Epiphany 3 – Year B
Mark 1:14-20
Time is always fulfilled or redeemed. It don't get any fuller than "now!" Deemed or redeemed – now is now. The presence of G*D is always eschatologically present. This is a truism Jesus and many have affirmed down through time.
A trickier part is the relationship between repentance and good news. Following on John, Jesus starts with repentance as the initiating action. This then leads to or reveals good news.
This repentance first policy works for many people. However, it is interesting to note that, if you posit Jesus doing a cold call on Simon and Andrew, the first word he says to them is about good news – that they will learn to "catch men and women instead of perch and bass" [The Message]. Only later will they find out that they will need to learn repentance, prayer, and mercy to fulfill this new life they now sense rising within them.
Of course we can imagine that Simon and Andrew had heard or heard of Jesus and the repentance first message he is reported to have continued from John. In this case there may have been some repentance work that went on previously that had opened Simon and Andrew to actually follow.
A tension of preaching repentance and recruiting based on good news has the most appeal this day of remembrance of Martin Luther King, Jr. It reminds us of a long line of saints who have helped us refine issues of nonviolence. A reality-of-brokenness and a hope-of-better is a productive pairing.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Friday, January 16, 2009
peekaboo
Epiphany 2 – Year B
peekaboo
I see you
"Even before they respond to a tickle, most babies will laugh at peekaboo. It's their first "joke." They are reacting to a sequence of events that begins with the presence of a familiar, comforting face. Then, suddenly, the face disappears, and you can read in the baby's expression momentary puzzlement and alarm. When the face suddenly reappears, everything is orderly in the baby's world again. Anxiety is banished, and the baby reacts with her very first laugh.
"At its heart, laughter is a tool to triumph over fear. As we grow older, our senses of humor become more demanding and refined, but that basic, hard-wired reflex remains. We need it, because life is scary. Nature is heartless, people can be cruel, and death and suffering are inevitable and arbitrary. We learn to tame our terror by laughing at the absurdity of it all." [from The Peekaboo Paradox, about the Great Zucchini]
and so
Nathanael
anxious
laughed
and Jesus
laughed
and
greater laughter
rolls on the floor
imagining Jesus
as ladder
and
still greater
joy peeks
out of me
and you
believers
in laughter
through laughter
to laughter
= = = = = = =
Nathanael – patron saint of guileless paradox (not to mention tanners and those with neurological diseases).
= = = = = = =
"Can anything good come from . . . ." when responded to with hope can turn into a bonus poem, Are We Not of Interest to Each Other, by Elizabeth Alexander, chosen by President-elect Obama to read one of her poems at the inauguration.
peekaboo
I see you
"Even before they respond to a tickle, most babies will laugh at peekaboo. It's their first "joke." They are reacting to a sequence of events that begins with the presence of a familiar, comforting face. Then, suddenly, the face disappears, and you can read in the baby's expression momentary puzzlement and alarm. When the face suddenly reappears, everything is orderly in the baby's world again. Anxiety is banished, and the baby reacts with her very first laugh.
"At its heart, laughter is a tool to triumph over fear. As we grow older, our senses of humor become more demanding and refined, but that basic, hard-wired reflex remains. We need it, because life is scary. Nature is heartless, people can be cruel, and death and suffering are inevitable and arbitrary. We learn to tame our terror by laughing at the absurdity of it all." [from The Peekaboo Paradox, about the Great Zucchini]
and so
Nathanael
anxious
laughed
and Jesus
laughed
and
greater laughter
rolls on the floor
imagining Jesus
as ladder
and
still greater
joy peeks
out of me
and you
believers
in laughter
through laughter
to laughter
= = = = = = =
Nathanael – patron saint of guileless paradox (not to mention tanners and those with neurological diseases).
= = = = = = =
"Can anything good come from . . . ." when responded to with hope can turn into a bonus poem, Are We Not of Interest to Each Other, by Elizabeth Alexander, chosen by President-elect Obama to read one of her poems at the inauguration.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
1 Corinthians 6:11-20
Epiphany 2 – Year B
1 Corinthians 6:11-20
"This is what some of you use to be . . . ." To look back is to see what was there before we later recognized it. It is to remember there is always more present than is recognizable at the moment.
When did I first know who I was and what was it I knew? Looking back, that would have been a good question to ask back then, but one quite difficult to respond to. It is still a good question even if we still don't quite know how to respond to it.
It does not take traditional Christian sanctification or justification or confession or redemption to come to understand that in the midst of many options (everything being lawful) some options are better than others (you are not simply your own).
A call and response is to see more within another than they can yet see in themselves and to listen when others see more in us than we can currently see. Sometimes that visionary is a neighbor, sometimes G*D. Whichever visionary starts the process of awareness, the other will soon be engaged. May your dreams be strong, may your relationships be strong, and may your strength be the start of a new community.
= = = = = = =
What's in you?
1 Corinthians 6:11-20
"This is what some of you use to be . . . ." To look back is to see what was there before we later recognized it. It is to remember there is always more present than is recognizable at the moment.
When did I first know who I was and what was it I knew? Looking back, that would have been a good question to ask back then, but one quite difficult to respond to. It is still a good question even if we still don't quite know how to respond to it.
It does not take traditional Christian sanctification or justification or confession or redemption to come to understand that in the midst of many options (everything being lawful) some options are better than others (you are not simply your own).
A call and response is to see more within another than they can yet see in themselves and to listen when others see more in us than we can currently see. Sometimes that visionary is a neighbor, sometimes G*D. Whichever visionary starts the process of awareness, the other will soon be engaged. May your dreams be strong, may your relationships be strong, and may your strength be the start of a new community.
= = = = = = =
What's in you?
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Psalm 139
Epiphany 2 - Year B
Psalm 139
Even before a word is on my tongue or I am seen under a fig tree in my everydayness or I dream - my word is heard, my presence called forth, and my dream fulfilled.
So we envision G*D before the fact and after the fact. This can lead to a misunderstanding that our days are purposed and set. It is easier and more accurate to simply acknowledge that everything is connected to everything, so, of course, there is a connection of our present with our past and with our future. This connection is not, however, determinative.
A more fruitful approach is an appreciation of vastness, of beauty. To see beyond our usual constraints to a multivalent call - always echoing and always changing - that can be lived out in so many different ways, is to participate in drawing heaven to earth through every vehicle available. To see deep within each opportunity its connection with our life and a connection with other lives, is to discern what is already there and what may yet be present if nurtured and beckoned forth.
