Belgium, parts of Switzerland, it’s a day to have crepes   I can definitely get into that, whether or not all the candles in the house are lit!  And note that this is one of the oldest of the church feasts, dating from the 4th century!

Feb 3  The Dorchester Chaplains   Four military chaplains, a Methodist, a Reformed Rabbi, a Roman Catholic, and a Reformed Church in America, were on The troop transport ship Dorchester when it was sunk on Feb 3, 1943.  It was part of a convoy escorted by Coast Guard Cutters Tampa, Escanaba, and Comanche.  The four helped others into the life boats, gave up their life jackets when the supply ran out, “linked arms, sang hymns, and went down with the ship.”  They were on their way to their first assignments.  Sadly, even though they gave up their life jackets, the water temperature was 34, the water temperature was 36, and most of the men in the water died from hypothermia.  Only 230 the 904 men on board were rescued.

Feb 4  Cornelius the Centurian – he had a vision telling him to send for Peter, who at the same time had that vision of stuff being let down from heaven and the voice saying “Rise, Peter, kill and eat.”  When they come together, the Holy Spirit falls on Cornelius and his household and Peter baptizes them – the first Gentile converts.  Or maybe one of the first, if you count Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8.

Feb 5  Saint Agatha – one of the (particularly grim) virgin martyrs.  Also an American horror movie from 2018.  Ok – I’m not watching it!

Some days from the world/earth calendar

Jan 31

+ it’s the birthday in 1797 of Franz Schubert.  He’s known for a variety of compositions, more than 600, including The Trout, a setting of a poem by some guy named Schubart.   It sounds like it’s about the joy of catching a fish, but the last verse is a warning to young women not to be caught by young men!  Schubert dropped the last verse, making it able to be sung by men or women!

Feb 1

+ Martin Luther King Jr and 200 others were arrested in 1965 in Selma, Alabama, after peacefully protesting against voting restrictions.  In 1960, four Black students start the Greensboro lunch counter sit-ins.

+ and it’s Imbolc – see above!

+ the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated as it re-entered the atmosphere in 2003, due to some of the heat shield being damaged.  Engineers suspected problems but limited the investigation, as there would have been nothing the crew could have done about it anyway.  

Feb 2

+ James Joyce was born in 1882, and he published Ulysses in 1922.  I never got past the first chapter or maybe two.  We could have a contest to see who reads farthest before giving up. Are you in?

Feb 3

+ Woodrow Wilson died in 1924.  He was involved in the negotiations ending WWI and tried to set up a League of Nations, but it did not really succeed.  He encouraged Fourteen Points as principles for peace, but he also supported racial segregation in the federal bureaucracy and military.

+ It’s the birthday of Felix Mendelssohn in 1809.

Feb 4

+ Facebook was founded in 2004.

+ Dietrich Bonhoeffer was born in 1906, Rosa Parks in 1913, Alice Cooper in 1948. Bonhoeffer was part of the Confessing Church that opposed the Nazis in Germany, and for a few years went from town to town as a part of “the seminary on the run”!  He wrote about the difference between Cheap Grace and Free Grace; could we say Rosa Parks lived it out? Alice Cooper – the Godfather of Shock Rock – is a hockey fan, a baseball (Tigers)fan, a basketball (Pistons) fan, and an avid golfer.  He coached Little League.  Although he originally did not speak publicly about his religious beliefs, Cooper was later vocal about his faith as a born-again Christian.  Just goes to show – I’m not sure what, but it goes to show.  Here he is doing I Never Cry.  Actually better without the visuals, maybe!  I remember roller-skating to that in the basement of the Episcopal Church in St Ignace – I was doing a youth drop-in center thing as part of the Straits Area Resort Ministry.

+ for Bible geeks, German archaeologist Constantin von Tischendorf discovered the Codex Sinaiticus.

+ in 1861 the Confederate States of America were established at a meeting in Montgomery, Alabama.

