Pentecost +16 Sunday – C1

Pentecost +16 Sunday – C1

Years C
Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28 or Exodus 32:7-14

Play these two back and forth -- G*D, in Jeremiah's mouth, comes out as destruction - once decided always decided; G*D, in relation to Moses, comes out as remover of destruction - twice thought, a different decision.

Now we need to wonder whether one of these models is standard or if they are contextually driven. As I look over the breadth of G*D's story as it comes through the Bible, thinking twice is more often the case. This seems to be because of a prior decision never finally gone back on - steadfast love. Sometimes the rethinking of this takes more time than people have in their lives, but the rethinking does occur.

Whether Moses or Jeremiah in their settings, or you and I in ours, it is appropriate to ask for a second thought in light of a first thought to experience and enact steadfast love. Imagine what would happen if the church institutional or any congregation were to re-ask every question they have been faced with in the last 10 years in light of imitating G*D's steadfast love in their context.

= = = = = = =

one messenger reports
Moses tried to calm his God down
think twice was the call

and this great God
backed off angry threats
deciding not to destroy

as messengers report
about my life and tries
is God calmer for my presence

Pentecost +16 Sunday – B

Pentecost +16 Sunday – B

Years B
Proverbs 1:20-33 or Isaiah 50:4-9a
Psalm 19 or Psalm 116:1-9
James 3:1-12
Mark 8:27-38

Physiologically, tongues are strong and flexible, made up of sixteen muscle groups. Metaphorically, tongues are also easily bitten and easily biting.

Tongues are equally at home carrying a blessing or a curse. They can cut to the quick or lovingly caress one another. They are a source of encouragement and a keener of despair.

Presume again an original blessing of "It's good." We heard it from our teacher leading us out of chaos, into life. In such an image we honor our teacher by offering a sustaining word tot he weary - those caught in moments and millennia of chaos.

The tongue of a creator becomes a tongue of the nursling. [I have long enjoyed an out-of-print book, The Tongue of the Nursling by P.E. MacAllister - here is a brief bio and an online article by him you might enjoy that could take you far afield of today's reflection (and yet have enough tangents to be instructive).

= = = = = = =

we see a forked tongue
and suppose we are
hearing a forked tongue

our senses aren't sensible
we mistake one another for hats
magnify molehills and ignore mountains

we execute desperate thieves
and reward those who contract to steal
missing what's behind the surface

Pentecost +16 Sunday – A

Pentecost +16 Sunday – A

Years A
Exodus 14:19-31 or Genesis 50:15-21
Psalm 114 or Exodus 15:1b-11, 20-21 or Psalm 103:1-13
Romans 14:1-12
Matthew 18:21-35

Welcome those who are differently oriented in faith. Paul uses Sabbath and Eating Rituals as examples of how those who condense the week into one Sabbath and those who spread it through the week might both do so as an honor to G*D. Likewise with those who honor G*D through their choice of food.

Unfortunately these differences are described as "weaknesses" (as see through the eyes of someone making a choice they think everyone ought to hew to now). Seemingly both could be seen as sources of honor and weakness. An example of bothness gone awry is found in Jesus' story when asked about a persistence of forgiveness. Here the honoring of G*D gives way to entitlement for self.

When a servant is still received (forgiven) in respect to their weakness, this same servant does not participate in such a welcoming when faced with another in a respectively "weak" position.

How radical is my welcoming? - who is included in it?

= = = = = = =

transgressions removed ahead
a welcome road sign

hope for myself rises
to return to
an original blessing of good

disgust that it might be
for every Jane and Jack
or my favorite enemy
rises even quicker

and quick as a wink
my special welcome sign
becomes a road closed detour
onto winding rutted paths
leading 70x7 times back to this marker

Pentecost +15 Sunday – C4

Pentecost +15 Sunday – C4

Years C
Luke 14:25-33

After looking at ourselves in the world around us, here is a big "therefore": None of you can continue learning or growing in experience of G*D through me if you allow your possessions to possess you.

This builds on a better language choice for translating what is so often recorded as "hate" of family. "Preferring" a person or persons over our relationship with G*D blocks our growth into G*D, our imitation of Christ.

Here is a story to exemplify these points:
A pilgrim settled down to sleep one night at the edge of a village - soon an excited villager appeared saying 'Give me the diamond, give me the diamond '. 'What diamond?' asked the pilgrim. Villager replied 'I have had a dream that you have a diamond of great value and if I asked you for it you would give it to me and I should be rich forever."

The pilgrim reached into his bag and pulled out a stone. 'You may certainly have it', he said and settled down again to sleep

The villager looked at the stone in amazement for it was the largest diamond he had ever seen. He took the diamond and walked away.

He tossed and turned all night unable to sleep, and the next day he return to the pilgrim and said 'give me the wealth that makes it possible for you to give away this diamond so easily.'

= = = = = = =

spinning on his heel
Jesus "told" a following crowd
exactly what they didn't want to hear

a prioritized focus
is needed for continued growth
into and out of an expansive and expanding love

so much distracts
even literally following good
can keep us from completing our heart's desire

so much possesses
power to attract our limited attention
and we stick to what we have already known forever

freedom is
another word for nothing left to lose
this freedom this presence of G*D is our unsticking place

Pentecost +15 Sunday – C3

Pentecost +15 Sunday – C3

Years C
Philemon 1:1-21

Ahh, the temptation to command another. And, oh how difficult to appeal through love.

As we look back on slavery we are able to wonder how much sooner it might have been overcome had someone in the Bible had given us a clearer word than periodic emancipation and so many examples of folks freed who then enslaved others.

What we are not able to see is our own blindspots that later generations will look back on and wonder why there wasn't much made of our equivalents of slavery. As we do the long slog of finally resolving the discrimination we have imposed upon different sexual orientations, as though gender/partner preference were the most significant quality of a person, the question arises as to what the next great issue will be. Will we cycle back through some of the old ones? Will it be another round of crusades? Another allowance of tribal genocides?

May our hearts be refreshed enough to clearly see who is being kept down for no good reason and stand with them.

= = = = = = =

I've been waiting so long
for you to do the right thing
my patience has been extended
beyond my comfort level
in order that you might
voluntarily do good to another

in such I have been complicit
in your evil ways
aided and abetted
your delusion of hierarchy
let you get away with
enslaving our kinfolk

how might we partner
we three so different
and so connected
when will we set aside
our givens and assumptions
to set each other free

Pentecost +15 Sunday – C2

Pentecost +15 Sunday – C2

Years C
Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18 or Psalm 1

To be known, through and through, is not just "wonderful" but "awful". Hemmed in fore and aft, gee and haw, puts us at the end of puppet strings. Knowing how wonderfully intended we are ("Good" yelled at the top of G*D's lungs for all creation to hear), we find a crevasse between such intention and our realities.

In the end we finally come to the realization that neither intention or reality determine the important things of life and one of the grandest visions of life (avoiding the trap of duality between law-abiders and wicked) comes at the end of 139:18 - "I am still with you."

In my best of times and worst of times, a tale of two MEs, G*D and I are still at it. May it be so for you.

= = = = = = =

with apologies to D.H. Lawrence

god is so nice
so awfully nice
god is the nicest person in the world.

And what's more, god is nice about being nice
about your being nice as well!
If you're not nice, god will soon make you feel it.

Abrahamists and Buddhists and Hindus and Wiccans and so on
they're all very well
but they're not really nice, you know.
They're not nice in our sense of the word, are they now?

That's why one doesn't have to take them seriously,
We must be nice to them, of course,
of course, naturally.
But it doesn't really matter what you say to them,
they don't really understand -
you can say anything to them:
be nice, you know, just nice -
but you must never take them seriously, they wouldn't understand,
just be nice, you know! Oh, fairly nice,
not too nice of course, they take advantage -
but nice enough, just nice enough
to let them feel they're not quite as nice as they might be.

Pentecost +15 Sunday – C1

Pentecost +15 Sunday – C1

Years C
Jeremiah 18:1-11 or Deuteronomy 30:15-20

Choice is inherent in life. There isn't one without the other. Here it is too easy to get caught up with only one end of a choice spectrum, that of humans (individual and communal), while ignoring choices of G*D.

At one point G*D is out of choices - G*D can only respond to our actions in their like manners. If we do "good", G*D does "good". If we don't, G*D doesn't. There is here no choice of steadfast love, regardless of the stimulus, simply stimulus and response.

At another point G*D becomes preemptive. G*D chooses to warn that G*D is getting into a non-choice - responding to "bad" with bigger "bad".

Go ahead. Choose. As an individual your choice may make no difference as the community around can and does make opposite choices. You are likely to get caught up in their choices and smashed, perhaps to be recast. And, yet, one choice is significant. Remember again the 100th monkey.

= = = = = = =

Sarah nor her husband could choose for me
Rebekah nor her husband could choose for me
Leah and Rachel nor their husband could choose for me

I cannot choose
for son and daughter
that descendants will live

I can choose
to live that they might
choose

sometimes I choose life prosperity
death and adversity
and more and less

for self
for neighbor
for G*D

what a tangled web we weave
when first we choose
and choose again

Pentecost +15 Sunday – B

Pentecost +15 Sunday – B

Years B
Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23 or Isaiah 35:4-7a
Psalm 125 or Psalm 146
James 2:1-17
Mark 7:24-37

Raise a glass, "The rich and the poor have this in common: the Lord is the maker of them all."

May your heart be strong, not just from the drink, but in appreciation of a presence of G*D that sets you free to no longer judge rich and poor, but to live justice attempted and completed.

This open-eyed justice does away with acts of favoritism, in any direction, as we recognize our neighbor as ourself. This communal approach leads to mercy received, given, and shared. Such faith is practical, beyond cant.