Yes, known and search by G*D, I, in turn, investigate G*D’s presence. Together, not even the sands can measure up to life’s possibilities.
Here is another take on YHVH you might appreciate.
Psalm 139
Even before a word is on my tongue or I am seen under a fig tree in my everydayness or I dream - my word is heard, my presence called forth, and my dream fulfilled.
So we envision G*D before the fact and after the fact. This can lead to a misunderstanding that our days are purposed and set. It is easier and more accurate to simply acknowledge that everything is connected to everything, so, of course, there is a connection of our present with our past and with our future. This connection is not, however, determinative.
A more fruitful approach is an appreciation of vastness, of beauty. To see beyond our usual constraints to a multivalent call - always echoing and always changing - that can be lived out in so many different ways, is to participate in drawing heaven to earth through every vehicle available. To see deep within each opportunity its connection with our life and a connection with other lives, is to discern what is already there and what may yet be present if nurtured and beckoned forth.
Yes, known and search by G*D, I, in turn, investigate G*D’s presence. Together, not even the sands can measure up to life’s possibilities.
Here is another take on YHVH you might appreciate.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
1 Samuel 3:1-20
Epiphany 2 – Year B
1 Samuel 3:1-20
"This was a time when the revelation of God was rarely heard or seen." [The Message] Here we have the moral equivalent of "once upon a time . . . ."
In these days anything can happen. In fact we might even begin to expect that there are games afoot and they will play out. In a day when the elder's children are messing up, dreamtime becomes important. The dreaming of everywhen is still afoot in our lives when we can be alert enough to catch it on one of its turns through ourselves.
How many times have we been called before responding? Are we still waiting for some deus ex machina that will keep us running off to an expert?
Alternatively we can listen to the dreaming that creates out of our nothingness a day of new beginning. This dreaming carries us beyond our projections that claim eternal protection. How would this story be told if G*D weren't so personal?
1 Samuel 3:1-20
"This was a time when the revelation of God was rarely heard or seen." [The Message] Here we have the moral equivalent of "once upon a time . . . ."
In these days anything can happen. In fact we might even begin to expect that there are games afoot and they will play out. In a day when the elder's children are messing up, dreamtime becomes important. The dreaming of everywhen is still afoot in our lives when we can be alert enough to catch it on one of its turns through ourselves.
How many times have we been called before responding? Are we still waiting for some deus ex machina that will keep us running off to an expert?
Alternatively we can listen to the dreaming that creates out of our nothingness a day of new beginning. This dreaming carries us beyond our projections that claim eternal protection. How would this story be told if G*D weren't so personal?
Monday, January 12, 2009
John 1:43-51
Epiphany 2 – Year B
John 1:43-51
How did you hear about Jesus? Was it from a relative? From a friend?
What did you hear about Jesus? That he connects law with prophets? That he is honest at a very deep level?
Where did you hear about Jesus? Was it under a fig tree where you were studying or feasting or trysting? Was it, as per Jacob's dream, at the bottom of a ladder connecting heaven with earth?
Regardless of these journalistic questions, did you recognize the plural "you" in the ladder vision? Perhaps in days of yore one person could whomp up this dream, but now it is communal. Want to see a picture of a better day when a curtain of separation is ripped asunder and the spirit of G*D moves freely between heaven and earth? – be with others who are so seeking. If you can keep yourselves free from mass hysteria – be your part in a supportive and correcting community with one another (the odds are you are already family with Philip and Nathanael) already under your (plural) "fig" tree, and dreaming strong together.
John 1:43-51
How did you hear about Jesus? Was it from a relative? From a friend?
What did you hear about Jesus? That he connects law with prophets? That he is honest at a very deep level?
Where did you hear about Jesus? Was it under a fig tree where you were studying or feasting or trysting? Was it, as per Jacob's dream, at the bottom of a ladder connecting heaven with earth?
Regardless of these journalistic questions, did you recognize the plural "you" in the ladder vision? Perhaps in days of yore one person could whomp up this dream, but now it is communal. Want to see a picture of a better day when a curtain of separation is ripped asunder and the spirit of G*D moves freely between heaven and earth? – be with others who are so seeking. If you can keep yourselves free from mass hysteria – be your part in a supportive and correcting community with one another (the odds are you are already family with Philip and Nathanael) already under your (plural) "fig" tree, and dreaming strong together.
Friday, January 09, 2009
Mark 1:1-11
Epiphany 1 – Year B
Mark 1:1-11
Here is a draft of a sermon by Mike Johnson, as found on Midrash Discussion Group. You can join that discussion here.
= = = = = = =
Sermon Title: "The Galilean Candidate" (or "John the Baptist and the Queen of Diamonds" or "God's Sleepers")
Prime metaphor: Jesus as a "sleeper" planted by God in Galilee and activated 30 years later by the preaching of John the Baptist (à la Raymond Shaw in "The Manchurian Candidate" -- a sleeper planted in the US by China, in the original movies, and by a man who doesn't know he's a sleeper)
Entry-into-scripture question: How did Jesus know it was time for him to emerge from his Galilean obscurity? And did he know what it was time for him to do? And did he know all along -- or, as Jim asked in opening comments, "Was everything revealed to him in a great flash of understanding? Or did he figure it out as he went along?"
Existential belly-button question: Who am I that I may not know that I am? A swan and not the ugly duckling I see in the mirror. A prince and not a pauper? A child of God? Raymond Shaw was activated by the Queen of Diamonds. Jesus was activated by John the Baptist's preaching. Jesus is God's instrument for activating us -- letting us know who we really are.
_________________
"Where did this guy come from?" That question was asked by more than one person (especially among Hillary Clinton's campaign crew) as Barack Obama rose from being a 47-year old extremely junior senator to first the winner of the Iowa primary and then the Democratic nomination. Nothing in his background marked him as a possible, let alone successful, presidential candidate. He was not the son of a former president or senator. Born of a basically absentee father from Kenya, for a while the stepson of an Indonesian, raised in Hawaii by a single white mother and grandparents -- not exactly a fast-track to the presidency.
And even after his big splash at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, when people began thinking of him as a future presidential possibility, no one assumed that he was a shoo-in for the 2008 nomination. Who knew that this charismatic speaker would also have such finely honed political skills as to understand the importance of caucus primaries and the savvy to know how to go about getting them a few at a time, in a way that would make the final difference. Even today, marveling at how far he came in so short a time, without the pedigree of so many others, I find myself wondering, "Where did this guy come from?"