Feb 5

+ the world’s largest gold nugget was found in 1869.  It’s named Welcome Stranger.  Found only 3 cm (1.2 in) below the surface, near the base of a tree on a slope leading to what was then known as Bulldog Gully, the nugget had a gross weight of 241 lb 10 oz. Its trimmed weight was 210 lbs, and its net weight was 192 lbs 11.5 oz!  Here’s a link to a BBC story about the celebration of the 150th anniversary.

+ world’s first synthetic plastic – Bakelite – was announced.

Feb 6

+ Elizabeth II becomes Queen of England in 1952.  I suspect we’ll hear about that this week!

+ Gustav Klimt died in 1918.  Here’s a link to The Kiss, from his “golden years”. And here’s more information than we need to know - “As he worked and relaxed in his home, Klimt normally wore sandals and a long robe with no undergarments.”

That’s what I got for now…..

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Words 1.27a

 Words Twice a Week        1.27

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 lectionary texts for this Sunday – Fourth after Epiphany

(and haven’t had – or taken – time to read about these yet.  May add to this “Words” later.)

Psalm 71:1-6 

+ a word of confidence and trust in difficult times.  How does that relate to us and our world? (I’m listening to reports from Ukraine!)

+ time for a break and the prayer for peace in the world -

    God of all Creation, 

    let the peace which is in your heart 

    flow into your world, 

    and may all who share your world 

    live together in justice, kindness and humility. 

    We ask it in the name of Jesus, Prince of Peace. Amen.

Jeremiah 1:4-10    

+ “Before I formed you in the womb…”  I’m reading All We Can Save, a book of essays on climate and environment by women, many of them indigenous.  One of the themes is that we are in some sense descendants of the rocks, trees, and other beings that were here before us. 

+ Have you ever felt inadequate (like a child) to a task or opportunity before you?

+ “Do not be afraid of them” – who might we be afraid of?  Or what actions might we be nervous about?  Probably for us it doesn’t mean our efforts will be successful, but that God will be with us and love us even so.

+ four destruction images, only two building up. 

Added later -

+ Here’s a bit from Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary – it notes that Jeremiah’s “call” is somewhat un-traditional and confused (not linked with any particular event, overwhelmingly God is the actor, Jeremiah has only a few words which are strongly silenced – in short it does not fit the standard “call narrative form”.)  The writer suggests the call of Jeremiah is for an ambiguous or chaotic time when the mere repetition of orthodoxy is not adequate, and in fact becomes part of the problem.

+ thus the destruction images?  Are there aspects of orthodoxy today that need to be uprooted?

1 Corinthians 13:1-13  

+ vs1 – who would you put on the “noisy gong, clanging symbol” list today?

+ vs11 – “when I became a grown-up” – when was that?

+ “Then I will understand, even as I have been understood.”  I think that for many people, being understood is a really significant issue.  Which is more important to you – understanding someone else or being understood yourself?

  

Luke 4:21-30

+ one thing I noticed reading through this time is that at the beginning and the ending of this lesson, the people don’t really know who Jesus is or don’t recognize him.  They say “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” and in their eyes he is, but in the story line of the gospel, no, he is God’s son. And at the end he walks through the crowd – and they don’t recognize him?  Anyway, that’s one thing I’m thinking about this year.

+ and again, this is a little confusing – Jesus puts thoughts in their minds – “Do here what you did at Capernaum”, but Luke hasn’t told us about Jesus doing anything at Capernaum.  That’s next week’s story!

+ and does it make a difference that the people don’t really say anything – Jesus says “Doubtless you will say….”

+ Elijah and Elisha both had connections with “foreigners” – is Jesus suggesting God will turn away from Israel, or that God will bring others into the family?  Who would Jesus maybe point to today?  How would we feel about that?

+ How does this resonate with the lesson for next week (call of Isaiah) where God tells him to say  “Keep listening but don’t comprehend; keep looking but don’t understand.”?   It sounds almost like God is nailing an eviction notice to the door and getting ready to rent to someone else!  More about that next week….