= = = = = = =

be opened woman from afar
be opened Jesus so near
be opened ye deaf
be opened you onlookers
be opened scoffers and praisers

let us shape one another
in G*D's image
beyond hierarchy
beyond favoritism
beyond simply beyond

Pentecost +15 Sunday – A

Pentecost +15 Sunday – A

Years A
Exodus 12:1-4 or Ezekiel 33:7-11
Psalm 149 or Psalm 119:33-40
Romans 13:8-14
Matthew 18:15-20

What time is it? Time to not let sin continue unchallenged.

A part of this is to remember the gift of blessing that came first so that we might sing a new song to one another and not just bring suit against one another, no matter how many witnesses we are able to round up.

There is more than enough to be divided up among us. To continue acting as though G*D and a religious impetus is a zero-sum game is false to the strongest and most steadfast tenet we have - wholeness / love.

So what will we bind on earth (another to our way of thinking) and what will we loose (a new song that is an old song - honor)?

= = = = = = =

my lamb is served with mint jelly
your lamb is tofu with mint leaves

both may be apportioned
according to the number present

both lambs are without blemish
in themselves or in our eyes

both remind us of the fragility
of life and death and beyond

both prepare us for a new journey
we will remember until the next

so we call out to one another
owe nothing but love

the lambs are gone into a good night
and awaken in honor fulfilled

of the flesh we are born and grow
with such flesh we travel together

for life takes pleasure in life
and adorns the humble with honor

Pentecost +14 Sunday – C4

Pentecost +14 Sunday – C4

Years C
Luke 14:1, 7-14

Jesus went to a house where folks already knew where G*D was and no longer needed to ask.

While there he spoke of humility. Asking where G*D might be today, this moment, is a very humbling question. It means we can't answer too quickly, lest an echo of our voice be heard as the presence of G*D. It means we can't demand a quick response, lest our desires masquerade as G*D's voice. It means we don't claim a point of knowing before we have participated in a larger picture than our small piece of information can fill.

Whether visiting or being visited, ask about where G*D is right now. It distracts those who are busy looking to judge primarily on the intertwined bases of their own power position and current experience.

= = = = = = =

when I came to visit
I had an agenda
longer than a santa list
it didn't matter
what you so graciously prepared
my own hungers
filled the horizon

when I invited you
I had an agenda
lovingly made for your benefit
it didn't matter
that it didn't connect
with anything real in your life
it's my home after all

when I stopped visiting
a clearer eye appeared
between my current two
bringing a vision of honor
beyond my power
and my experience
bringing blessing bounty

Pentecost +14 Sunday – C3

Pentecost +14 Sunday – C3

Years C
Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16

It is sometimes instructive to read scripture from a different point of view. Here we have a passage directly directed toward our actions in regard to others. Try reading it as though you were addressing a part of the congregation within yourself.

For instance - a beginning: Let self-love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to the stranger within, for thereby some have entertained angels unaware. Remember those parts of you that are in prison, as though the rest of you were in prison with them; and those voices within who are ill-treated, since you also are in the body with them....

For those of us who are so other-directed, it is important to hear a call to equal care for self.

= = = = = = =

looking for confidence
in all the wrong places
is an alternative
country wailing

we know we need it
for our fears are real
and rising with a dark moon
in a storm-darkened sky

there is no escape
the fiercest of nightmares
that are not only possible
but actually real somewhere

our needed confidence
is directly tied to contentment
our culture and our yearnings
disparage and dismiss

is there a place
of no forsakenness available
in our past or present
we can count as steadfast

is that place only in our dreams
where a helper is quick
to be present and protective
that others within won't scream

with or without confidence
we could do with a few
content people to imitate
and pass on to others

Pentecost +14 Sunday – C2

Pentecost +14 Sunday – C2

Years C
Psalm 81:1, 10-16 or Psalm 112

G*D faces the same issues that face every "image of G*D" when life goes astray.

Externalization: giving them over to their "stubborn hearts". It is their fault, let them live with the consequences.

Internalization: steadfast presence of grace, mercy, and presence. To be light that continues to rise in the darkness.

And so America, land of the free, continues to build more and more prisons with less and less health care or rehabilitation for more and more prisoners. [article] This is a one sided approach, dividing G*D from G*D.

= = = = = = =

from where and whence
will righteousness' wholeness
not be moved

for now it is tied to remembrance
it is clear in hindsight
but oh so cloudy today and tomorrow

having seen results
we can sift and winnow evil
assigning it its cause

recognizing situations differ
as well as continue
brings dissonance of head and heart

our evil-dar goes on the blink
in the blink of an eye
a wink of conspiratorial delay

until finally we see grace
and it so deeply angers us
we divide self from self

until calico cats and gingham dogs
thoroughly obliterate reconciliation
and we sink into eternal mourning

hardly daring to peek into tomorrow
for a better world to tie to
with every fiber of today

with time split from time
person from person
only hope and despair are left

choose you this day
whom you will serve
and you will be well served

Pentecost +14 Sunday – C1

Pentecost +14 Sunday – C1

Years C
Jeremiah 2:4-13 or Sirach 10:12-18

G*D still "contends" with us, but we fail to stretch with G*D when we slack off on the question, "Where is G*D today?" This is a larger question than "Where is Waldo?" Sometimes G*D is off the page on a Sabbath retreat or on to another picture than we thought we were looking at.

When we don't keep up with this living G*D, it might be said that sin localizes and becomes pride. We insist on G*D staying put and get angry when this is not the case. Our anger causes us to hew out a meaning of life that is cracked and broken, unable to hold living water. From here it is a short step to anger begetting anger and being even less able to ask where G*D might be and even more able to restrain G*D from being anywhere other than on our side.

= = = = = = =

changing gods
when there are no gods
to change to
is one of the more intriguing
human traits

we take some characteristic
associated with ease
and look to repeat and repeat it
for our profit
even as prophets decry us

worthless god
to worthless god
we bounce along
refusing to look around
for flowing fountains

Pentecost +14 Sunday – B

Pentecost +14 Sunday – B

Years B
Song of Songs 2:8-13 or Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-9
Psalm 45: 1-2, 6-9 or Psalm 15
James 1:17-27
Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

When we speak, ideas are to flower. Our tongue is the overflow of a goodly heart, spreading blessings wherever it is.

Our participation in a word of truth will reveal the image of all creation in our living as the first fruit of such a word that ends in the affirmation, "It is good!"

Meekness will be both the prepared soil and the resulting harvest of this creative word, implanted soul-word. So we are called to be not a hearer that forgets, but a speaker that acts their word. As such we move into an unbounded religion that takes seriously and joyously a word to visit orphans and widows in their affliction and keep steadfastly on with this task, no matter what.

= = = = = = =

so many fine words
have come my way

no changes of life
but plenty of compliments

to keep on with this pattern
is to keep change from happening

obviously I have gone awry
focused on words and not hearts

and so my hypocrisy shines
as I glory in fine words

while mourning a lack of effect
is but vanity vanity

let us hear again
insides are to be joined with outsides

until fine words diminish
and heart deeds flourish

Pentecost +14 Sunday – A

Pentecost +14 Sunday – A

Years A
Exodus 3:1-15 or Jeremiah 15:15-21
Psalm 105:1-6, 23-26, 45c or Psalm 26:1-8
Romans 12:9-21
Matthew 16:21-28

Questions can be stronger than answers. Moses turns aside toward a burning bush to ask, "Why?"

Only after this question is asked does G*D move in.

A question about who is speaking might be asked of Exodus 3:9. Does the cry of the Israelites "now" come to G*D or is this an affirmation of Moses, confirming G*D's observation of the Israelite's misery?

Even as Moses asked, "Who am I that I should go on this journey to Pharaoh's?" so does Peter deepen that with a question of Jesus, "Who are you that you should go to Pilate's?" The sign of the appropriateness of entering the halls of power will come later - Sinai and Resurrection.

Are you willing to wait confirmation, of that where you sense you should be going, until after you have gone? If so, enjoy your journey. If not, don't go.

= = = = = = =

let love be genuine
live toward a better tomorrow
do no harm
live toward a better tomorrow
hold fast to good
live toward a better tomorrow

one love added to another
leads to mutual affection
one honoring of another
adds up to more
an ardent spirit
lives toward a better tomorrow

rejoice in hope
tomorrow has begun
be patient
tomorrow has begun
persevere in prayer
tomorrow has begun

extend hospitality
live tomorrow today
bless rather than curse
live tomorrow today
live in harmony
today of all days

Pentecost +13 Sunday – C4

Pentecost +13 Sunday – C4

Years C
Luke13:10-17

We are crippled by all manner of events. Eighteen years is a long time. Was it the length of reign of Tiberius to that date, as some of suggested? Political decisions can bend us over. Military occupation can bend us over. Was it some relational issue that had bent her over? A spouse, a divorce, a death, a child, and/or a friend can bend us over. Was it physical? Disease and disability can bend us over. Was it spiritual? Satanic? Testing?

Regardless of what the form of bent-overness might be, this woman, already demonstrating the same faith as Abram and Sarai, can be recognized as their "daughter." She occupied her promised land, a synagogue.

It is this recognition that sets Jesus apart from the others present. Who among us can see G*D's child in another, particularly another who is bent over? Can such contain G*D? While hypocrites usually put on masks to fool other about themselves, here hypocrites put masks on others so they don't have to deal with them. A mask here is the mask of Sabbath.