Bystanders may have said that about Jesus, too. He was not the son of any famous religious figure - like a Robert Schuller. He may have been spiritually precocious, if there's anything to Luke's story about talking with the elders in the temple at age 12, but he was hardly a well-known child prodigy -- a spiritual Tiger Woods -- on whom the whole world's fascinated attention was turned as he neared the age of 21. Moreover, he was a Galilean -- a boundary figure from the northern fringe of Judaism. If somebody had said, "The Messiah stands among us," nobody would have picked Jesus. And when he started to make a splash -- maybe beginning with his baptismal splash -- don't you know people said, "Who is this guy?" "What's a Galilean doing in these parts?"
You can never tell, based on background alone, what people have in them. Sometimes we don't know ourselves what we have in us. People differ in their beliefs about how much Jesus knew when about what he was to do and be, and I wouldn't argue about it. But I favor the view that he learned as he went along, because otherwise it doesn't seem to be he was really human -- and because the scriptures say that he was tempted in every way we are, and you can't be tempted in every way as we are if you know totally ahead of time the exact outcome of every situation, and exactly what to say and do, no sweat.
As I say, other Christians think that if Jesus were in any legitimate sense, the Son of God, then he must have known all along. And that may be your view. And that's fine. We can still commune together. But one thing is for sure. Whatever Jesus did or didn't know all along about what he had in him, and what he was to do with it, we don't always.
[Tell the story of the "ugly duckling" -- maybe also the story an eagle raised in a chicken lot.]
And Paul the apostle didn't know he was Paul the apostle. He thought he was Saul, the righteous defender of the faith and godly destroyer of the liberal "Christian" heresy -- that was absolutely his identity right up to the point where he was activated by a blinding light and a voice on the road to Damascus. And Moses may have thought he was a son of the Pharaoh -- with all the finest clothes, the whole east wing of the palace to himself, six sports cars -- everything -- right up to the point where he was activated by seeing an Egyptian overseer strike a Hebrew slaves -- suddenly he was activated and knew himself to be, not the son of the Pharaoh, but a brother to the slave. And Rosa Parks had no idea who she was, or what she would mean to this nation, that day when she understood herself to be a human being
People don't always know who they are, who they are supposed to be, what they have it in themselves to be, or what sort of a difference they can make -- until God activates them in one way or another. That's why I think that was true of Jesus too. That he was activated by the preaching of John. That all he had learned about God, from his rabbi, from his parents, from the people they sat next to at the synagogue (who knows who all played a role in his coming to understand the radical nature of faith in the radically sovereign God of Israel -- an understanding that led him to see how far from actually following God's lead the people of God often were?) -- all he had learned about God and what it meant to love and trust God was engaged and taken a step farther by the preaching of John the Baptist, who was saying exactly what Jesus knew to be true.
John's radical call to radical repentance and faith and disciplined living triggered something in Jesus. And John's sense of urgency triggered something. Now is the time. God is on the move now. Now. Get ready. Prepare yourself. Open yourself to God. Leave off your fooling around with religion, let alone your cavalier sinfulness, and start taking God seriously and actually living in faith. And Jesus knew he could never go back to the carpenter shop. He was a part of what was going on.
Maybe he knew he was destined to lead at that point. Maybe he just knew that whatever was happening he was a part of it and the rest was revealed to him later. But whenever and however much he knew, it was the preaching of John that moved him to offer himself for baptism -- to take a flying cannonball leap into the waters of baptism, body and soul, absolutely unreservedly offering himself as an instrument of God to be and do whatever and wherever God lead him to do no matter what.
And as he was coming up out of the water, the heavens were torn apart and he saw forever and the spirit descended on him and a voice from heaven affirmed him.
But the main question here, finally, is not what did Jesus know when. And the question that comes to me out of all this is, "Who am I that I don't know that I am?"
[Haven't fully developed this yet. But want to emphasize especially that God's estimate of us is almost always different -- and always, ultimately grander and nobler and more beautiful and more life-affirming that our estimates of ourselves. Shouldn't be hard to come up with illustrations here.]
Whether Jesus always knew, or didn't know till that point, John the Baptist's preaching was the trigger that activated him. And Jesus is the trigger that activates us. Jesus may not have known until he came up out of the waters of baptism that he was God's son. But thanks to Christ, we know going in that we are children of God. It is God embracing us in Christ who transforms us, who affirms us, who calls us his children, who gives us a new identity.
"Where did this guy come from? Who is this guy, anyway?" We may, and do, often say the same thing of ourselves. "Who am I? I'm a nobody. I do not matter. I have no worth." Indeed, many of our attempts to be somebody come out of our feelings that we are nobodies. Our attempts to impress come out of our feelings that we are not very impressive. Our desire for praise comes from our never having been blessed. Our desire for power comes from our feelings of weakness and vulnerability. On an individual level we may do many foolish and counterproductive things because in an effort to escape the nobody-ness we feel. And on a national level, a people may engage in all kinds of massive destruction, working out their fears and flaws on a global scale.
And that remains our identity -- unless and until we experience ourselves embraced by God, declared to be his children, loved. That's when we find out who we really are -- and begin to live out of that identity. Until then religion remains just a matter of doctrines we ought to believe, commands we ought to obey, but which we can never really get into -- because we do not yet know who we are.
Whether Jesus always knew, or didn't know till that point, John the Baptist's preaching was the trigger that activated him. And Jesus is the trigger that activates us.
That's why Mark tells this story. That's why we keep on telling this story.
So: who are you that you don't know you are?
Mark 1:1-11
Here is a draft of a sermon by Mike Johnson, as found on Midrash Discussion Group. You can join that discussion here.
= = = = = = =
Sermon Title: "The Galilean Candidate" (or "John the Baptist and the Queen of Diamonds" or "God's Sleepers")
Prime metaphor: Jesus as a "sleeper" planted by God in Galilee and activated 30 years later by the preaching of John the Baptist (à la Raymond Shaw in "The Manchurian Candidate" -- a sleeper planted in the US by China, in the original movies, and by a man who doesn't know he's a sleeper)
Entry-into-scripture question: How did Jesus know it was time for him to emerge from his Galilean obscurity? And did he know what it was time for him to do? And did he know all along -- or, as Jim asked in opening comments, "Was everything revealed to him in a great flash of understanding? Or did he figure it out as he went along?"
