In Our Distress

Meditation: angelus est nomen officii

In my extremity, I called out to the Lord;
I cried out in the congregation in my distress.
I was answered with love;
I was restored and removed to a better place;
With the love of the Lord with me, how can I be cut down?

Place your trust in the Lord;
Seek the Almighty where he waits upon his beloved;
Though your enemies surround you;
Though you find yourself at fault and unworthy;
Though you see no escape, there is help and hope for you;
The Lord is our strength and right arm;
His servants listen for the cry of the oppressed;
They wait upon the word of the Lord.

The Lord is our salvation and our help;
Though we may be chastised,
we are not condemned;
Though we find ourselves in distress;
even at the end of our lives and beyond;
We are enfolded and comforted;
In the Lord we find our true labor;
In the Lord we truly find ourselves.

-distantly after Ps 118

I Believe

Antiphon:   Love rejoices in the truth

I believe in God the Creator,
Who gives us breath and life,
Maker of all that is.

I believe in Jesus the Christ;
Wholly God and Wholly Man,
Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
And was born to a maid named Mary,

Who was tormented by Pontius Pilate,
Was crucified, died, and was entombed.
Who ministered to the dead,
And whom the gates of hell and death cannot restrain.

Three days after his death, he arose,
And ascended into heaven,
He sits on the right hand of God the Creator.
He shall come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
The Church, the Body of Christ,
The communion of saints,
The forgiveness of sins,
The resurrection of the body,
And the life everlasting.

I like this.

Perhaps related: A worn courderoy kind of life

Answer

Did you think
That all you had to do was read
That all you had to do was pray
That all you had to do was recognize me?

I am sorry
that the answer is not so simple
and that this is not all that is required

But in truth
what is required of you is much more

When everyone else is aligned with evil
You must speak of good

When the evil are dying
You must save them, and

When you are dying
You must speak of life

Did you notice the special deference allocated my son
And his disciples?

Know that they are not alone
And that you will share with them
The rewards of my kingdom

If you can gird yourself
with the word.

Nothing comes for free

And your sacriifice

Is not wasted

But the reward

Is also

Not visible

In this world

The peace of God

Such as it is

Be with you.



In response to 'Unclean'.

Christianity is a Verb

I am the vine and you are the branches.

If you abide in me, and keep my commandments, my Father who lives in heaven will come and make his dwelling place in your heart, and I with him, and you will bear much fruit.
And my commandment is that you should love another as I have loved you. You are my friends if you keep this commandment. Go and bear fruit, my friends. If you keep my commandments, the fruit you bear will not be like that which rots or withers, or fades away, but which will last, and will grow – that will bear seeds that will grow in turn and lead to more fruit.
So bear much fruit, and do not despair if you are persecuted, because before you were persecuted, so was I, and when you are persecuted you lay up treasure in heaven. Show mercy and do justice, and love one another. The commandment is not hard. -And if you do you shall live in me, and I in you. And you shall have everlasting life and great reward in heaven.

All My Love,
Your Brother.

The Grace of Baptism

I like baptism
I like the gathering of the community
I like the approach, the welcoming of the candidates
I like the blessing of the water
I like the vows taken by and for the candidates
I like the ritual of washing
I like the symbolism of immersion
I like the unity of the body of Christ in the church.

But baptism is a peculiar thing
We do it once
We do it for others
And not for ourselves

Baptism is the Rubicon of Christianity
Once done, we have crossed over
We belong
We are sealed as belonging to Christ

Baptism is a sacrament to many Christians

An outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace.

The sign is the wetting, the bathing, the annointing, ...and the grace?

The grace is the forgiveness of sins available to the repentant Christian through Jesus Christ.

And perhaps this is the forgotten beauty of baptism: not its celebration of becoming a member of the body, not the spiritual vows made to actively seek to turn from evil, -these are outward signs- but the initial recognition that we are all in need of perfection, that we all have stumbled, that we all need forgiveness, and that in particular the candidate is recognizing his or her errors, and is formally repenting and seeking forgiveness.