= = = = = = =

want to set the folks rejoicing
Mr. Religious Leader
tear down this mask
dividing people

we are after healing of nations
pray for Rwanda and Iraq
America, Israel, and Iran
this is a day for unbinding

in such a day
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday
Thursday, Friday, Saturday
or Sunday is a Sabbath

and since a Sabbath can be any day
it can also be every day
seven Sabbaths every week
is very good

creation is underway
that work is over and done
new non-work is needed
to hallow every hollow

we are like a sinkhole
our ground of being
has sunk until
we are bent over

reach out and touch someone
ground them in your steadfastness
loved and patted into new shape
standing and striding forth

our hollow places filled in
our mutual ministry
beyond our isolation
creates new Sabbaths

Pentecost +13 Sunday – C3

Pentecost +13 Sunday – C3

Years C
Hebrews 12:18-29

In the push and pull of the world, how do we best find the energy to change and to persist in such a change?

Is it in the presence of a fearsome firestorm that will destroy at the slightest misstep? It seems for some this is a powerful motivation. A question can be raised about how deep such transformation runs, but some bear strong testimony to its effectiveness.

Is it an invitation to a festal gathering that speaks a better world ahead than brother against brother? For some this is a most effective approach to transformation.

Is it some judicial application of both -- "we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken" and "indeed our God is a consuming fire".

It is important to note both one's own proclivity in this regard as well as that of the folks one is encountering. When both are similar there is probably the greatest chance of making a difference in one another. When dissimilar, the communication between the two styles may block every other good intention.

= = = = = = =

double trouble
bile and bubble
danger abounds
protected only by
greater danger

in such a world
Abel continually cries
out for revenge
even though Cain
is protected

never will there be
a surcease of gloom
without a better word
leading a better world
into renewed life

this better world
goes beyond
a lick and a polish
a hope and a dream
to deeper festivity

no surface Pollyanna
can ride this ride
for it takes one taller
and deeper than
an arbitrary standard

here one must stand
beyond shifting foundations
upon a surety of better
words and worlds
especially if delayed

Pentecost +13 Sunday – C2

Pentecost +13 Sunday – C2

Years C
Psalm 71:1-6 or Psalm 103:1-8

Preemptive refuge is a tempting appeal to make. It helps us never arrive at a spot of needing healing, we never get bent-over.

This refuge seems to be based on a requisite quality and/or quantity of praise. One measure of this is how much of ourselves we put into praise and calling G*D to the qualities of mercy, grace, slowness to anger, and steadfastness in love.

Or, if we don't quite make it to preemptive refuge, we expect our praise will at least cut down on the time between our need and our rescue.

= = = = = = =

come
come quickly
come quickly effectively

so we cry out
and are echoed by all
in the grasp of injustice and cruelty

so we hear others cry out
and we echo their refrain
refuge, pity, vindication

may our cry
involve our lives
beyond god's machinery

recognize
recognize now
recognize now presence

Pentecost +13 Sunday – C1

Pentecost +13 Sunday – C1

Years C
Jeremiah 1:4-10 or Isaiah 58:9b-14

Here is an area I don't know much about. One chronology suggests this order for the writings: 1st Isaiah, Jeremiah, 2nd and 3rd Isaiah. Is there conversation to be had between Isaiah and Jeremiah as there was between Job and Proverbs?

Of interest is Jeremiah's boyhood diffidence and an immature or rigid appointment over nations. Can you hear Isaiah's age commenting on the yoke implied in Jeremiah and a call to Jeremiah to be just as a source of assurance rather than simply a speaker about justice.

Isaiah might be counseling the doing of justice over the proclamation of justice.

What conversation partners do you have?

= = = = = = =

speaking loudly
because god is speaking
through me for the ages
since before birth
to this day
I speak as commanded

such is the arrogance
of Jeremiah
and even each of us
such assurity
enough to destroy
before planting

such temper
calls for tempering
removing such a yoke
that requires such power
offering nothing in its place
but afflicted needs

Pentecost +13 Sunday – B

Pentecost +13 Sunday – B

Years B
1 Kings 8:(1, 6, 10-11), 22-30, 41-43 or Joshua 24:1-2a, 14-18
Psalm 84 or Psalm 34:15-22
Ephesians 6:10-20
John 6:56-69

If you had to choose between grandeur or protection, which would it be? The grandness of Solomon's over-the-top prayer and grandiose temple is a wonder to behold. It inspires awe. Is that a desired dwelling place for more than a moment?

Joshua's recounting of a journey from nowhere to a particular somewhere and the interpreted protection that took in the face of enslavers and people already living where we claimed we were to live and were, thus, by definition, our enemies. It inspires awe. Is this a desired dwelling place for generations?

Where is G*D's dwelling place? Temple or Promised Land? Prayer or Journey?

= = = = = = =

we image G*D's armor
as being fit for us to wear
forgetting David trying
to wear Saul's helmet and shield

what arrogance we have
to be able to bear up
under the weight of armor
umpteen times too big

such armor can at best
be worn by a whole community
and even then turns to pride
claiming god on our side

what armor is there
against spiritual forces
a Maginot line
against flanking tanks

participate in prayer
for all saints of every stripe
share life and lives
be bread for one another

trust not in more arms
trust arms more
which may embrace
with shorthand's - amore

Pentecost +13 Sunday – A

Pentecost +13 Sunday – A

Years A
Exodus 1:8-2:10 or Isaiah 51:1-6
Psalm 124 or Psalm 138
Romans 12:1-8
Matthew 16:13-20

There are many gifts. In the Moses story there are folks who have the gifts of disobedience, secrecy, complicity, adventure, subversion from within, etc.

In the Jesus story there are gifts of Baptist John, Elijah, Jeremiah, and other prophets that help to define who Jesus is and isn't.

Likewise there are gifts in each of our lives as we interact with those closest to us, those we yet name enemy, those whose challenge and/or support feed us to become more than we currently are.

There is no one else's story to tell but our own. So the disciples were told not to tell the gift of Jesus, for that was for him to reveal. So no one else will tell the secret of who you are, it is yours to reveal and this is a good time to reveal it.

Are you someone whose gift of compassion will not allow you to go along with the dicta of society? Are you a gift willing to give birth to something new even in the face of overwhelming evidence that such is not desired? Are you willing to be practical enough to let go of your child and gift it another space where it might yet grow, knowing your own space is too risky for it? Are you gifted to reach out to the forbidden and make it your own? Are you willing to participate in the irony of life that flourishes within your own unironic life?

= = = = = = =

how shrewd we are
as we look around
to the dangers
and opportunities
to enhance our power

our very shrewdness
turns all too readily
to ruthlessness
we only perceive
as extra shrewd

being so shrewd
we fail to find
the irony in ruthlessness
that destroys
its beginning shrewdness

somehow it is never our fault
that what we have set in motion
will come back to haunt us
through the very structures
of our elite electedness

we move from "us"
who are fearful
to restrictions
that fall apart
at the next "I"

Pentecost +12 Sunday – C4

Pentecost +12 Sunday – C4

Years C
Luke 12:49-56

Being the literalist that he was [grin], Jesus knew there was no getting around flooding folks out again. A rainbow is a rainbow is a rainbow. The natural alternative for the rule bound is to flip things 180 degrees. No water! - its opposite is Fire! That's the ticket, Fire!

So the slaves sang, "God gave Noah the rainbow sign, No more water, the fire next time!"

Who among us hasn't envisioned ourselves as the spark to get a conflagration going that would refine all the dross of our lives (particularly particular other people). Rage, rage, against the dying of the light of justice. Of course there is going to be separation of people, we are all at different levels of maturity and peace.

This is not new news. This is our condition as long as our condition has been reported. The only surprise is the lack of progress we have made in recognizing our condition.

= = = = = = =

division is so embarrassing
it always means someone
is getting chosen last

division is so normal
it is the water in which we swim
unrecognizable

division is so tempting
we're going to settle this
once and for all

division following Zeno
means we will never
get to a better place

division is a giving up
on the paradoxes of life
and the processes of G*D

Pentecost +12 Sunday – C3

Pentecost +12 Sunday – C3

Years C
Hebrews 11:29-12:2

Faith does not have to do with "perfection" - finally finished. Rather, faith is always "in medias res." Whether or not we eventually find a way through, there are seas surrounding us. Our context is certainly less than perfect. The same might be said for the imperfection of some of our habits of life, whether freely chosen or forced upon us - remember Rahab who was certainly among the "disobedient" and yet still had one thing going for her.

Remembering Gideon, Samson, David, and the lot - we know the imperfections of their lives, as well as what we are now calling "faith". Temptations and failures seem to be endemic to life, and yet faith beyond a fulfillment of promise is also alive and well.

So let's not look for the absolutely perfect model before we begin to simply be. It is not that we find ways to be scourged and mocked that will indicate our faithfulness to Jesus' modeling. Note the line about, "for the sake of the joy set before him" and consider what joy is currently set before you that frees you to move where you need to move. Without that deep joy we find all manner of ways in which to be bound to the contemporary manifestations of the principalities and powers.

= = = = = = =

happy happy joy joy

Pentecost +12 Sunday – C2

Pentecost +12 Sunday – C2

Years C
Psalm 80:1-2, 8-19 or Psalm 82

An old conundrum goes -- Give me another chance and I'll change : Let me see you have changed and I'll give you another chance. Which chicken and which egg came first? Which will come next?

This debate continues around any given referendum, extension of "rights", or decision to war. Isolationists battle interventionist. Does a creed from the past trump any new opportunity in the present?

So, G*D, grant us one more get-out-of-jail-free card, we'll respond to your expansive love. So, G*D, hold our feet to the fire, we'll respond to your judgment of death.