Existential belly-button question: Who am I that I may not know that I am? A swan and not the ugly duckling I see in the mirror. A prince and not a pauper? A child of God? Raymond Shaw was activated by the Queen of Diamonds. Jesus was activated by John the Baptist's preaching. Jesus is God's instrument for activating us -- letting us know who we really are.
_________________
"Where did this guy come from?" That question was asked by more than one person (especially among Hillary Clinton's campaign crew) as Barack Obama rose from being a 47-year old extremely junior senator to first the winner of the Iowa primary and then the Democratic nomination. Nothing in his background marked him as a possible, let alone successful, presidential candidate. He was not the son of a former president or senator. Born of a basically absentee father from Kenya, for a while the stepson of an Indonesian, raised in Hawaii by a single white mother and grandparents -- not exactly a fast-track to the presidency.
And even after his big splash at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, when people began thinking of him as a future presidential possibility, no one assumed that he was a shoo-in for the 2008 nomination. Who knew that this charismatic speaker would also have such finely honed political skills as to understand the importance of caucus primaries and the savvy to know how to go about getting them a few at a time, in a way that would make the final difference. Even today, marveling at how far he came in so short a time, without the pedigree of so many others, I find myself wondering, "Where did this guy come from?"
Bystanders may have said that about Jesus, too. He was not the son of any famous religious figure - like a Robert Schuller. He may have been spiritually precocious, if there's anything to Luke's story about talking with the elders in the temple at age 12, but he was hardly a well-known child prodigy -- a spiritual Tiger Woods -- on whom the whole world's fascinated attention was turned as he neared the age of 21. Moreover, he was a Galilean -- a boundary figure from the northern fringe of Judaism. If somebody had said, "The Messiah stands among us," nobody would have picked Jesus. And when he started to make a splash -- maybe beginning with his baptismal splash -- don't you know people said, "Who is this guy?" "What's a Galilean doing in these parts?"
You can never tell, based on background alone, what people have in them. Sometimes we don't know ourselves what we have in us. People differ in their beliefs about how much Jesus knew when about what he was to do and be, and I wouldn't argue about it. But I favor the view that he learned as he went along, because otherwise it doesn't seem to be he was really human -- and because the scriptures say that he was tempted in every way we are, and you can't be tempted in every way as we are if you know totally ahead of time the exact outcome of every situation, and exactly what to say and do, no sweat.
As I say, other Christians think that if Jesus were in any legitimate sense, the Son of God, then he must have known all along. And that may be your view. And that's fine. We can still commune together. But one thing is for sure. Whatever Jesus did or didn't know all along about what he had in him, and what he was to do with it, we don't always.
[Tell the story of the "ugly duckling" -- maybe also the story an eagle raised in a chicken lot.]
And Paul the apostle didn't know he was Paul the apostle. He thought he was Saul, the righteous defender of the faith and godly destroyer of the liberal "Christian" heresy -- that was absolutely his identity right up to the point where he was activated by a blinding light and a voice on the road to Damascus. And Moses may have thought he was a son of the Pharaoh -- with all the finest clothes, the whole east wing of the palace to himself, six sports cars -- everything -- right up to the point where he was activated by seeing an Egyptian overseer strike a Hebrew slaves -- suddenly he was activated and knew himself to be, not the son of the Pharaoh, but a brother to the slave. And Rosa Parks had no idea who she was, or what she would mean to this nation, that day when she understood herself to be a human being
People don't always know who they are, who they are supposed to be, what they have it in themselves to be, or what sort of a difference they can make -- until God activates them in one way or another. That's why I think that was true of Jesus too. That he was activated by the preaching of John. That all he had learned about God, from his rabbi, from his parents, from the people they sat next to at the synagogue (who knows who all played a role in his coming to understand the radical nature of faith in the radically sovereign God of Israel -- an understanding that led him to see how far from actually following God's lead the people of God often were?) -- all he had learned about God and what it meant to love and trust God was engaged and taken a step farther by the preaching of John the Baptist, who was saying exactly what Jesus knew to be true.
John's radical call to radical repentance and faith and disciplined living triggered something in Jesus. And John's sense of urgency triggered something. Now is the time. God is on the move now. Now. Get ready. Prepare yourself. Open yourself to God. Leave off your fooling around with religion, let alone your cavalier sinfulness, and start taking God seriously and actually living in faith. And Jesus knew he could never go back to the carpenter shop. He was a part of what was going on.
Maybe he knew he was destined to lead at that point. Maybe he just knew that whatever was happening he was a part of it and the rest was revealed to him later. But whenever and however much he knew, it was the preaching of John that moved him to offer himself for baptism -- to take a flying cannonball leap into the waters of baptism, body and soul, absolutely unreservedly offering himself as an instrument of God to be and do whatever and wherever God lead him to do no matter what.
And as he was coming up out of the water, the heavens were torn apart and he saw forever and the spirit descended on him and a voice from heaven affirmed him.
But the main question here, finally, is not what did Jesus know when. And the question that comes to me out of all this is, "Who am I that I don't know that I am?"
[Haven't fully developed this yet. But want to emphasize especially that God's estimate of us is almost always different -- and always, ultimately grander and nobler and more beautiful and more life-affirming that our estimates of ourselves. Shouldn't be hard to come up with illustrations here.]
Whether Jesus always knew, or didn't know till that point, John the Baptist's preaching was the trigger that activated him. And Jesus is the trigger that activates us. Jesus may not have known until he came up out of the waters of baptism that he was God's son. But thanks to Christ, we know going in that we are children of God. It is God embracing us in Christ who transforms us, who affirms us, who calls us his children, who gives us a new identity.
"Where did this guy come from? Who is this guy, anyway?" We may, and do, often say the same thing of ourselves. "Who am I? I'm a nobody. I do not matter. I have no worth." Indeed, many of our attempts to be somebody come out of our feelings that we are nobodies. Our attempts to impress come out of our feelings that we are not very impressive. Our desire for praise comes from our never having been blessed. Our desire for power comes from our feelings of weakness and vulnerability. On an individual level we may do many foolish and counterproductive things because in an effort to escape the nobody-ness we feel. And on a national level, a people may engage in all kinds of massive destruction, working out their fears and flaws on a global scale.