Added later -

+ what does the crowd expect, seeing that “this is Joseph’s son”, one of us?  Special treatment? Just proud/glad for one of our own to be making a mark in the world? Nice to see that “little Jesus” (from Sabbath school, youth fellowship, etc.) is still taking the faith seriously?

+ the writer notes that Jesus’ words are fine in the abstract, but not received so well in the particular.

+ and again, as we noted last week, Luke is perhaps using this story as a preview of Jesus’ ministry – at first he is popular, then the crowds turn against him, then crucifixion and resurrection (forshadowed by his walking through the crowd at the end?)

+ resentment grows when “Jesus takes God’s favor to others, especially Capernaum,said to have had a heavy non-Jewish population.”  We keep wondering – who would that be today? 

That’s what I got for now…..

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Words 1.23

 Words Twice a Week        1.23

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.

First the answer from last week – the other inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was, of course, Elvis!

And as for that Thesaurus poem – I didn’t get anywhere with that.  You?

Some days from the church calendar -

Jan 24  Florence Li Tim-Oi  She was the first woman to be ordained to the priesthood in the Anglican Communion, on 25 January 1944.  She was in the Macau region of China during the Japanese occupation.  As there were no priests available to give the sacraments, Bishopo Ronald Hall authorized her to give communion to her fellow Anglicans.   Hall explained to the Archbishop of Canterbury at the time, William Temple: "I have given her permission to celebrate the Lord’s Supper. If I could reach her physically I should ordain her priest rather than give her permission … I'm not an advocate for the ordination of women. I am, however, determined that no prejudices should prevent the congregations committed to my care having the sacraments of the Church."  It was another 30 years before any Anglican church regularized the ordination of women.

Jan 25  The Conversion of Saint Paul – on the Damascus Road.  

Jan 26  Sarah Louise Delany and Annie Elizabeth Delany  -  they were educators and civil rights pioneers.  Sarah  was the first African-American permitted to teach domestic science at the high-school level in the New York public schools.  Elizabeth earned a Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS) degree from Columbia University in 1923. She was the second black woman licensed to practice dentistry in New York State.  Sarah died in 1999 at the age of 109, Elizabeth in 1995 at age 104.  They were two of ten children of Rev Henry Beard Delany, first African-American elected bishop in the Episcopal Church in the United States.  “Sadie” and “Bessie” were the subjects of a best selling biography Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years, by journalist Amy Hill Hearth. 

Also on Jan 26 – Timothy, Titus, Silas – companions of Paul

Jan 27  Lydia, Dorcas, and Phoebe  -  witnesses to the faith

Also on Jan 27  John Chrysostom -  an important Early Church Father who served as archbishop of Constantinople. He is known for his preaching and public speaking, by both ecclesiastical and political leaders. His “name” comes from the term for “golden mouthed” in Greek.  Unfortunately, as we look back, his life seems to be something of a mixture of good and not so.

Jan 28 Thomas Aquinas – a Dominican friar, philosopher, Catholic priest, and Doctor of the Church.

Jan 29  Andrei Rublev  -  He was an artist and a monk.  He painted in cathedrals and churches and ended his life painting icons.

Jan 30  Charles   -   Actually, Charles I, who was King of England, Scotland and Ireland from 1625.  He was put on trial for attempting to rule as an absolute monarch rather than in combination with Parliament, and executed on January 30, 1649.  Charles is regarded by many members of the Church of England as a martyr because, it is said, he was offered his life if he would abandon the historic episcopacy in the Church of England. It is said he refused, however, believing that the Church of England was truly "Catholic" and should maintain the Catholic episcopate.  And then this is a little weird - “In an unprecedented gesture, one of the prominent leaders of the revolutionaries, Oliver Cromwell, allowed the King's head to be sewn back on his body so the family could pay its respects.” 

Some days from the world/earth calendar -

Jan 24

+ In 1946 he UN General Assembly passed it’s first resolution – founding the United Nations Atomic Energy Commission.