= = = = = = =

restoration comes
in every size and flavor

this is sufficient to link
restoration with mystery

the question isn't
what will bring restoration

the question is
what ethically won't

at what point do we destroy
restoration to restore it

that size and that flavor
are ungainly and revolting

pray for honorable restoration
and then pass it on

Pentecost +12 Sunday – C1

Pentecost +12 Sunday – C1

Years C
Isaiah 5:1-7 or Jeremiah 23:23-29

From the Fantasticks comes a wonderful little ditty, Plant a Radish, about planting cabbages and getting cabbages, with vegetables there's never any dobut, but with progeny all bets are off. This latter day parable might be sung to G*D in regard to having planted a vineyard and expecting a vineyard, only to have conveniently forgotten that we're dealing with human beings here, images/progeny -
["While with progeny,
It's hodge-podgenee.
For as soon as you think you know what kind you've got,
It's what they're not!"]

We don't do justice very well - either for ourself or, most certainly not, for others. The same goes for righteousness. Think back as far as creation stories or only as far as last evening to see what I mean.

Lighten up, G*D! Your expectations are just that, and unrealistic to boot. You have filled all secret places and have been present with the deceitful dreams of false prophets. If you are not going to turn us all into puppets (no long term fun in that because there would then be no audience to amaze) it is time to get real in real time. What do we do now is a far more fruitful question than what we should have done differently back then (though the diagnostics of historical inquiry can be helpful in energizing different choices). Blame is no where as helpful as, "Well, given this, where to from here."

= = = = = = =

things haven't gone
the way I expected
so I'm going
to rip and tear
that which I desired
I'll make it desolate
because that's what I am

so quick to pout
when discouraged
so fast to apply a vacuum
where nothing can exist
except huge amounts
of boredom
revenge and angst

in so recognizing
ourselves
we name our creator
in whose image
we live and move
at least gasp and pine
how convenient for us

but a time has come
to be saviors of G*D
living and moving
today and onward
to have the student
teach the teacher
so all might learn

Pentecost +12 Sunday – B

Pentecost +12 Sunday – B

Years B
1 Kings 2:10-12; 13:3-14 or Proverbs 9:1-6
Psalm 111 or Psalm 34:9-14
Ephesians 5:15-20
John 6:51-58

The temptation of "understanding" is very great. Even wise old Solomon finally failed that test. Along with understanding came/comes riches and honor. And what, I ask, can stand in the face of such principalities and powers? Understanding eventually pales in the temptation of increased riches and honor. Why, simply because it takes so much to increase in wisdom appropriate to this new time and place. Let your growth in understanding lag for a bit, presuming for a moment that you have sufficient, and, lo and behold, riches and honor gain momentum and priority.

Without an increase in wisdom there can be no sense made of metaphor and mystery such as living bread imaged in personal terms. Alice in Wonderland's bottle and cake remain as strange to us as Jesus' language about eating him. Where we are willing to suspend our disbelief with Alice, we don't seem to be able to do so with Jesus.

[Can't help but wonder if Jesus tastes as wonderful as Alice's drink - "mixed flavour of cherry-tart, custard, pineapple, roast turkey, toffee, and hot buttered toast" or what my flavor(s) might be or yours.]

= = = = = = =

wisdom connects
far better
with departing
from evil(1)
and doing good(2)

when wisdom
gets mixed up
with riches and honor
there is going to be
hell to pay

to keep wisdom
increasing in stature
attention to G*D's presence(3)
even more than any list
becomes our joy and focus


[Note: (1) (2) (3) are references to The United Methodist General Rules.]

Pentecost +12 Sunday – A

Pentecost +12 Sunday – A

Years A
Genesis 45:1-15 or Isaiah 56:1, 6-8
Psalm 133 or Psalm 67
Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32
Matthew 15:(10-20), 21-28

Unity as "good and pleasant" is quite an understatement. Given our starting points, to arrive at some semblance of unity (an outcome of justice) is so remarkable that it calls for a more enthusiastic response.

To arrive at some given understanding that rejection is not the last word about the meaning of life (though it is often one of the first words we encode), a sense of relief in the face of such mercy needs a conversion miracle response.

Jesus' response to the woman responding to being called a dog, after pleading for her daughter, is too sterile. It is not as though some word-game had been played out that had no real consequence. It is not as though Jesus doesn't have an epiphany here - faith comes from every angle, not just the preauthorized.

= = = = = = =

gifts and calling
irrevocable
deniable

our life
is our gift
our calling

journeying
toward wholeness
finds our denial

beyond journeying
at a stopping point
we find irrevocability

whether rued
or rejoiced
life calls

gifts once dead
remain ours
to do

Pentecost +11 Sunday – C4

Pentecost +11 Sunday – C4

Years C
Luke 12:32-40

It is G*D's pleasure to be present.

It is our pleasure to be present, without possessions.

Where your presence is, there is your heart's treasure.

Just as we can measure our faith by looking at our bank balance, check book, credit card statement, etc., so we can measure our faith by where we put our presence, where we are active, where we bring some light to a given subject.

Blessed are those alert to presence with them and their presence with others.

= = = = = = =

how long we wait
for a presence worth waiting for

how often we jump
at any presence that comes along

how do you do
still waiting or jumping

when the right presence is noted
there is a veritable feast

servers are served
the served take their turn

yin yang unity turns and turns
each in and out of the other

we're not there yet
rejoice in how far we've come

our waiting has borne fruit
enough to wait some more

Pentecost +11 Sunday – C3

Pentecost +11 Sunday – C3

Years C
Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16

"Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." (11:1) ... "[the faithful] desire a better country" (11:16)

So often faith relates backward. It circles around an assent or belief that we have come to.

We sometimes encourage one another to have faith enough to move forward with fear and trembling.

Here faith is not a grit your teeth and move ahead or a casting a fond eye over our shoulder to days gone by. Here faith is hardwired to assurance and conviction. These are the measuring rods of faith, not stated belief or hoping for the best. Of course assurance and faith are tricky categories as we can fool ourselves without even blinking. We can be quite sure and dead wrong. We can have the strongest of convictions without having helpful behavior.

Here faith is communal, even over time, where the common thread of assurance and conviction are equally tied to a desire or yearning for a next better place to be, better person to be. It is this communal nature of faith that can ground it with more confidence (even when in the middle of a generalized cultural delusion).

How clearly can you name a better situation than the one you are in and find a next step toward it? Odds are it will be in concert with others with the same desire.

= = = = = = =

by faith calls are heard and followed
into an unknown territory
of a better country
this is our Darwinian genetic heritage
to stay in a tent in this land
and the next land
and any other or returned to land
as we discern where we are
and where we are yet headed

not even the nearness of death
will stay the faithful one
from their appointed rounds
snow and sleet are nothing
compared to disappointment
at our distance from better
and so strangers and foreigners
in this place we set out again
to what we know is yet there

Pentecost +11 Sunday – C2

Pentecost +11 Sunday – C2

Years C
Psalm 50:1-8, 22-23 or Psalm 33:12-22

A centering point of Psalm 50 is verse 14. Without it the beginning and the end fall apart. This center is "a feast of kept promises", "a 'sacrifice' of thanksgiving".

Just as a king is not saved by a great military (death comes to all), so a relationship with G*D is not saved by much spilling of blood. Rather, hope (more specifically, actually living in hope or having hope live in you) on the part of both G*D and you is the basis for the steadfast love toward which we seem to have a genetic predisposition.

Hope fulfilled is evidenced by kept promises and constant thankfulness.

= = = = = = =

o what a wrathful G-O-D
with all the emphases
upon purity separation
puppet obedience

what a joy and relief
if only one emphasis
was removed
and we dealt with G-O-D

and so much more
when one-by-one
such specialness
is sacrificed

G-O-D can still be steadfast
in love and distinction
even plain old G-O-D
has presence aplenty

eventually we might even
speak a title GOD
and leave room
for mystery G*D

and wonder of wonders
how far the wrath can be removed
when we find ourselves
moving to wholeness

dreaming of unity
with creative forces
we find we change
distance to welcome

Pentecost +11 Sunday – C1

Pentecost +11 Sunday – C1

Years C
Isaiah 1:1, 10-20 or Genesis15:1-6

Imagine G*D satiated. G*D has had it up-to-here with what G*D had thought would be a good thing - sacrifice. Stop, already!

There is no covering up who we are with the fanciest of offerings. When some cosmic bottom-line is measured, it won't be a matter of how much blood is spilt - but how much evil was avoided and how much good was initiated.

If we are willing to make this shift, the good of the land will more than flow in to fill whatever good we have sent forth. If we are not willing to make this shift, that which we have not held back (evil) will be as garlic mustard, teasel, and emerald ash borer in the American mid-west - invasive and uncontrolled.

Time's up. Still trying to substitute something in place of seeking justice? Forget it, the argument is over, it's justice or nothing.

= = = = = = =

purell kimcare provon
were too late on the market
for Lady Macbeth and preemptive warriors
who wring bloodless bloody hands

a next entrepreneurial opportunity
is not covering up what is already there
but a preventive cleansing
to keep purell from being needed in the first place

pure-el calls forth a new desire
to be elseways than el has been
and in turn to have el's images
transformed in our lifetime

Pentecost +11 Sunday – B

Pentecost +11 Sunday – B

Years B
2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33 or 1 Kings 19:4-8
Psalm 130 or Psalm 34:1-8
Ephesians 4:25-5:2
John 6:35, 41-51

Somehow our desire and greed for life has gone bitterly astray. We run until we are surprised by a noose disguised as a tree; until we fall exhausted of all reserve; until we find ourself in the disinterested grasp of despair; until our waiting only brings forth more waiting.

So it has been for us and for all of our image (read G*D). The imitation of our own image imagines another way beyond the stillness of an overly humid day with a hazy gray sky hanging featureless over our heads.