And perhaps this is what Jesus brought to baptism that it did not have before: the authority to say:

"Rise and walk, for your sins are forgiven you."

Rise and walk, and if you stumble, pick yourself up, and walk again.

May you, dear reader, also Rise and Walk

Peace,
LE

So

So:

If we don't have sin from Adam,
Or Cain, or from the Jews;
If we are not corrupted
Then why is Christ good news?

Why did God come to us
Why did he have to die?
Does tossing out original sin
Make Christian faith a lie?

Christ was not big on judging
He did not tally sin
He did not judge between us
Did not say; "You aren't in!"

He was named; 'God is with us';
And he said; "The kingdom's near";
He said to love each other
As our God holds us each dear

He said to treat each other
As we'd like, if we were they
He named us sisters, brothers;
These are the things he'd say

So why did Jesus come to us?
To show that God is near;
To show God's great love for us;
To make God's message clear.

And why the cross and calvary?
Why did Christ have to die?
To show how much God loved us
To draw to God each eye.

So let's learn to love each other;
Let us be calm and kind
Let's leave old wrongs and grudges
In the dust behind

Let's live through Christ's commandment;
To love each other well,
So that when some person meets us;
That we're Christian, they can tell.

We are Created Good

We are created good;
As all God creates is;

And God asks us to work;
In his fields out of love;

Love bears fruit and saves us;
Making us fit dwellings;

For our holy Father;
And his blessed Jesus.

Who calls out to each soul;
To offer them his yoke:

"Take it upon yourselves!"
"This burden is quite light!"

Sharing his life with us;
For all of us he died.

Though many start away;
He calls them "Come inside!"

Some from the faith will fall;
And others faith attain.

Yet Jesus came for all;
And calls each one by name.

(Not a definitive work on theology, just a finger, pointing...)

An All-Encompassing Love

Sometime about half a century ago, a mathematician proved that for any mathematical system, there will be some problems that cannot be solved, which can be solved by other mathematical systems.

Isn't that remarkable? By extension, any one way of thinking will have areas it cannot address well - that require other approaches.

And further; the world is not comprehensible to any one way of thinking.

And any one theology will similarly have certain flaws that only others can address.

And I wonder if this is not another reason for the strange plurality of the Godhead, and the very different character of its elements: Spirit, God and Son. Because perhaps the one solution to our often troubled world requires more than one approach:

A creative force; our parent who calls us to be and grow.

A redemptive force; our friend and brother who challenges us to be true and intervenes with and for us, who shares our humanity.

A supportive force; a spirit that whispers in our ear and fills our hearts with love, guiding us back to God

No one approach could suffice, and perhaps no two was yet enough. To truly love the world in the all encompassing way, three were needed.

And if God IS love, perhaps it is useful to consider the Trinity in terms of love;

Parental Love,
Fraternal Love,
....and Passion

Filled with the threefold love of God, may we be wise in our own lives to see when new approaches are needed, hear when others point out our blindness, and act in God's will.

-Peace and Love to you in the Trinitarian God of Jesus Christ, The Holy Spirit, and God our Parent,

LE

A God of Sacrifice

Shirley Guthrie on the one-ness of the Trinity from Christian Doctrine
Westminster/John Knox Press, Louisville

[...] The doctrine of the Trinity means that the will and action of God the Son in our behalf are not opposed to the will and action of God the Father; they are the Father's will and action. Christ does not change the attitude of God towards [sinful humanity]; Christ is the deepest expression of God's desire to be with and for us. If Jesus is the friend of sinners, then so is God. If God the Son takes the consequences of our sins on himself in self-giving, suffering love, then that is what God the Father does too.

Indeed, the self-sacrificing love of the Son is the love of God.

Hear and understand; the Lord our God is One.

Thanks be to God.

Peace,
LE

Our God is a River

Our God lies before us-
A stream broad and strong-
From its springs in the mountains
Hear its fountain-head song!

Every mile it grows stronger!
Much deeper, more wide!
How far will it carry me,
If I dare plunge inside?