And that remains our identity -- unless and until we experience ourselves embraced by God, declared to be his children, loved. That's when we find out who we really are -- and begin to live out of that identity. Until then religion remains just a matter of doctrines we ought to believe, commands we ought to obey, but which we can never really get into -- because we do not yet know who we are.
Whether Jesus always knew, or didn't know till that point, John the Baptist's preaching was the trigger that activated him. And Jesus is the trigger that activates us.
That's why Mark tells this story. That's why we keep on telling this story.
So: who are you that you don't know you are?
Thursday, January 08, 2009
Acts 19:1-7
Epiphany 1 – Year B
Acts 19:1-7
In Mark, folks come to John for a baptism regarding repentance. Jesus' experience of Beloved-Pleasure seems to have been a bonus ("Wait! There's more!) that others didn't notice or receive.
Here, folks seem to be satisfied with John's baptism. Then, along comes Paul bringing Jesus' experience of Holy Spirit Assurance-of-Belovedness to them.
Between a movement of intentionally going out to receive (Mark) and an experience coming in, whether looked for or not (Acts), is the vitality of life.
When the two come together, prophecy that will result – both fulfillment of past prophecies and the setting out of new prophecies that address the current situation. (One does need to decide whether or not tongues and prophesy are related, sequential, or two different experiences. But whichever way you go, prophesy is still a key result of a revealed Spirit of Holy.)
Acts 19:1-7
In Mark, folks come to John for a baptism regarding repentance. Jesus' experience of Beloved-Pleasure seems to have been a bonus ("Wait! There's more!) that others didn't notice or receive.
Here, folks seem to be satisfied with John's baptism. Then, along comes Paul bringing Jesus' experience of Holy Spirit Assurance-of-Belovedness to them.
Between a movement of intentionally going out to receive (Mark) and an experience coming in, whether looked for or not (Acts), is the vitality of life.
When the two come together, prophecy that will result – both fulfillment of past prophecies and the setting out of new prophecies that address the current situation. (One does need to decide whether or not tongues and prophesy are related, sequential, or two different experiences. But whichever way you go, prophesy is still a key result of a revealed Spirit of Holy.)
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Psalm 29
Epiphany 1 – Year B
Psalm 29
a rain god thunders forth
lightning flashes
deluge floods
thunder echoes
from deep to desert
shaking winnowing
wind strips bare
unrepentance
revealing joy
hard rain
strips bare
Lebanon's cedars
from above waters
comes strength enough
for assuring peace
the simplest font
beneath a wild eagle
floods a heart
Psalm 29
a rain god thunders forth
lightning flashes
deluge floods
thunder echoes
from deep to desert
shaking winnowing
wind strips bare
unrepentance
revealing joy
hard rain
strips bare
Lebanon's cedars
from above waters
comes strength enough
for assuring peace
the simplest font
beneath a wild eagle
floods a heart
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
Genesis 1:1-2:4
Epiphany 1 – Year B
Genesis 1:1-2:4
The Mark pericope really should start with verse 1 rather than 4. Baptism is grounded in creation, or its not grounded. This Genesis passage might well fit Mark's opening line, "In the beginning of good news. . ." and continue on with "See, I am sending my messenger ahead." [All the little fiddly bits (as fjords have been described in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy), including all the details of days 1 to 7, have come before us to give evidence of good news.]
If we conflate the first and second creation stories we might choose to focus on the third day. "And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters God called seas: and God saw that it was good." (Genesis 1:10, mostly KJV) From here it is but a hop, skip, and jump to Genesis 2:6. "But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground." (KJV)
That which was separated still belonged together. Baptism is a bringing back together of the humus/human/earth/ground and the sea/water/mist/river. Baptism is a creative moment – "Let there be . . . !" a returning back to basics in order to go further than we have so far come – one step back that we might take two steps ahead.
Baptism that is Baptism is a very present ancient future that energizes us to new levels – indeed, to the very good. Baptism that is only baptism is still good in it's bringing to mind what might yet be. The difference seems not to be in the amount of water or the trace minerals it carries, but this mysterious, creation-oriented, gift of Wisdom (from last week) and Holy Spirit (this week). Good luck in trying to tie them down through any ritual, including Baptism.
Genesis 1:1-2:4
The Mark pericope really should start with verse 1 rather than 4. Baptism is grounded in creation, or its not grounded. This Genesis passage might well fit Mark's opening line, "In the beginning of good news. . ." and continue on with "See, I am sending my messenger ahead." [All the little fiddly bits (as fjords have been described in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy), including all the details of days 1 to 7, have come before us to give evidence of good news.]
If we conflate the first and second creation stories we might choose to focus on the third day. "And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters God called seas: and God saw that it was good." (Genesis 1:10, mostly KJV) From here it is but a hop, skip, and jump to Genesis 2:6. "But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground." (KJV)
That which was separated still belonged together. Baptism is a bringing back together of the humus/human/earth/ground and the sea/water/mist/river. Baptism is a creative moment – "Let there be . . . !" a returning back to basics in order to go further than we have so far come – one step back that we might take two steps ahead.
Baptism that is Baptism is a very present ancient future that energizes us to new levels – indeed, to the very good. Baptism that is only baptism is still good in it's bringing to mind what might yet be. The difference seems not to be in the amount of water or the trace minerals it carries, but this mysterious, creation-oriented, gift of Wisdom (from last week) and Holy Spirit (this week). Good luck in trying to tie them down through any ritual, including Baptism.
Monday, January 05, 2009
Mark 1:4-11
Epiphany 1 – Year B
Mark 1:4-11
Baptism is one of those words that comes freighted with layers of meaning. There are questions of style and consequence.
Baptism is simply a response to a recognition of being off-kilter. Whether called sin or misgiving, whatever comes after its acknowledgement is our baptism. It may be a baptism into further delusion so we have deniability of any wrong or a baptism into some degree of repentance or life-change.
Baptism is simply a repeatable action of daily cleansing. Such a mikvah affirms conscious and unconscious, intentional or unintentional, missteps on a daily journey and anticipates some grander baptism that would be once-for-all.
Baptism is simply an assurance that one is marked by L*VE or L*FE and as L*FE and L*VE. (Enjoy the difference between voiced and unvoiced labiodental fricatives and know the difference is subtle enough that you can freely translate between them and be understood.)
Baptism is simply not simple. The Wikipedia article is representative of the divergences of baptismal traditions. If you were to confound your particular baptismal tradition, what one question would you ask?