+ In 1984 the Apple Macintosh computer went on sale.  It was the first personal computer to use a graphical interface and a mouse!

+ Thurgood Marshall died in 1993.  He was the first African-American Supreme Court Justice.

+ Winston Churchill died in 1965

Jan 25

+ the first Winter Olympics opened in Chamonix, France, in 1924.

+ the first solar power plant opened in Odeillo, France in 1969.

+ Robert Burns was a Scottish poet, born on this day in 1759.  He wrote "A Red, Red Rose", "A Man's a Man for A' That", "To a Louse", "To a Mouse", "Tam o' Shanter", "Ae Fond Kiss", and of course, “Auld Lang Syne.”  “Burns Night”, in effect a second national day, is celebrated on his birthday, with Burns Suppers around the world, and is more widely observed in Scotland than the official national day, St. Andrew's Day.  Here’s the traditional “Selkirk Grace” for the meal -

  Some hae meat and canna eat,

  And some wad eat that want it,

  But we hae meat and we can eat,

  Sae let the Lord be Thankit!

I always think we should have some kind of a supper – maybe with a pasty instead of a haggis!  We could do it on zoom and each person read a Burns poem.

+ the League of Nations was founded in 1919.  It held it’s first meeting on Jan 16, 1920.

Jan 26

+ it’s the birthday (1904) of Sean MacBride, co-founder of Amnesty International

+ the world’s largest diamond – the Cullinan - was found in South Africa in 1905.  It weighed 1.37 lbs.  It was cut in to a number of stones, of various cuts and sizes, the largest of which is named Cullinan I or the Great Star of Africa, and at 530.4 carats (106.08 g) (3.74 ounces) it is the largest clear cut diamond in the world. 

Jan 27

+ Giuseppe Verdi died in 1901.  Mahalia Jackson in 1972.  Pete Seeger in 2014.  Music in the heavenly spheres that day.

+ a cabin fire during a launch rehearsal test at Cape Kennedy Air Force Station Launch Complex 34 on January 27 killed all three crew members—Command Pilot Gus Grissom, Senior Pilot Ed White, and Pilot Roger B. Chaffee—and destroyed the command module. The name Apollo 1, chosen by the crew, was made official by NASA in their honor after the fire.

+ Mozart was born in 1756, Lewis Carrol in 1832

Jan 28

+ the Challenger Space Shuttle exploded shortly after take off in 1986, killing all seven passengers.

+ the Lego brick was patented in 1958.

+ USA For Africa recorded “We Are The World” in 1985.

+ Pride and Prejudice was published in 1813.

Jan 29

+ Robert Frost died in 1963.  Have a favorite?  Nope – too many to choose from.

+ The Raven was published in 1845, and “quoth the raven……….”

+ German engineer Carl Benz patented the first gas-driven car in 1886.

Jan 30

+ Gandhi was assassinated, trying to mediate a dispute between Muslims and Hindus in India and Pakistan.

+ the last public performance by the Beatles in 1969

+ Hitler became Chancellor of Germany in 1933.

+ a German cruise ship/hospital ship/military transport ship – the William Gustloff – was sunk by a Russian submarine during WWII, killing 9,400 people in 1945.  It was the deadliest maritime disaster in history.

That’s what I got for now…..

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Words 1.20

 Words Twice a Week        1.20

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 the lectionary texts for this Sunday – Third after Epiphany

Psalm 19

+ “The heavens are telling the glory of God” – you can just hear the music swell!

+ vs1-6 is about the Creation, 7-11 celebrate the Law/Word, 12-14 recognize that we don’t know everything and thus need forgiveness.  I’m not sure that’s the attitude from which we usually pray vs 14!

+Thomas Berry said something along the lines of that we have spent so much time and attention on the written/Revealed word (ie, the scriptures) that we ought to just put the Bible on the shelf for a couple of years and pay attention to the first/Created word (ie, the Creation).  