This alternative presses back against the anger of unmet desire and greed - limiting it to this day, this moment; presses back against our thieving actions until they come out another side as sharing. In shorthand, we "live in love" and shift our experience from claiming others as our daily bread to being such daily bread - unconcerned for cosmic, heavenly authority for so being, and simply believing/claiming/acting eternally in each moment available.

= = = = = = =

["-- Who can tell truth from falsehood any more?
I say it, and you feel it in your hearts:
no man or woman on this big small earth."
- e.e. cummings]

am I not
but the gene pool
of mother and father
narrowed down
to one option
masquerading
as all other options

am I not
a feast
for generations to come
opening a broadening way
willing one form
to dive deep
into each next

Pentecost +11 Sunday – A

Pentecost +11 Sunday – A

Years A
Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28 or 1 Kings 19:9-18
Psalm 105:1-6, 16-22, 45b or Psalm 85:8-13
Romans 10:5-15
Matthew 14:22-33

A promise: I will send you to those who hate you, who cannot speak peaceably to you.

So Joseph responds to his call as a prophet, "Here am I" and goes to his "brothers." So Elijah hears as a prophet hears, in great silence, and returns to those seeking his life. So the disciples enter the chaos of the deep, of wind and wave. So the faithful strive not for heavenly stairs or power to change the past, only a word and heart for this day's need.

This promise is repeated continually. Some hear and are renewed. Some almost hear and fear. Some do not yet hear, but are called, nonetheless.

Sometimes we hear and jump into the waves. Sometimes we forget in the presence of pressing need and regret our jump. Nonetheless, a repeated call is available to hear when we can clear our mind.

= = = = = = =

sent ahead
we know our own
times of famine
made worse by tired feet
starved of peaceable speech
as well as of daily bread
our insides and outsides
stumble on

sent ahead
without a clue
we take
what we know
and join it
with what others know
silently singing
steadfast love to action

sent ahead
into unfamiliar chaos
we battle wind and save
until we can step aside
from our fears
until our words
turn to healing
for the nations

Pentecost +10 Sunday – C4

Pentecost +10 Sunday – C4

Years C
Luke 12:13-21

Jesus tells a story intended to revive our thoughtfulness regarding life beyond simply our life. It reminds me of a phoenix rebirth. Having died from greed while still living we need a bit of mercy to revive our cold, cold heart.

This focus can be found in a song by Bill Staines (wish you could hear him sing it on his CD The First Million Miles or in person), entitled Phoenix (cursor down after getting to the link).

With this rebirthing mercy we find the epitaph "Fool" erased from our life marker, regardless of the form greed takes in our life - and it has, oh, so many faces.

= = = = = = =

["Nothing follows but the day
And all the memories
Of better times for giving.

Oh, Lord, have mercy on this poor, poor heart;
Keep it from the ashes,
And teach it how to fly again;
Oh, Lord, have mercy on this poor, poor heart."
- Bill Staines]

greed
like hell
has an open door
we can exit
any time
at all
like
now

remember
better times
for giving
and
forgiving
such memories
see this better time
for giving

in the memory
find the mercy
available then
available now
available always
to rise again
from greedy ashes
to sing again

Pentecost +10 Sunday – C3

Pentecost +10 Sunday – C3

Years C
Colossians 3:1-11

If you have come to seek, with Jesus, a Presence/Freedom of G*D, then seek. There will be choices to be made about what to attend to during this Neverending Story. Our choice might be attracted by a pull to such a Presence or it might be driven by a fear of wrath to come.

Whichever way you come to the Story, there is a need to jettison such unhelpful pausing points as anger, malice, slander, and abusive language.

These behaviors further separate what is intended to be moving in similar directions. These behaviors keep our desired renewal at bay, so we continue to divvy up our past as though it were fatalistically tied to our future. In so doing "Greek" and "Jew" are eternally divided from one another. "Barbarian", "Scythian", "Slave", and "Free" continue to circle one another with great wariness, each looking to their own advantage.

= = = = = = =

idolatry is greedy
delving into every possible source
of satisfaction
never finding enough

a good gift of sexuality
is devoured until only
fornication is left
to sell cars

an ideal of purity
is thoroughly doused in
unrelenting cynicism
until it forgets itself

enthusiasm for a joy of life
becomes so bored
passion flares
accepting only one side

so gifts ideals enthusiasms
wear down in the face of bottom lines
including the bottom line of death
leaving only greedy idols

Pentecost +10 Sunday – C2

Pentecost +10 Sunday – C2

Years C
Psalm 107:1-9, 43 or Psalm 49:1-12

Steadfast love endures.

This may mean that "a little dab will do you" - sort of like one of those funeral jewelry pieces where you can keep a bit of the cremains of a loved one close to you.

This may mean that you need to constantly enlarge your ability to receive more and more of this steadfast love because it just keeps coming and we can't give it away quickly enough. When we don't keep up with being as steadfast in loving others as G*D is steadfast in loving us that the only way it can be released is with our death.

I don't mean to lessen the lesson about real resources that need to be distributed, but part of the reason we feel we never have enough resources is because we haven't given away enough love.

= = = = = = =

mortals cannot abide in their pomp
so says the psalmist

pomp?
I ain't got no stinkin' pomp!

pomp?
sending an escort with myself?

pomp?
with more emphasis upon the escort than myself

pomp?
with my old beat-up hat?

pomp?
with my distain of all things fashionable?

pomp?
oh, that's my pomp

pomp?
nope, it won't abide

pomp?
nor will I covered in my pomp

pomp?
how 'bout you?

Pentecost +10 Sunday – C1

Pentecost +10 Sunday – C1

Years C
Hosea 11:1-11 or Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12-14; 2:18-23

What a vanity, this tough-pretending G*D. Old Ephraim has been busy with the business of living in human form - unhappy business. We hate our toil; G*D hates our toil. Finally there is despair from humans and despair from G*D - the more we are called the more we went in the opposite direction. Thus, despair in all directions.

A solution to this unhappy business is not despair squared, but a recognition that, despairing or not, we and G*D won't give up. Those old hounds of heaven have been unleashed. Fierce despair/anger won't be unleashed. When the hounds arrive, great licking of faces will occur. Forgiveness as slobber -- compassion, warm and tender -- will find us at home again.

= = = = = = =

caught between
vanity and vanity
hearken back
at distance

once loved
given up for lost
and threatened
nothing left

still loved
compassion shines through
no more wrath
welcome home

what sense this
wavering wind of uncertainty
trembling bird
new future

Pentecost +10 Sunday – B

Pentecost +10 Sunday – B

Years B
2 Samuel 11:26 - 12:13a or Exodus 16:2-4, 9-15
Psalm 51:1-12 or Psalm 78:23-29
Ephesians 4:1-16
John 6:24-35

Ah, sweet fleshpots! There is nothing sweeter than vain imaginings that something other than a worthy life will satisfy. We look for that "more" in sex and getting what we want through betrayal. We look for that "more" in "the good old days" (that really weren't). We look for that "more" in controlling unanimity using fear of the "other" to keep us in line. We look for that "more" in fullness of stomach and pocketbook.

The John passage in particular is antidote to the prosperity theology so popular these days. Always looking for one more buck, one more sign, these "theologians" continually miss life-bread in the simplicity of living oriented toward deeper meaning. As long as the Ponzi Scheme of prosperity theology holds, folks will give untold dollars for a food that perishes. In short, short-cuts bring us up short and cut us to the quick. There is no slot-machine God who will consistently pay out - it is all a ploy to pay out a little, because we remember that, in order to suck us in further and further -- all the way to bankruptcy.

= = = = = = =

our transgression
needing untold mercy
is the violence
to which we will go
to get a full stomach

no matter how we cover it over
sin is connected with violence
this is its ultimate ending place
little by little we accommodate
and fear fear enough to instill fear

a clean heart restores joy
so lacking in short-cuts
that lead to violence
so focus on joy
sustain a willing joy

joy-gifts touch us
deeper than tokens of fear
joy that sees abundance
all around
reveals the lie of violence

Pentecost +10 Sunday – A

Pentecost +10 Sunday – A

Years A
Genesis 32:22-31 or Isaiah 55:1-5
Psalm 17:1-7, 15 or Psalm 145:8-9, 14-21
Romans 9:1-5
Matthew 14:13-21

Jacob wrestles with an angel; disciples wrestle with a crowd. In both instances they learn something very important.

For Wrestling Jacob (in the Wesleyan Tradition) G*D is identified as Love. The disciples learn their perceived limits are not so - an ordered method allows folks to sit together and look at one blessing and see within it an abundance not previously glimpsed.

In the midst of everyone looking every which way (searching for their own best advantage), two loaves (loves) and five fish seem mighty puny. When, together we look (and see them identified as a blessing) - things change.

= = = = = = =

when we awake
we shall see righteousness
and be satisfied

when will that be
that steadfast love
will be recognized

how do we help one another
perceive grace and mercy
as ever present

so often there is such need
hungers are so high
we can't spare the time

we anticipate a zero-sum game
driven by competition
and miss compassion's presence

attend to our night cry
wrestle with us
til day breaks

love dawns
blessing abounds
we go on together

Pentecost +9 Sunday – C4

Pentecost +9 Sunday – C4

Years C
Luke 11:1-13

Prayer is intimately connected with service. The model of prayer Jesus offers in response to a request to be taught to pray like John taught his disciples can be seen as prelude to Jesus' usual bait and switch methodology. His message - pray but prayer is never enough; I go apart to pray but I always come back to put the Amen to my prayer with healing/teaching ministry.