The leap, and the splash-
The breathtaking cool!
To those on the shore
I must look like a fool.

But now I am moving
Quite swiftly along
The river of God it is swift,
It is strong.

God lies all about me,
God enters each pore...
I never, -no never!
Will swim back to shore-

But swim in God's current;
And go where God leads;
Having faith in God's providence;
To see to my needs.

Come join us who swim
In God's Holy Flow! -
It is much more rewarding
Than mere watchers can know.

After Isaiah 2:

(Subverted lightly from the NRSV)

It will come to pass that the Lord will establish his house among the nations, it shall be raised above the hills and all the world shall see it's light. Many peoples will say; ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,  to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths,’ So all nations shall stream to the house of the Lord, and out of Zion shall go forth instruction,  and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. The Lord shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they study war any more.

My brothers and sisters, let us walk again in the light of the Lord! For we have forsaken God's ways and wander in foolishness.

What is God Like?

In response to Theology

Perhaps our vision is blurry
Or maybe God simplifies the image

Perhaps we work to choose a broad image for God

Or maybe God encounters us in person

God does meet us every day...

...But I am afraid we are so used to it that we don't notice it.

A Remarkable Accounting

How much do I owe you?
Someone asked me today;
I said not to worry
And sent them away

I am glad that they asked
I'm glad I can share
I am glad that I'm able
To be more than fair

And maybe I'll find
When I'm called to account
That my debts are reduced
By an equal amount

Or even forgiven
Of me, every one
By a remarkable accountant
That we call God's Son

And so in good faith
Let us each forgive
Following our God's example
Of how we should live

Peace,
LE

SB responded in verse:

Nothing for something
A holy exchange
The commerce of kindness
Beautifully strange

Very nice, thanks.

"This is NOT a Test"

They say that our God tests us,
But it is not like they think;
It's not to see of what we're made
That life brings us to the brink

And life's not a trial by jury;
No sum of wrongs and rights.
It's not to prove our mettle;
That we suffer painful rites.

Our testing is to temper;
To strengthen and to cure;
An annealing and a firing;
That makes our spirits pure.

God does not need to try us;
God knows just how we're made.
Life's not about temptations;
And some rules to be obeyed.

No, at life's fire God smelts us
To work out evil's taint;
In fire and ice God tempers us;
To draw us out...
-a saint.

What Is A Miracle?

What is a miracle?
Does it have to be supernatural,
Or will 'unlikely' do?
Is whatever God does a miracle?

What about a rescue worker's efforts?
The emergancy room doctor?
The stranger who helps when you are lost?
Or the person who listens and helps when you are upset?

Perhaps miracles are like blessings, like sacraments - outward and visible signs of inward and spiritual grace;

And perhaps we walk in the midst of miracles of life, miracles of light, every day. Little ones and big ones.

Recently I was at a weekend celebration, and one of the guests of honor was worried that there would not be enough beer, although it seemed to me that few people there were beer drinkers. So a little beer was bought.

Over the course of the weekend, it seemed to me that whenever I looked, there was more beer, some varieties I didn't recognize.

...I sampled some, and it was good. We ended up bringing a healthy amount back from the weekend.

There was more than enough.

...Probably, probably people at the celebration bought and brought the overabundance. No supernatural power need be invoked. But the image of that beer stuck with me.

A silly miracle, I suppose.

But it occurs to me that it *was* a wedding celebration; 50 years of wedded bliss in this case.

And again, is it less of a miracle if it has a practical explanation?

Isn't the miracle the spiritual part of the event? The blessing of it happening, no matter if in Cana almost 2000 years ago, or last week?

God does get involved, I think, in the mundane things in our lives;

No, even more; God lives, I think, in the mundane, as well as the obviously transcendant.

Everything IS Illuminated.

"They'll Take Anyone"

Jesus stands at the door and knocks,
But not just at your door,
You'll find him knocking along every street
Mine, and theirs, and yours

This feast that we are called to
Is open to all who'll come;
And it's our job to welcome
Each and every one

We must mean it when we say that
Our sins belong to God;
Jesus himself has told us
We may find the guest list odd.