+ On the other hand, experiencing Creation is not enough to know God and find the best/abundant life.  God has written a personal note to humanity.  Note “Yahweh”, the personal name for God  (LORD in NRSV) is used 6 times in vs7-9, no times in vs1-6!

+ How does it work to have speech without words?  What do sun, day, night tell us about God – that God provides energy, cycle of work and rest, day/night changes provide weather...

+ someplace I wrote or read – How does the bridegroom leave his chamber?  Lingeringly, wistfully, happily - Is he leaving his new wife behind and going to his daily work, or is he leaving his chamber to head for hers?

+ nothing is hid from the heat of the sun – is that a good thing?  Does it suggest there really is a solar power option?  And what about the animals that live deep underground?

+ the law, the decrees, the precepts…. Different words for the same thing, basically.  The law has a two-fold function – 1) to warn, provide boundaries within which to safely live, a canopy under which to be safe, and 2) “rewards” – not trophies or plaques, but the blessings of a life lived well.

+ “hidden faults” and “presumptions sins” (risks or acts of courage) – where would each of these fit in – eating the apple, splitting the atom, cloning a cell, burning fossil fuels, gene manipulation, artificial intelligence?

+ on vs13 – “the psalmist can be whole/perfect/blameless because God is graceful.  This abundant life results not from human achievement.  Rather it depends on God.  To be perfect/blameless/whole is not to be sinless, but to live in dependence on God.”   Texts

+ more valuable than gold (most coveted metal in ancient times), sweeter than honey (their primary sweetener)!  Is that how we think about the scriptures?  And what would be a “most coveted ____” today – platinum, titanium, rare earth metals?  Number of followers?  What would be a primary sweetener – maple syrup for me!

Nehemiah 8.1-3,5-6,8-10

+ backstory is that Ch1-7 of Nehemiah have told about getting the wall built around Jerusalem.  The wall would protect them from external threats (well, sort of), and now the law will protect them from internal and interior threats.

+ so I love this – the first thing you do when there are gaps on the lesson is look up and see what was left out or skipped over!  Here, it’s the names.  Why does the lectionary committee want to leave these people anonymous?  Who are these people?  Who gets to be anonymous in our world (disinformation/misinformation spreaders, talkless filibusterers,….?)  How is that a good thing?  How is it not?

+ probably some kind of description of early worship.  And in fact one of the first times we experience the people reading words to hear God’s voice.  Pretty much always before it had just been someone talking.  Now the words are written down and read out.  We begin to look to the scriptures.

+ It went on and on – early morning to midday!  We get upset if the service goes much over an hour.   There was a story in a youth ministry article once -

"What's the biggest number you ever counted to?"

   "12, 785"  (or something like that.)

"Why'd you stop?"

   "Church was over!"

+ three issues – 1) it was communal – men, women, children; 2) there was understanding [people used to say children shouldn’t take communion until they could understand it – but I’m not sure the adults really “understood” it, or what they would say if anyone asked them!], and 3) it led to action as a result.

+ The readers/lectors read from the book and the preacher interpreted what was read, so that people could understand – not just the meaning of the words, but what the passage meant for them, for their day.  It is not enough to read and even revere the scripture – it must be taught and understood.  A sermon does not just repeat the words of scripture – it applies, extends, explains, explicates, re-presents, ….?  That’s why it’s hard work.  Special thanks to those who preach!

+ Time to pause and honor one of my preaching heroes – Fred Craddock – who championed the shift from deductive preaching (where the preacher explained everything, 3 points and a prayer or poem) to inductive preaching (where the preacher leads the congregation on a journey of discovery.)  He also was a master of stories – he said to write down a story each day of something that you saw or experienced, and put them in a note book until the time comes when that story “asks to be included in a sermon.”  Well – he was just really good at biblical interpretation and at preaching.

+ so church is over, (vs10) “he” said to them “Go and feast!”  [Who was the “he” – Nehemiah (governor) or Ezra (priest)?  Heck, it’s Nehemiah’s book, we’ll say it’s him.]  But note that in vs1-6 it’s Ezra doing the talking, in vs 7 these other folks get involved, and in vs 9, Nehemiah (the governor also get’s into the act!

