biblical reflection – Page 3

14-15th Sunday in OT

Neighbors and Internal Peace

I met a Congregational minister the other day as I was leaving work; we stood in the parking lot for a solid twenty minutes talking about this and that. She said in reference to her job, “It’s the best job in the world; all’s I have to do is love people. That’s it!” Me too, I had said. I work as an Activities Specialist serving those with Dementia. My job is to know, listen and pay attention to folks, to bring joy, love and peace where possible.

But even loving people all day long ain’t a cake-walk. It’s too easy to become absorbed in intentional or accidental insults or dismissals; personal insecurities and anxieties creep and/or leap into word, deed and perception.

My mom used to say that while the compromising and negotiating required in an intimate relationship is not a breeze, when we live alone, we are super susceptible to self-absorption, selfishness and self-centeredness. As I have lived alone most of my life, she used to advise me to put myself into situations in which I was compelled by circumstances to think of others not myself.

This week’s gospel reading, the parable of the Good Samaritan, led me to reflect on Mom’s words. When I started to analyze the time and energy I spent on self verses other as an either/or I was appalled and embarrassed at the imbalance.

I’ve begun to intentionally recalibrate this equation. I encourage myself to ask, “What’s going on for Suzy-Q? How is God present here? Is there anything merciful or compassionate I could be doing to help?” Considering these questions brings me more peace and joy then crossed-eyed, near-sighted, navel gazing.

In last week’s gospel Jesus promises internal peace, but perhaps this is not possible if one is not focused on others to a greater degree than on oneself. What do you think?

Journal Questions:

1. What is the current proportion between time and attention I give to myself vs. others?
2. What could or might I do to shift the balance?
3. I will return to this journal topic in a few weeks to discuss the impact of any changes I’ve made.

13th Sunday in OT 2019

This week’s Sunday’s readings begin by recounting Elisha’s reaction to the call to follow Elijah; and in the gospel Jesus gives more information about how we are to answer His invitation to discipleship. Elisha models for us the ideal response … tidy up loose ends, celebrate the call with loved ones, say farewell, and leave your old way of life behind. In fact, the Paulist Biblical Commentary refers to this passage in 1 Kings as a ‘vocation story.’

We know the word vocation to refer to a call, profession, mission or ministry; many of us have discerned our vocation. Such experiences of a call from the Lord typically seem to be a specific invitation issued once, with a few clarifying communiques in the course of a life-time.

But the words vocal and voice also share the same Proto-Indo-European root as the word vocation. The shared root means to speak. We may wonder, then, not only the content, the what that the Lord is calling us to do, but about the nature of our Speaker’s Voice.

Before Elijah throws his coat over Elisha, he and the Lord had a fairly extensive tete’-a-tete’ … the Lord prepared Elijah for His presence by stating He would be present but not in the wind or fire or a storm. Although the Lord was often present to the Israelites through these natural phenomenon, He suggests to Elijah, this time He would be present in yet another, additional way, in the no-sound.

Similarly, we too hear the Lord’s voice in storms, the no-sound and the wind. In the New Testament, The Holy Spirit is often compared to wind.

Wind never really stops. Some days it’s very noticeable, but it is just ‘the flow of gases,’ and truthfully, on planet Earth, gases are always flowing, hence there is air to breathe and carbon-based life-forms survive. But we carbon-based life forms don’t tend to notice the flow of gases.

Jesus says to our three unidentified would-be disciples, in turn, the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head, let the dead bury the dead and whoever puts his hand to the plow but looks to what’s left behind is not fit for the Kingdom. These seem to me to be nuanced and various ways of reminding us time will not stand still, the Kingdom of the Shepherd is here and now, and His voice, His call, His Music, like the Wind, never cease.

Journal Reflection Questions

1. Where am I in the discernment process of my ‘call?’ Am I listening for a new to-do list, or have I noticed His voice, His call just never ceases to be?
2. What changes could I make so I am able to hear His voice or notice His Presence more often? What changes could I make so I am able to just sit with Him and enjoy His Presence more frequently?
3. What might change in my life, if I did so?

In the Fullness of Time

Might an idea contain and carry power so profound and strong it can shove the ground upon which the state of being anchors itself forward or upward a few inches?

I don’t mean the general endorphin induced euphoric slip which occurs ephemerally, after a really clever thought dances through the cortex. No, life returns to what it was, as these sorts of feelings fade like morning fog in fall.

Don’t get me wrong, such experiences, while spanning only a second or two, are lovely.

I’m talking about a concept, perhaps it will become a concrete cornerstone, which shifts the internal landscape of the faculties 4 or 5 degrees north, or maybe east, so that all which is surveyed and perceived from then forth will never be again what it would have been or tended to be previously.

The realization regards zoning laws and property lines of the spiritual universe, for in it was constructed untried infrastructure, a contemporary byway and a new but narrow gate into an old abode, a mansion which had stood before the beginning of the creation of day and night. But it had laid empty.

In the fullness of time, a heartbeat thumps. The moment is no more dramatic for its cruel disregard of the divine dignity of human life than the flash of millennium before it. But a new dawn arrives! The trumpet’s clarion call announces the dismissal of His long lament. “I visit my Kingdom, but my people know me not. They seem so far from me; this not what I want. On top of the basement, on top of Sheol, has always existed the mighty and extensive palace where I dwell. From whence-forth, they will have admittance into Our castle and they may remain with Us for Eternity. We have missed the joyous clamor of the children playing in the garden, dancing through the rooms and hallways.”

How has such a truth escaped me?