Regardless of your preferred baptismal ritual, may you live and love out of an assurance of being loved into life.
For those interested in a more orthodox presentation are welcome to attend to several additional sites:
United Methodist Overview
United Methodist In Depth
Overview of traditions from Religious Tolerance
Or – use your favorite search engine: "(your tradition here) baptism"
For those interested in a disconnect with baptism:
The Godfather: Baptism and Murder
Mark 1:4-11
Baptism is one of those words that comes freighted with layers of meaning. There are questions of style and consequence.
Baptism is simply a response to a recognition of being off-kilter. Whether called sin or misgiving, whatever comes after its acknowledgement is our baptism. It may be a baptism into further delusion so we have deniability of any wrong or a baptism into some degree of repentance or life-change.
Baptism is simply a repeatable action of daily cleansing. Such a mikvah affirms conscious and unconscious, intentional or unintentional, missteps on a daily journey and anticipates some grander baptism that would be once-for-all.
Baptism is simply an assurance that one is marked by L*VE or L*FE and as L*FE and L*VE. (Enjoy the difference between voiced and unvoiced labiodental fricatives and know the difference is subtle enough that you can freely translate between them and be understood.)
Baptism is simply not simple. The Wikipedia article is representative of the divergences of baptismal traditions. If you were to confound your particular baptismal tradition, what one question would you ask?
Regardless of your preferred baptismal ritual, may you live and love out of an assurance of being loved into life.
For those interested in a more orthodox presentation are welcome to attend to several additional sites:
United Methodist Overview
United Methodist In Depth
Overview of traditions from Religious Tolerance
Or – use your favorite search engine: "(your tradition here) baptism"
For those interested in a disconnect with baptism:
The Godfather: Baptism and Murder
Friday, January 02, 2009
resolved
Christmas 2 – Year B
resolved
anticipate
light
path
present
resurrection
acknowledge
wisdom
experienced
rooted
honor
listen
bubbling
groans
boiling
birth
receive
grace
peace
sharing
continue
extend
joy
gathered
comfort
enough
resolved
anticipate
light
path
present
resurrection
acknowledge
wisdom
experienced
rooted
honor
listen
bubbling
groans
boiling
birth
receive
grace
peace
sharing
continue
extend
joy
gathered
comfort
enough
Thursday, January 01, 2009
Ephesians 1:1-14
Christmas 2 – Year B
Ephesians 1:1-14
Blessed be! We have been blessed with every spiritual gift.
Remember this is a corporate blessing.
Together we are adopted and we adopt one another.(1)
In this we find our voice of praise and thanksgiving and the wholeness of a healthy salvation, one for all.
Planned or unplanned, this is a cup of kindness.
Resolution 4: To receive grace and peace on behalf of those not yet able to receive and to continue sharing the same with them regardless of their present ability to receive.
= = = = = = =
(1) A Pale Blue Dot - an opportunity for a new year.
= = = = = = =
Bonus New Year Material:
Hear Kenneth McKellar sing Auld Lang Syne in Scots.
The Millennium Prayer (combo of Lord's Prayer to Auld Lang Syne tune)
Aretha Franklin & Billy Preston bring another kind of joy to the song.
Ephesians 1:1-14
Blessed be! We have been blessed with every spiritual gift.
Remember this is a corporate blessing.
Together we are adopted and we adopt one another.(1)
In this we find our voice of praise and thanksgiving and the wholeness of a healthy salvation, one for all.
Planned or unplanned, this is a cup of kindness.
Resolution 4: To receive grace and peace on behalf of those not yet able to receive and to continue sharing the same with them regardless of their present ability to receive.
= = = = = = =
(1) A Pale Blue Dot - an opportunity for a new year.
= = = = = = =
Bonus New Year Material:
Hear Kenneth McKellar sing Auld Lang Syne in Scots.
The Millennium Prayer (combo of Lord's Prayer to Auld Lang Syne tune)
Aretha Franklin & Billy Preston bring another kind of joy to the song.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Wisdom of Solomon 10:15-21
Christmas 2 – Year B
Wisdom of Solomon 10:15-21
When we look back with 20/20 hindsight, it is easy to discern a Wise presence. What wasn't understood at the time as wise (remember the fear that continues throughout the Exodus) can later be attributed to some good plan. This connects wisdom with thanksgiving.
When we look around us for wisdom to make difficult choices, we find ourselves caught between focal lengths – attempting to apply an appropriate learning from history that we don't just repeat and repeat and peering into a dim unknown for a new learning not already in our grab-bag. This connects wisdom with mystery.
When we do thought experiments regarding the future, we find our prejudices coming to the fore. Our assumptions and speculations rev themselves into red-line danger. This connects wisdom with foolishness.
Remember with thanksgiving that G*D has revealed things to the foolish, not the wise? Well what are we to do with Sister Wisdom who is all over the map? Sit back and enjoy the ride? Winnow the results with yet a fifth criterion to measure reality?
Perhaps the best we can do here is to raise our sensitivity to the mute and those struggling to put their reality into communicable language. Who are you listening to and how engaged are you willing to be to wrest meaning from inarticulate groans of creation?
Resolution 3: To listen to Wisdom bubbling from below consciousness and to join in the groans of birthing a new year from an old by at least boiling water.
Wisdom of Solomon 10:15-21
When we look back with 20/20 hindsight, it is easy to discern a Wise presence. What wasn't understood at the time as wise (remember the fear that continues throughout the Exodus) can later be attributed to some good plan. This connects wisdom with thanksgiving.
When we look around us for wisdom to make difficult choices, we find ourselves caught between focal lengths – attempting to apply an appropriate learning from history that we don't just repeat and repeat and peering into a dim unknown for a new learning not already in our grab-bag. This connects wisdom with mystery.
When we do thought experiments regarding the future, we find our prejudices coming to the fore. Our assumptions and speculations rev themselves into red-line danger. This connects wisdom with foolishness.
Remember with thanksgiving that G*D has revealed things to the foolish, not the wise? Well what are we to do with Sister Wisdom who is all over the map? Sit back and enjoy the ride? Winnow the results with yet a fifth criterion to measure reality?
Perhaps the best we can do here is to raise our sensitivity to the mute and those struggling to put their reality into communicable language. Who are you listening to and how engaged are you willing to be to wrest meaning from inarticulate groans of creation?