The prayer is very our (read in-group) oriented. Yes, hallowed be G*D's name, typical honorific, and yes, bottom-line is give me my bread and keep things "fair" rather than just (forgiveness as an eye-for-an-eye model rather than preemptively forgiving whether we get anything in return or not).

So the prayer needs immediate application grounded in experience. Keep asking (living as though what you needed was already present) and, lo, and, behold, it is.

Here is one attempt to apply the prayer to the story. How might you apply it to your so-called daily life?

Friend (Father), I need three loaves (for hospitality purposes - daily bread for more than me). We presume generosity on the part of others as we would be generous to them. Don't bring us to disappointment.

= = = = = = =

what demon of muteness
has captured our culture
keeping extraneous secrets
for the sake of keeping them
keeping us from
not searching them out
to reveal their banality

what demon of muteness
has captured our "news"
kept us separated
from one another
locked in our own world
and desiring no other
judging others muter than I

what demon of muteness
needs recognition
needs exorcism
needs healing
as we run across
a long bridge
screaming but not heard

what demon of muteness
has so destroyed our speech
than when we finally speak
there is nothing in what we speak
for we remember the words
but not their power
and so linger in whisper

what demon of muteness
has captured church and state
in a dance of complicity
finding their destruction
not in division
but a desert creating
unanimity

what demon of muteness
will finally give way
when we pray
and yell and shout
in an imperative mood
Hallowed Come Give
Forgive

what demon of muteness
needs an amen and amen
of prayer in action
speaking up
speaking out
speaking with
a voice of new creation

mine of course
yours of course
ours of course
yes
now ours now
now yours now
now mine now

Pentecost +9 Sunday – C3

Pentecost +9 Sunday – C3

Years C
Colossians 2:6-19

"As you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him." This line raises a question: just how do we receive a Christ.

Those who have gradually morphed into a relationship with a Christ that continues to point beyond Christ are encouraged to continue growing, not to stop with the current relationship.

Those who have suddenly come to a relationship with a Christ that continues to point beyond Christ are instructed to be prepared for yet another change as Christ pays attention to a Living G*D and will be changing accordingly.

How did you receive a Christ who points beyond? Guess what - there are still more changes to come. Don't become captive to deceitful philosophy or to your current "having come thus far to Christ". There is still more nourishment and growing of additional ligaments and sinews ahead - with G*D.

= = = = = = =

live your life
as you have lived your life
is not a condemnation
to stasis

life so far
has been a journey
of maturing at least growing
and fading away

live in the middle
of such diverse dynamism
and wonder upon wonder
will be revealed

more life than ever imagined
will open through more growth
and through more endings
along your way

live your life
as you have lived your life
and you will live
as you have never lived before

Pentecost +9 Sunday – C2

Pentecost +9 Sunday – C2

Years C
Psalm 85 or Psalm 135

Obviously G*D is not controllable. Angers arise, wave-like, against a background of steadfast love. In fact, we call G*D to account, to change. We expect G*D to change, except in our creeds.

Even with the ability of G*D to change there is also a sense in which that which will ultimately be unchanged are such G*D actions as speaking peace, giving what is good, and following where righteousness leads.

This last image is particularly intriguing. What is this righteousness that goes before G*D and makes a path for G*D to follow? While we can imagine that as an aura of some sort emanating from G*D, there is also a separate reality sense to it as well.

If we can image evil happening separately from G*D, can we also image good happening separately. If both of these, what then is the role of G*D in creation and your life and mine? Might there be some management (or other presence) of the circumstances of life, rather than their initiator?

= = = = = = =

in the red corner
faithfulness springs from the ground

in the blue corner
righteousness leaps from the sky

in the center
a referee calls out the rule of engagement

thou shalt cooperate
for the increase of good

the sound of one cymbal is as nothing
but the sound of two, ahh, the sound

opening a way by garnering attention
for revival's time of rejoicing

a bell sounds, cymbals crash
peace is spoken, love is shown

Pentecost +9 Sunday – C1

Pentecost +9 Sunday – C1

Years C
Hosea 1:2-10 or Genesis 18:20-32

How great is the outcry! How great the sin! The inhospitability! The injustice! How tempting to pull it all up, even if it take any elseway opportunity with it.

How important it is to remember Gomer, as well as Hosea, and their children who become more than their beginning! In so doing we hear G*D engaging G*D with an internal dialogue between discontent and promise.

We hear echoes of G*D's self-reflection through the vehicle of Abraham -- "Shall I go into Sodom and know her children as my own? Is pity and adoption my hallmark, or not? If one of my own goes astray, will I take out my loss on others?"

It is so tempting to have our fantasy -- you are not mine! -- cemented for all time. It is so blessed to have this same fantasy redeemed in real life.

= = = = = = =

it takes two to whore around
whether that be macro
with G*D and Sodom
or micro
any two Gomers and Hoseas

then we freeze-frame a moment
and name it abomination
not you
not mine
not any

forgetting a first word
is not a last word
yes, you
yes, me
yes, all

so look again
in your bag of tricks
for not only the old
familiar approbation
but a new beginning

Pentecost +9 Sunday – B

Pentecost +9 Sunday – B

Years B
2 Samuel 11:1-15 or 2 Kings 4:42-44
Psalm 14 or Psalm 145:10-18
Ephesians 3:14-21
John 6:1-21

Bathsheba and Jesus were both faced with being taken by force. Their circumstances and options were different. Male and Female, Subject and Master, are significant variations.

Both Bathsheba and Jesus were strengthened that they could live through their respective situations.

Bathsheba acquiesced to force; Jesus withdrew from it. There probably isn't one right response to a test.

Of interest is the use of intermediaries by David and Jesus. There were those who responded to inquiries about Bathsheba and Uriah carrying his own death warrant to Joab, who undertook it. There was Philip who didn't play along, Andrew who did, and the disciples who facilitated a feast.

Questions of how we respond to force come at us every day. Likewise, choices of how we are going to respond to requests from authorities. So, how's today for you? Whose intermediary have you been so far and whose do you anticipate being later today?

= = = = = = =

evil requires
accessories
before and after
the fact

under this spreading net
a village smithy stands
strong of arm
stronger of heart

rooted elsewhere
bringing solidarity of port
to those adrift
on the sea

an adult
remembering their child
rich in fish and bread
richer in sharing

Pentecost +9 Sunday – A

Pentecost +9 Sunday – A

Years A
Genesis 29:15-28 or 1 Kings 3:5-12
Psalm 105:1-11, 45b or Psalm 128 or Psalm 119:129-136
Romans 8:26-39
Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52

With what intentionality does G*D create or foreknow? One camp says absolute intentionality - there is plan, purpose, malice aforethought with every thought/action of G*D. Another camp says no intentionality, only potential.

Of the two, we side with the potential that accords with spending time following the twists and turns of love and understanding. Mindful of a covenant of mutuality that thinks and acts for the sake of others/creation, we experience a love and understanding that continually pulls us toward one another.

There are many ways to express this unity of mutuality. Mustard seeds, yeast, treasure, pearls, and fish but scrape the surface of the presence of G*D.

= = = = = = =

before prayer
a sigh
before knowing
a call
before covenant
a thanks
before serving
a love
before presence
parable

Pentecost +8 Sunday – C4

Pentecost +8 Sunday – C4

Years C
Luke 10:38-42

A fine example of family systems at work. Here Martha, past her usual coping skills, cries out, "Ma, Mary ain't helpin'!"

The response reported by Jesus could have been more helpful with a bit more specificity, but at least he didn't play all of the triangling game here.

We've been able to put all manner of content into his "one needful thing" phrase. Unfortunately all of them pit Martha against Mary, as though Martha hadn't also participated in a needful thing.

Surely, with his emphasis upon service, Jesus didn't mean to disparage offering one's life to serve others as Martha was participating in that. Though when specific service is too narrowly defined it is something to avoid as it has lost its life.

Surely, with his emphasis upon service, Jesus didn't mean to focus everything on basking the in the glory of a master teacher such as himself or even G*D, whom he focused on. When no service is required, life has been lost.

It is difficult for us to get into a seasonal flow about his response. Shawna R. B. Atteberry has a sermon about this that is helpful.

It may be that Jesus' response still lies in that fuzzy arena of what we are not yet ready to hear. Thus we still need some help from a Spirit.

For the moment: good for Martha, good for Mary, good for Jesus. Their better parts will not be taken from them. Good for you and good for me.

= = = = = = =

Cathye Wehr puts another twist on this: "Jesus came with the disciples to Martin and Harry's garage to get ready for a road trip. Martin is working on the minivan getting it ready while Harry is over in one of the chairs gathered around the Mr. Coffee listening to Jesus. Martin comes over wiping his greasy hands on a rag, asking Jesus to tell Harry to go put his coveralls on and work on the van with him. Jesus says, 'Martin, Martin, you are worried and upset over all these details! There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Harry has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from him.'"

Martha's details
Martin's need
require someone else
to pull things off
to their satisfaction

Harry's listening
Mary's sitting
are all wrapped up
in unitive behavior
needing nothing else

Martha tugs at Harry
Martin at Mary
Harry calls to Martha
Mary to Martin
each deaf to the other

eventually Mary gets hungry
Martin gets hungry
two different hungers
growing out of their hunger
of the moment

tomorrow Mary tugs
and Martin calls
as we lose track
of needful things
and better parts

so mutuality
appreciation of differences
recognition of seasons
gentleness with each other
is once again revealed

- - - - - - -

Bonus: The word "wrapped" above began as "rapt" until this tidbit surfaced to change the choice of language:

One might be surprised to learn that rapt, a word used in describing states of deep delight or absorption, has a relative with an entirely different emotive force--rape. Now most often used to mean "to force someone to submit to sexual acts," rape once had a much broader application, as it meant "to seize, carry off." In fact, it was often used in positive and nonviolent contexts. From the Middle English period, we have examples of its being used to mean "to carry off to heaven from earth," as in "the visions of seynt poul wan [when] he was rapt in to paradys." As this quotation shows, rapt started out as the past participle of rape. As time went on, rapt became restricted to mental or emotional states, while rape developed a new past participle, raped, and became limited to criminal or violent acts.