+ Go home for Sunday dinner, go hit the Sunday buffet – boy, it’s been a long time since we did that!

+ the people were upset when they heard what God’s word was (and what it said about who they were?) – but the leaders told them to be happy because of who God is.  Does that work for us – we’re upset when we see what life is, but can we rejoice because of who God is?  In any case, the quintessential Faith emotion is joy.  What feeling/emotion does our worship leave us with?

+ How can we send some of our feast to those who don’t have enough.  Is that just food, or other things as well?

1 Cor 12.12-31a

+ Paul continuing his thoughts on “spiritual gifts”/gifts of grace/gifted people.

+ differences are not limitations or barriers, but a gift from God.  How does diversity bless us?

+ the diverse members need each other.  Who is someone different from you that you need their gift?

+ there is no hierarchy of gifts/persons.  Who do we sometimes think of as more important, less important?

+ there should be mutual care instead of dissension and strife

+ “note to preachers – the imagery is enough – don’t let the preaching get in the way.”  Texts 

+ “These words of Paul, when taken serkiously, keep the church from developing a cookie-cutter mentality.  The missionary thinks leveryone in the church should become a missionary. Likewise the teacher, church musician, and so forth.  We all live with the tyranny of the specialties, each of us looking at the whole through the lens of our particular gift, wondering why everyone doesn’t aspire to it as we do.  But should every person in the church be a teacher?  Paul thinks not.  His is not a monochrome vision of the church.”  Preaching the New Common Lectionary

+ Kodachrome gives those nice bright colors…

+ but then Paul throws this curve ball – “Strive for the greater gifts”  What?

 

Luke 4.14-21

+ Jesus in Nazareth.  A little bit of backstory here, too.  Both Matthew and Mark tell a similar story, but later on in their gospels.  Note that Luke is a little confusing here, because the people in Nazareth ask about things Jesus did in Capernaum, but Luke hasn’t told us about that yet!  That comes up in vs33-44.  Is that a flashback, or has Luke created a different story order?  And note that Luke tells us what scripture Jesus read – a “servant song” from Isaiah. Mt and Mk didn’t have that.  Putting all of that together, some scholars think Luke has adapted and inserted this story at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry as kind of a prologue, preview, programmatic narrative, foreshadowing of what is to come – for Jesus and for those who follow him.

+ and note that this is just the first half of even the Nazareth event.  Next week’s lesson (vs22-30) tells of the congregation’s reaction.  You probably don’t need to look it up!

+ as in Nehemiah, Jesus stand up, reads, (sits), and teaches/gives the understanding.

+ Jesus goes to the synagogue, “as was his custom”.  1) he was firmly within his Jewish tradition – he was a reformer, not a revolutionary!  And 2) he fulfilled his “stewardship of presence” pledge!  With apologies to the folks who are working this weekend to put out The Messenger, there was the story about the “non-attender” who ran into the minister downtown and said “I don’t know why you mail out that newsletter – doesn’t seem very significant or substantial”.  (Theirs was not at all like The Messenger!).  The minister said, “What – you think we send the good stuff out to just anybody?  No, you gotta get up and dressed and show up at church on Sunday morning.  That’s when we hand out the good stuff.”   Thoughts?

+ Jesus says “Today…”  Fred Craddock says don’t turn it into a vague, distant “someday”. ‘The “someday” of hope is the “today” of fulfillment.’

+ And these words from MLKjr -

One day, youngsters will learn words they will not understand.

Children from India will ask: What is hunger?

Children from Alabama will ask: What is racial segregation?

Children from Hiroshima will ask: What is the atomic bomb?

Children at school will ask: What is war?

You will answer them.

You will tell them:

Those words are not used anymore

like stage coaches, galleys or slavery

Words no longer meaningful.

That is why they have been removed from dictionaries.

 Someday? Today?

That’s what I got for now…..

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