The manor house has always been, I knew that, but I did not understand the path to its door had not already been cut. Indeed, the tree had to be chopped, and the Son split open upon it, for the entrance to be made visual and the traverse to the steps be possible.

I do not ken how such an old teaching from timeless tutors had slipped by me. I know it now, or maybe again, but will it creep away as the morning fog in fall, or will it remain behind and beckon me forward?

Third Sunday, Lent 2019

Exodus 3:1-15

To notice the bush is not burning normally, Moses needs to understand general laws of nature, and to observe how the bush in question is behaving differently. And because it must have taken Moses some time to figure it out, the Lord bides His time, patiently waiting to reveal Himself in the not-burning bush.

Robert Alter in the notes included in his translation, “The Five Books of Moses,” explains that because ancient Hebrew’s grammar is constructed differently than modern English, there are often a variety of translations which are accurate and reasonable. While we typically translate God’s name for Himself as I Am Who Am, the following would also be correct: I Will Be Who I Will Be, I Am That I Am, I Am He Who Endures, He Who Brings Things Into Being, and, I Will Be. (Reference #14)

Furthermore, in a similar discussion, the Paulist Biblical Commentary suggests the name the Lord offers as His own is an early form of the Hebrew verb, to be. The commentator writes, “The phrase ‘I Am’ or ‘I Will Be Who I am’ places the focus of God’s name on actions for Israel, and not God’s independent being or essence” (Reference #15). Before offering His name, however, which He does only after Moses demands it, the Lord says, “I have witnessed the affliction of my people in Egypt and have heard their cry of complaint against their slave drivers, so I know well what they are suffering. Therefore I have come down to rescue them.”

In other words, the Lord self-identifies with the actions He performs on Israel’s behalf, actions intended to save His beloved people. This rescuing continues down through the ages. Jesus’ name, Yeshua, in fact, translates as rescuer, savior.

Until Jesus’ Passion, Resurrection and Ascension, Sheol is it, as far as potential abodes for those who have died; He changes the landscape of the afterlife. The inhabitants of Sheol are not able to gaze upon the Lord’s face, they are not with Him. They did not fail to gain entry into Heaven, because they are somehow lacking or sinful or unrepentant. Not the case.

The doorway to Eternal Life did not yet exist. Jesus saves us from the otherwise unavoidable situation of separation from Him, from Sheol by providing Himself as the Gateway to a new abode. His self-identifying phrase clearly states the fact of the matter, I Am the Narrow Gate.

It is a small irony then that while Jesus gained for us ‘an afterlife’ where we can dwell with Him, where we need never be without Him, we fail to realize we are already with Him in the here and now. Are we, am I, waiting for Eternal Life to notice the Lord? Could I be failing to notice a not-burning bush at my feet?

Reflection Questions for Journaling

- - Am I waiting for Eternal Life to notice the Lord’s presence?
  - Could I be failing to notice a not-burning bush at my feet? Is the Lord patiently waiting for me to do so?
  - Referring to Paragraph 2, how do each of the varied translations of God’s name for Himself resonate with me? Do any cause me discomfort? Why?

1st Sunday Lent 2019

On the anniversary of Dad’s departure, the family texts bombarded the satellites: all day, everyone gushing about what a great guy he was. And it is wise to remember and cling to the good, happy moments. But I draw more solace, peace and joy from remembering his irritating, nudgey ways. When he was annoying and impossible … then, he was perfect.

But let me explain. Old English borrowed the word perfect from Old French who borrowed it from Latin; per meaning through and fect meaning to do. So, the old definition of the adjective perfect means, to do through, complete. Reflecting on this gospel scene, helps me wonder if the devil’s main strategy is to make us think we are not complete. He tempts us into thinking we have needs, and those needs must be filled for us to be who we are intended to be: without these needs met we are somehow less than.

The devil tries this strategy with Jesus in the desert. He first tells Jesus to turn the stones into bread. After all, Jesus has fasted for forty days, and just has to be hungry. The devil is suggesting that Jesus is lacking; He is not whole, His belly is empty. But Jesus says, “Hungry, shmungry, I’m full of what I need to be who I am.”

The devil tries again, “I can give you all the Kingdoms on earth.” The devil is implying, if Jesus is a king, if that is who he thinks he is, he’s got it wrong because he lacks a kingdom. The devil is playing with Jesus’ identity by dismissing spiritual and divine reality and elevating reality defined by human perception. But Jesus knows who is it; He doesn’t need earthly kingdoms to be the King that He is already.

Then the devil tries to goad and provoke Jesus into proving He is who He says He is, suggesting proof of identify is a need not yet met. But Jesus says, “I know who I am; you are not going to bully me into bullying my Father and the angels to prove it. I do not need others to believe I who I am to be who I Am.”

The Fortress Commentary refers to these early chapters and verses in Luke’s narrative as the ‘unfolding’ of Jesus’ identity, and points out that the devil advances Jesus’ identity by questioning it. The devil has three times tried to convince Jesus that not only does he has unmet needs, but that until those needs are met, He is not completely Himself. He is without integrity, without wholeness, lacking and less than. But Jesus knows who He is intended to be and is completely Him.

Can say the same thing about myself?

Reflection Questions for Journaling

- Am I completely who the Lord invites and intends me to be?
- Who does the Lord intend me to be? What percent of the time, am I she?
- What unmet needs do I think I have which prevent me from being who I am intended to be more consistently?
- In what ways have the devil’s attempts to convince me I need x, y, z to be who I’m intended to be, actually advance the integrity of my identity?
- And finally, I ask myself again, am I wholly who the Lord invites and intends me to be?