Resolution 3: To listen to Wisdom bubbling from below consciousness and to join in the groans of birthing a new year from an old by at least boiling water.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Sirach 24:1-12
Christmas 2 – Year B
Sirach 24:1-12
In this passage not often heard in today's church there is a sense of the drilling down of wisdom from the general of creation to the specific of geography known as here, from time immemorial to this present moment. Where and when should wisdom alight? Well, why not here and now! Can you sense wisdom alighting in your honored life? Hooray!
From the book Where Shall Wisdom Be Found: Wisdom In The Bible, The Church And The Contemporary World, the end of the article "Sirach and Wisdom's Dwelling Place" by C.T.R. Hayward:
"Disaster befell Sirach's beloved Temple when, in the year 70 CE, the Romans put it to the torch. Yet Sirach's Greek translation of his grandfather's book was not forgotten. It was included in the Greek Old Testament and was thus available for Gentile Christians to ponder. For them, the work proved so popular that it was regularly read in worship, and in course of time came to be called Ecclesiasticus, a 'church book' of great distinction. No doubt this process was encouraged because St. Paul, the earliest Christian writer, had dubbed Christ 'the wisdom of God' (1 Cor 1.24, 30; cf. Col 2.3), and because the evangelists had, in their several ways, used Temple imagery to speak of Christ's body (Jn. 2:20-22; Mt 26:61; Mk 14:58). Sirach proved to be a rich quarry from which the Church's teachers could unearth almost inexhaustible theological resources in their explorations of Christ's relationship to God. And since Wisdom, both in Hebrew and Greek, is personified as a woman, the way was open for them to develop their thinking on the role of the Blessed Virgin in the Christian economy of salvation. Reflection on Mary as Wisdom and Mother of God, the Temple of the Holy Spirit, is discernible already in the writing of St. Ambrose (De Spiritu Sancto 2.51, PL 16.753), and was destined to bear abundant and nourishing fruit in the liturgies of the Eastern and Western Churches alike."
The Three Wise Guys may be profitably transfigured into Gals. If this, even transfigured into your life. After Henry Van Dyke we can move beyond a fourth Magi to a fifth and further on down the line to you as a receiver and sharer of G*D's Wisdom. As said on Out in Scripture: An honest encounter between LGBT lives and the Bible, "Not only is Jesus Wisdom’s Child, but through God’s Word/Wisdom so are we. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender believers bear witness that it is not the church who says whether or not we are God’s children, nor our sexuality, not even our theology or orthodoxy – but it is our welcome of this one sent from God. The Logos/Sophia does not discriminate based on race, class, gender or sexual orientation."
Resolution 2: To acknowledge the distillation of wisdom found in the set of experiences known as mine – to be one more branch from the root of an honored people.
Sirach 24:1-12
In this passage not often heard in today's church there is a sense of the drilling down of wisdom from the general of creation to the specific of geography known as here, from time immemorial to this present moment. Where and when should wisdom alight? Well, why not here and now! Can you sense wisdom alighting in your honored life? Hooray!
From the book Where Shall Wisdom Be Found: Wisdom In The Bible, The Church And The Contemporary World, the end of the article "Sirach and Wisdom's Dwelling Place" by C.T.R. Hayward:
"Disaster befell Sirach's beloved Temple when, in the year 70 CE, the Romans put it to the torch. Yet Sirach's Greek translation of his grandfather's book was not forgotten. It was included in the Greek Old Testament and was thus available for Gentile Christians to ponder. For them, the work proved so popular that it was regularly read in worship, and in course of time came to be called Ecclesiasticus, a 'church book' of great distinction. No doubt this process was encouraged because St. Paul, the earliest Christian writer, had dubbed Christ 'the wisdom of God' (1 Cor 1.24, 30; cf. Col 2.3), and because the evangelists had, in their several ways, used Temple imagery to speak of Christ's body (Jn. 2:20-22; Mt 26:61; Mk 14:58). Sirach proved to be a rich quarry from which the Church's teachers could unearth almost inexhaustible theological resources in their explorations of Christ's relationship to God. And since Wisdom, both in Hebrew and Greek, is personified as a woman, the way was open for them to develop their thinking on the role of the Blessed Virgin in the Christian economy of salvation. Reflection on Mary as Wisdom and Mother of God, the Temple of the Holy Spirit, is discernible already in the writing of St. Ambrose (De Spiritu Sancto 2.51, PL 16.753), and was destined to bear abundant and nourishing fruit in the liturgies of the Eastern and Western Churches alike."
The Three Wise Guys may be profitably transfigured into Gals. If this, even transfigured into your life. After Henry Van Dyke we can move beyond a fourth Magi to a fifth and further on down the line to you as a receiver and sharer of G*D's Wisdom. As said on Out in Scripture: An honest encounter between LGBT lives and the Bible, "Not only is Jesus Wisdom’s Child, but through God’s Word/Wisdom so are we. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender believers bear witness that it is not the church who says whether or not we are God’s children, nor our sexuality, not even our theology or orthodoxy – but it is our welcome of this one sent from God. The Logos/Sophia does not discriminate based on race, class, gender or sexual orientation."
Resolution 2: To acknowledge the distillation of wisdom found in the set of experiences known as mine – to be one more branch from the root of an honored people.
Monday, December 29, 2008
John 1:1-18
Christmas 2 – Year B
John 1:1-18
From the Girardian Lectionary site James Allison is quoted:
"In the light of the resurrection it gradually becomes possible to see that it was not that God was previously violent, now blessing now cursing (see Deut. 32:39), but had now brought all that ambivalence to an end. Rather, it became possible to see that that was all a human violence, with various degrees of projection onto God. God had been from the beginning, always, immutably, love, and that this love was made manifest in sending his Son into the midst of the violent humans, even into the midst of their persecutory projections of God, so that they might treat him as a human victim, and thus reveal the depth of the love of God, who was prepared to be a human victim simultaneously to show the depth of his love for humanity, and to reveal humanity as having been locked into the realm of the Father of lies."
John's version of a Song of Songs lifts love out of a competition with violence or Platonic philosophy to an exclusive view of life. There is no wrestling between paradigms here, there is only the action of giving light to life and the lie to separation and lording it over. A test for ourselves is to ask what song we find ourselves singing these days? Is it fear of not having enough? Is it joy at being able to share what we do have? What lyric do you hear when your routine is interrupted?