Pentecost +8 Sunday – C3

Pentecost +8 Sunday – C3

Years C
Colossians 1:15-28

From the Yakrider site -- So where, is God in all this? Different members of the Yakrider community will have different responses to this question. Let's look at this from the Christian perspective for a moment. One school of thought conceives God as always outside of the universe, as the "Wholly Other" who built it, set this mechanical model into motion and stepped back to let it run itself, and there is nothing divine in the material world of nature. That's God as carpenter or potter. Another school sees, as in The Letter of St. Paul to the Colossians that the eternal Christ is the "firstborn" or archetype of all creation -- in him were all things created, and "all things in him subsist" (Col. 1:16, 17). The Greek term "sunesteken" is translated variously, "subsist," "consist", or "are established." Eduard Lohse, in his commentary on Colossians notes: "In Platonic and Stoic philosophy the verb "sunestekenai" (to be established, to continue, to exist, to endure) was used to denote the wonderful unity of the entire world." It's little wonder that physicists, facing the unexplainable problem of why an atom's whizzing, orbiting electrons never spin off into randomness, call this phenomenon, simply, the Colossians Principle, referencing, though humorously, this verse – that all things are held together by "Christ." Though they don’t mean it literally or seriously, such might be close to what St. Paul had in mind.

- - - - - - -

I was glad to hear of the "Colossians Principle". It gives a needed lightness to this passage that comes close to a Hindu appreciation of creation in all and all in creation. Otherwise we get pretty heavy handed about a uniqueness of Christ (perhaps Jesus, or you) and a too easy taking on of suffering that needs a Buddhist antidote.

All in all this passage ends up with the helpful and hopeful image of assisting everyone to mature (implicitly, after their own fashion, their own Christness).

= = = = = = =

the fullness of G*D
pleases to dwell
wherever it alights
from thence
it brings forth
an olive branch

the fullness of G*D
touches everything
from chaos
to this ego
birthing christ
and myself

the fullness of G*D
imparts fullness
develops wholeness
urges maturity
until all is known
beyond all that's known

Pentecost +8 Sunday – C2

Pentecost +8 Sunday – C2

Years C
Psalm 52 or Psalm15

Psalm 52 sets two dramatically different approaches to life -- devouring and trusting -- against one another. Implication, it is better to trust -- it is to one's long-range benefit.

Leaving that duality behind for the moment, I am intrigued with the image of "a green olive tree in the house of God." The flourishing of ourselves (our tree-ness) is like the flourishing of steadfast love or mercy. This is what is called for, regardless of whether or not we ever gloat over those who limit such G*D-ly qualities.

It helps to remember Jeremiah 11:16 -- "The Lord once called you, 'A green olive tree, fair with goodly fruit'; but with the roar of a great tempest he will set fire to it, and its branches will be consumed." If flourishing is to continue it needs to continue to deepen and strengthen its roots or it, too, will fall.

The image of a green olive tree is not a cause for pride, but an investment in deeper roots to have greener leaves and more bountiful fruit. When satisfaction sets in, roots wither, ever so slightly at first, and fruits are reduced. It's not easy being green.

= = = = = = =

laughter at doing well
enhances such doing
even when all about
are mourning

by our laughter
we scorn not others
but enlarge our life and see
more reason for laughter

our laughter brims over
surely goodness and mercy
are with us now
and anon

Pentecost +8 Sunday – C1

Pentecost +8 Sunday – C1

Years C
Amos 8:1-12 or Genesis 18:1-10a

Our behavior sensitizes us to more or fewer options. Our associations shape our involvement.

So when we participate in deceit we are less able to hear and respond to teachings and opportunities to practice honest dealings. In this way our behavior limits our reception of a word of health and healing and common-wealth. These are "words" of G*D that become outside our usual reception and often require dramatic conversions.

A famine of imagination of how we might have a better present and future than we do is as deadly as a famine of bread or a drought of water.

= = = = = = =

let me bring you a little bread
let me under-weigh a little grain

between these two
lie a chasm
requiring
amazing grace
to bridge

let me bring you a little bread
let me pile high a little more grain

Pentecost +8 Sunday – B

Pentecost +8 Sunday – B

Years B
2 Samuel 7:1-14a or Jeremiah 23:1-6
Psalm 89:20-37 or Psalm 23
Ephesians 2:11-22
Mark 6:30-34, 53-56

"Come away beloved/disciples," has a different feel when said by Solomon than by Jesus.

Jesus was an active prophet, not a poetic one. Particularly in Mark do we have an agenda-driven presentation speeding on.

When Jesus invites us to a deserted place it is only deserted inasmuch as he is not currently there, not that it is a desolation. A part of his teaching is to be active where you are in such a manner that such activity can be sustained for we are always dealing with desert-ion.

Sometimes we enter desolate territory only to find it wasn't, isn't, wont be. Sometimes we find such desolation visiting our routine life. Whether visiting or being visited, opportunity for "making whole" is available.

Our choice is to view desolate places as our life's joy or an impingement upon our possibilities.

= = = = = = =

a deserted place
is never so
when it is sought

desolation has a life
and rhythm of its own
not to be presumed upon

transforming strange aliens
into intimate family friends
hostility to peace

out of such journey
comes healing aplenty
for every unbidden dark valley

a desired desolate place
teems with expectation
and vast need

Pentecost +8 Sunday – A

Pentecost +8 Sunday – A

Years A
Genesis 28:10-19a or Isaiah 44:6-8
Psalm 139:1-12, 23-24 or Wisdom of Solomon 12:13, 16-19 or Psalm 86:11-17
Romans 8:12-25
Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Yes, let the righteous shine -- but not at the expense of those not yet righteous or deemed never to be righteous.

We have a long-standing tendency to idealism. Somehow or other, we yearn for days to come where all choice is taken from us so we won't even consider an alternative because such might eventually, incrementally, lead us elsewhere, astray. Likewise, we dream of days of non-complicity wherein evil is externalized and we are implicitly innocent.

Truth be told, I hold invasive weed and intentional wheat in tension. Neither can be denied its present reality. So was a first garden and so a future garden already holding an unrepentant thief.

Beware enthusiastic righteousness (even G*D's) rooting out all but itself -- it is unbalanced with only one leg to stand on.

= = = = = = =

what's G*D doing
at the bottom of the ladder
while angels climb
up and down down and up

angels are a diversion
while G*D sneaks up
as imagination soars
with the ladder

angels bring not messages
from above
but store promises
with the rain

together they fertilize
our present
to bring forth much future
growing up

promises spoken
are carried on high
to baptize tomorrow
resurrect a day after

Pentecost +7 Sunday – C4

Pentecost +7 Sunday – C4

Years C
Luke 10:25-37

Most test questions have a built-in expected answer. Usually test questions are hypothetical in nature, looking to bolster one theory or another.

When we have our eye on a larger picture it becomes possible to respond to test questions in a manner that shifts the vision of the asker of test questions and allows a different response to rise out of their imagination, heretofore blocked because of the power of the question they asked. Test questions are also questions of limits that allow us to avoid stretching our mercy or implementing love steadfastly.

When finally faced with a storied response it becomes evident that the initial question wasn't sharp enough to lead us past today, only strong enough to perpetuate yesterday.

When, in this case, the tester began looking for a limit to mercy, they found they needed to ask a different question: "Who is not my neighbor."

When test questions are paired with their obverse they are able to turn and face a situation with hope of healing partiality and restoring mercy to its crucial position in logic.

= = = = = = =

A word history for neighbor from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition.

Loving one's neighbor as oneself would be much easier, or perhaps much more difficult, if the word neighbor had kept to its etymological meaning. The source of our word, the assumed West Germanic form *nahgabur, was a compound of the words *nehwiz, “near,” and *braum, “dweller, especially a farmer.” A neighbor, then, was a near dweller. Neahgebur, the Old English descendant of this West Germanic word, and its descendant in Middle English, neighebor, and our Modern English neighbor, have all retained the literal notion, even though one can now have many neighbors whom one does not know, a situation that would have been highly unlikely in earlier times. The extension of this word to mean “fellow” is probably attributable to the Christian concern with the treatment of one's fellow humans, as in the passage in Matthew 19:19 that urges love of one's neighbor.

plumblines aplenty
pointing toward gravity's center
like a porcupine pincushion
none parallel to the next
only aligned
with its direct opposite

in our local neighbor
we find subtle differences
not lined up
with our own field's pull
neighbor is always
about differences

we find different neighbors
within ourselves
our religious persona
turns priestly
denying wounds
inopportunely

our doctrinal plumblines
claim uniqueness
wounding others
on top of insult
distancing ourselves
from dwellers near

our samaritan neighbor
our set-upon neighbor
offer opportunities
to replumb
from the other side
aligned and in tune

neighbors all
within my personal habitat
with butterfly wings
affecting climates
inside and out
of understanding

Pentecost +7 Sunday – C3

Pentecost +7 Sunday – C3

Years C
Colossians 1:1-14

A word of hope for the future is known because a word of hope about the present has been heard. To disjoint the two is to miss worthy living (joyful patience).