Forgiveness is for sinners,
For us sinners, every one;
And a mixed lot of repentant sinners,
Will make our feasting much more fun.

So may we be among the guilty;
Told: "You'll take anyone",
And be numbered with those oddball saints,
When at last our lives are done.

Peace,
LE

God in The Waiting Places

...

Why does the darlky-tanned hispanic man wait at the shelter of the rural spur line? The trains there are rare, yet I watch as he lets one go by. Is he the same man I glimpsed sleeping in the hot shelter a month ago? It makes no sense to sleep there, in sight of green, shady bowers.

If he has an appointment with someone, or something, why not come closer to the right time? Or perhaps his appointment is with something or someone more mercurial - and he cannot know when, or if it will arrive. Something mercurial, but still worth waiting for.

And who is the older woman in yellow waiting for? She stands in the shade of some green trees, on a sidewalk away from the commuter's shelter and the platform. A freight train rumbles through, I turn for a moment and she is gone. Did someone arrive and I missed seeing them? Did she give up? Is this just a happy pause on her morning walk... ...watching a train or two pass, or does she daydream that someone will arrive, someone she misses?

Who rides all the dozens of bikes that are chained up by the station? They are here when I arrive and there are less when I return, indicating an early schedule, but I never see their riders. Do they ride for pleasure, out of a sense of economy and environmentalism? Are these students off to school? I doubt it. I suspect they are fry-cooks and baker's assistants and day-laborers, and bicycles are what they can afford.

Some religeous pamphleteers arrive, young men in starched yellow shirts and striped ties, soft-covered black bibles and literature clutched in their right hands, bending gently in their grips. They make a vague attempt to reach the commuters at the station, but they are on the wrong side of the tracks, and a train arrives to foil their efforts, whooshing their prospective converts off in the direction of the big city, and leaving no one save me. They glance briefly at me, but the cost/benefit of saving my soul must not seem promising, and they climb back into their beat-up suburban, and motor off, its hole-y muffler resonating loudly.

I resolve to try to meet all these people in the future. This is a waiting place, it is true, and people don't think of their lives as happening here, in the waiting places, but they are wrong. God also waits for us at the way-points of our lives, and while we wait, our lives are going by, and God is showing us people and situations and wondering: "Who will go for us?" And "Whom shall we send?"

May we often meet and recognize God along the myriad paths of our lives, and moreover, enter into God's labors.

Peace,
LE

After Psalm 33

...
Praise and thank God for our many blessings, because we are truly blessed.
Thank God with music, with dance, and with art
Proclaim your love and praise God loudly, so all can hear and see - because God is good and God's every deed is done in faithfulness.

God loves Mercy and Justice; the world is full of the steadfast love of the Lord;
God spoke and the universe was created, and God's breath lives within all life. God knows the fish of the sea, and the stars of the sky, every one by its own name.

God is awesome; God stands before time and also after; God was concerned with the events of your life before your eldest ancestor crept from the sea, and lovingly contemplates the echo of your features in the descendants of generations to come.

There is nothing that is hidden from God, and each of us is in God's sight. God knows us from the inside out, in our most shameful secrets and our hidden joys.

Nations, leaders and movements plot and plan, and seek to own the world, but the world is in God's hands, and God frustrates their plans. God's direction is clear and unchanged. Judgment and time belong to God, and from God no wealth, no power, and no physical strength can save you.

Happy are the people who follow in God's footsteps, who enter into God's labors. God watches over the faithful, who find eternal life in his steadfast love, and manna in the midst of want.

We wait upon the love of God, who is our help and protector. In God we find our joy and in God's name renewal. O Lord, be with us and bless us, even as we hope in you.

Peace,
Locust Eater

Difficult Introductions

Inspired by this and this.

...

'Sin', 'Death' and 'Hell' seem like such tough words to use when introducing God to children... ...any of God's children.

When my children introduce me to their friends, they say that I am 'nice' and 'funny'.

I think God is jealous of me.

Very jealous.

Love,
Locust-Eater