Resolution 1: To anticipate a new light, a new path, by gratefully receiving a glimpse of graceful resurrection in this present situation.
John 1:1-18
From the Girardian Lectionary site James Allison is quoted:
"In the light of the resurrection it gradually becomes possible to see that it was not that God was previously violent, now blessing now cursing (see Deut. 32:39), but had now brought all that ambivalence to an end. Rather, it became possible to see that that was all a human violence, with various degrees of projection onto God. God had been from the beginning, always, immutably, love, and that this love was made manifest in sending his Son into the midst of the violent humans, even into the midst of their persecutory projections of God, so that they might treat him as a human victim, and thus reveal the depth of the love of God, who was prepared to be a human victim simultaneously to show the depth of his love for humanity, and to reveal humanity as having been locked into the realm of the Father of lies."
John's version of a Song of Songs lifts love out of a competition with violence or Platonic philosophy to an exclusive view of life. There is no wrestling between paradigms here, there is only the action of giving light to life and the lie to separation and lording it over. A test for ourselves is to ask what song we find ourselves singing these days? Is it fear of not having enough? Is it joy at being able to share what we do have? What lyric do you hear when your routine is interrupted?
Resolution 1: To anticipate a new light, a new path, by gratefully receiving a glimpse of graceful resurrection in this present situation.
Friday, December 26, 2008
more to come
Christmas 1 – Year B
more to come
good ol' Simeon
limit bound
glimpse receiver
ready to move on
departing in peace
has never attracted me
too curious by far
beyond a mere beginning
what's next I ask
messiah's a good start
but o this drama
is no one-act play
I'll wait
denouement
with such a surprise start
imagine twists to come
and project them
dum spiro spero
who would want to
miss what's next
come on Simeon
let's go some more
more to come
good ol' Simeon
limit bound
glimpse receiver
ready to move on
departing in peace
has never attracted me
too curious by far
beyond a mere beginning
what's next I ask
messiah's a good start
but o this drama
is no one-act play
I'll wait
denouement
with such a surprise start
imagine twists to come
and project them
dum spiro spero
who would want to
miss what's next
come on Simeon
let's go some more
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Galatians 4:4-7
Christmas 1 – Year B
Galatians 4:4-7
On Christmas Day we are looking at a scripture to help us take a next first step to living Christmas on an on-going basis.
The time has arrived, as it always does and is, for redemption to begin and be completed, all in one swell foop (the spoonerism reminds us that this redemption is in a good way not fell/foul).
Perhaps the best we can do is two-fold: One, following Peterson, those of us who have been "kidnapped by the law" can now, two, live not as slave, but an inheritor of expansive, generative, adoptive kindness.
This is something that is good today and tomorrow – free to follow a new and renewed heritage of receiving and passing on blessing, a gift otherwise spelled kindness.
Galatians 4:4-7
On Christmas Day we are looking at a scripture to help us take a next first step to living Christmas on an on-going basis.
The time has arrived, as it always does and is, for redemption to begin and be completed, all in one swell foop (the spoonerism reminds us that this redemption is in a good way not fell/foul).
Perhaps the best we can do is two-fold: One, following Peterson, those of us who have been "kidnapped by the law" can now, two, live not as slave, but an inheritor of expansive, generative, adoptive kindness.
This is something that is good today and tomorrow – free to follow a new and renewed heritage of receiving and passing on blessing, a gift otherwise spelled kindness.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Psalm 148
Christmas 1 – Year B
Psalm 148
Compare verses 14:
NRSV – He has raised up a horn for his people, praise for all his faithful, for the people of Israel who are close to him. Praise the Lord!
The MESSAGE – . . . he's built a monument—his very own people! Praise from all who love God! Israel's children, intimate friends of God. Hallelujah!
Two quickies:
Are you being done unto (NRSV) or are you among the doers?
Are you close to God (NRSV) or an intimate friend thereof?
I've not delved into the Greek enough here but I do have a preference for the latter perspective. An Active Intimate Friend of God and Neighbor – there's meaning to be found here.
Psalm 148
Compare verses 14:
NRSV – He has raised up a horn for his people, praise for all his faithful, for the people of Israel who are close to him. Praise the Lord!
The MESSAGE – . . . he's built a monument—his very own people! Praise from all who love God! Israel's children, intimate friends of God. Hallelujah!
Two quickies:
Are you being done unto (NRSV) or are you among the doers?
Are you close to God (NRSV) or an intimate friend thereof?
I've not delved into the Greek enough here but I do have a preference for the latter perspective. An Active Intimate Friend of God and Neighbor – there's meaning to be found here.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Isaiah 61:10 - 62:3
Christmas 1 – Year B
Isaiah 61:10 - 62:3
Whether intentionally, as a celebrant cares for their appearance, or unintentionally, as nature fecunds away, we are to be engaged in actions that will later be recognized as "righteous" – just.
To join intentionality and unintentionality together not only takes energy, but supplies it as well. There is a wearing down if we are only intentional and a dissipation when oriented on the waiting for some right thing at a right time to occur. Here is a gift – to proceed with intention and yet to be open to making the most of the unintentional that happens along.
So a receiving and carrying of new life and a laying it down in a manger which is no crib are paired and release an energy to be reckoned with.
Can you remember times in your own life when these have come together? Did you recognize it in time to rejoice? Are you still living off that energy? Did you learn to practice recognizing their confluence and even to provoke them?
There will still be additional energies and practices needed, but we rejoice at each of these birthing moments where the steel of intentionality and the flint of unintentionality strike Christmas fire.
Isaiah 61:10 - 62:3
Whether intentionally, as a celebrant cares for their appearance, or unintentionally, as nature fecunds away, we are to be engaged in actions that will later be recognized as "righteous" – just.
To join intentionality and unintentionality together not only takes energy, but supplies it as well. There is a wearing down if we are only intentional and a dissipation when oriented on the waiting for some right thing at a right time to occur. Here is a gift – to proceed with intention and yet to be open to making the most of the unintentional that happens along.
So a receiving and carrying of new life and a laying it down in a manger which is no crib are paired and release an energy to be reckoned with.
Can you remember times in your own life when these have come together? Did you recognize it in time to rejoice? Are you still living off that energy? Did you learn to practice recognizing their confluence and even to provoke them?
There will still be additional energies and practices needed, but we rejoice at each of these birthing moments where the steel of intentionality and the flint of unintentionality strike Christmas fire.
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