Down through the ages, to this very day, those with the greatest hope for tomorrow speak a word of hope about today. If we can't see a new possibility for right now our "hope" for tomorrow is delusional, not really hope at all.

It is this focus on present hope that grounds every other hope.

= = = = = = =

prayer without ceasing
calls for a patience
beyond patience
known otherwise
as joy

prayer without ceasing
calls for action
beyond results
known otherwise
as hope

Pentecost +7 Sunday – C2

Pentecost +7 Sunday – C2

Years C
Psalm 82 or Psalm 25:1-10

What a scene -- G*D enters a divine council after having seen how Amos responded to his call and, having learned, stands to prophecy, "How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked?"

That divine council -- ours -- after all, we are there. In such instances, divinity blinds. Time and time again it is necessary to be called out, to see again the weak, etc.

So, we, too, might call out, "Do not remember my past judgments, according to steadfast love may I judge anew and break my own precedent."

It is this feedback loop of re-judging that instructs us. No feedback loop, no G*D.

= = = = = = =

hooray
I am divine
a most high child

woe
I am mortal
fallen into death

now
rise up
with healing

healer
wounded
wounded healer

lift
weal and woe
and every soul

give
justice needed
not justice achievable

move
between poles
holding both souls

Pentecost +7 Sunday – C1

Pentecost +7 Sunday – C1

Years C
Amos 7:7-17 or Deuteronomy 30:9-14

Questions of authority abound. They are the currency of power - held and desired. Those who can most successfully question another's authority are able to claim authority. We contend over our questions.

Is authority a conveyance that moves from captured or established authority to whomever will keep it in place? Is authority an integrated whole rising from within to bless and challenge current authority.

Obviously, this curious word authority plays on several levels. Going back through its usage, it began by meaning to increase and thus to create (to author).

In today's world, authority might be thought of as that which decreases and thus controls. As you think about your life - what authority do you bring - an inner authority to increase or an outer authority to decrease? The difference is crucial and the choice that we make regarding our authority is one of one's meaning.

So, take thou authority...

= = = = = = =

a commandment
that is not a commandment
is not too far away
too high or too wide

this commandment
is not a commandment
for it touches our depths
becomes our own

Pentecost +7 Sunday – B

Pentecost +7 Sunday – B

Years B
2 Samuel 6:1-5, 12b-19 or Amos 7:7-15
Psalm 24 or Psalm 85:8-13
Ephesians 1:3-14
Mark 6:14-29

Dancing David
Stumblebum Uzzah
Beheaded John
Face-saving Herod
Plumbline holding Amos
Fearful Amaziah
Destined Christ
Promised Holy Spirit

The earth (see above for its variety) is G*D's and all that is in it (even the female not mentioned above).

Lift up your heads, O David, John, Amos, Christ, Holy Spirit! and be lifted up.

Lift up your head (__your name here__)! and be lifted up.

Imagine even Uzzah, Amaziah and Herod able to lift their heads, for all are chosen in Christ. Imagine the hardest person you have to deal with. Their head, too, will be lifted. There is no stopping the results of steadfast love and faithfulness, righteousness and peace. They will not stop at such nothings as political promises and betrayal, falseness and war.

Lift up your heads, O Uzzah, Amaziah, Herod! and be lifted up.

= = = = = = =

nothing tries so hard
to be something
when all that is needful
is nothing

Pentecost +7 Sunday – A

Pentecost +7 Sunday – A

Years A
Genesis 25:19-34 or Isaiah 55:10-13
Psalm 119:105-112 or Psalm 65:1-13
Romans 8:1-11
Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

What would it be like to read Paul as a frustrated parablist who simply can't get past his juridical language base?

We need a midrash cyclotron that can speed Paul and Jesus to light speed and smash them into one another. Then we might see Spirit as seed and Flesh as seed. We might understand soil as Spirit and soil as Flesh. In so doing new sparks will fly off into our lives today and we would care less about any traps of our own or others devising and simply pay more attention to a joyful heritage of a good creation and universal salvation and simply incline our hearts to both short- and long-term good at the same time.

= = = = = = =

brother wrestler
heel grabber
stew chef
lineage stealer
flock grabber
G*D wrestler

go out
anguished loneliness
to accomplish
more than you purposed
to return
a brother's embrace

even here
instead of a thorn
a sound of singing
in the myrtle
an everlasting sign
none are cut off

Pentecost +6 Sunday – C4

Pentecost +6 Sunday – C4

Years C
Luke 10:1-11, 16-20

We just moved with more than a purse, bag, sandals, and silent grim determination of the soul on the road. We arrived with a greeting of "Peace" - some of which has been returned to us and some kept and cherished. We hope to remain without moving for the term of our appointment. Now comes the time to find the culture of this place, to eat what is set before us, and to set a presence of G*D before those sick from its absence.

A challenge is to speak with the authority of experiences of G*D's presence that have gone before without yanking them out of their context.

A hope is great joy.

A task to take authority to enter new experiences of G*D treading out the hurtful.

= = = = = = =

challenges hopes tasks
come in community
from us and to us
in us an for us
by us and with us

they feel like ours alone
but always they are set
in a larger context
shared with seventy times seven
who have gone ahead

we are overwhelmed
with need and limits
carrying only urgency
in frail experience
of expansive presence

yet
it is
enough
for now
and ever

Pentecost +6 Sunday – C3

Pentecost +6 Sunday – C3

Years C
Galatians 6:1-16

Work for the good of all. Why? Because the cosmic payoff is worth it - a new creation.

Enough said.

= = = = = = =

sky-writer large
is not large enough
for a new
creation message

what needs lopping off
is not our sexuality
but our control
of cultural symbol

do this and you're in
avoid this and you're in
do that and that
and you're out

every diminution of one's life
to carry out
someone else's plan
lessens our common good

take care in temptation's face
not to live another's life
no matter the perks
it is not redemptive

focus on gentleness
bear mutual burdens
do your own work
weary not in good

compassion trumps judgment
care overarches competition
sowing precedes reaping
peace always mercy ever

Pentecost +6 Sunday – C2

Pentecost +6 Sunday – C2

Years C
Psalm30 or Psalm 66:1-9

The very journey G*D has been on and the very journey we have been on, with all their attendant ups and downs, leads us to desire a point of stasis - "I shall never be moved." Somehow we imagine that this concretization of experience is of more value that the ebb and flow of life. We erase our experience of our own life and our experience of G*D's presence (whether filled with anger or favor) in favor of a static ideal, a never changing creed that betrays its very origin.

Even when we imagine ourselves a strong mountain, we find ourselves dismayed. The statement, "I shall never be moved," is idolatry at its most evident and in our blindspot - both at once.

= = = = = = =

giving thanks to
giving thanks with
is an ocean-wide gap
between religions
within a religion

the "to"ers
do unto
at a moments notice
with a goal
of no more heretics

the "with"ers
race on
with an eternity
to dance
new wine

bless G*D
bless neighbors
now and always
G*D blesses
neighbor blesses

Pentecost +6 Sunday – C1

Pentecost +6 Sunday – C1

Years C
2 Kings 5:1-14 or Isaiah 66:10-14

Naaman finally came to a river. A river finally comes to Jerusalem. Around we go with difficulties and blessings, with individuals and communities.

Everyone will be nursed and nursed again. We can take that in stride or rail against a need to receive.

A part of our common work is to receive nursing and to give nursing and to wisely know the difference and the time for each.

= = = = = = =

rejoice
little
anonymous
captive
servant
girl
you
nursed
mighty
named
Naaman

rejoice
little
ol'
you
nursed
also
yourself

rejoice
little
nurse

Pentecost +6 Sunday – B

Pentecost +6 Sunday – B

Years B
2 Samuel 5:1-5, 9-10 or Ezekiel 2:1-5
Psalm 48 or Psalm 123
2 Corinthians 12:2-10
Mark 6:1-13

To keep us from being too inflated or elated we are given a thorn - hometown. Here people changed our diapers. Here people saw the bad haircut we gave ourself. Here errors in judgment as we moved through the stages of life are laughed about every holiday. Here people join in expecting to honor a conquering hero to return home.

Out of his own experience at Nazareth, Jesus sends out the twelve and ourselves. They and we find places as humbling as a hometown and new places that become our hometown.

Whether needing refuge and defense or providing such (opportunity for repentance), we stretch our walk with G*D to include folks for whom we are a thorn and folks who are a thorn for ourselves. Mutuality is not just support, but also correction.

= = = = = = =

in season or out
learning is in order

learning to live
without surprises

we will receive
hometown adulation

along with
hometown rejection

both are unrealistic
no surprise here

caught up to seventh heaven
or caught on a thorn

in season or out
teaching is in order

Pentecost +6 Sunday – A

Pentecost +6 Sunday – A

Years A
Genesis 24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67 or Zechariah 9:9-12
Psalm 45:10-17 or Song of Solomon 2:8-13 or Psalm 145:8-14
Romans 7:15-25a
Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30

A first or most recent glance at a beloved calls forth action. A first or most recent whisper of a beloved calls forth action. Whether from or toward a beloved, we are called beyond sitting and theorizing/creedalizing/speculizing.

Even with the threat of messing up, of mistaking a dream of a beloved for a beloved, there is no real option (though lots of unreal ones) for following a heartbeat that resonates with one's own. There are no guarantees where such action will lead, simply a prayer that love will find its way.

Such love is our birthright. It is G*D's way that we re-image. It is a source of thanks that eases our journey through life.

= = = = = = =

stamp your foot
play your flute
throw your tantrum

there is no getting around
a wisdom of deeds
lived into and through

eventually we all
arise and come away
to a beloved space

in such wise
prisoners are freed
from dryness unto death

in such wise
prisoners are made
of restored hope