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Archive for the ‘Eastertide’ Category

Lessons from a Broken Wrist

Posted in Eastertide, Random Thoughts, Spiritual formation, tagged , , , , , , , on May 15, 2019| Leave a Comment »

Scripture is clear:
“Heal me, O LORD, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved, for You are my praise.”—Jeremiah 17:14

And yet, there’s no magic here. In fact, it’s a process just like everything else. What have I learned in the last eight and a half weeks?

  1. The pain is real. And honestly, I’m not even talking about the initial breaks. I’m talking about this healing process. Most people ask, is it getting better? I guess. I can do a little more, move more, and it only hurts part of the time, not all of the time. That’s progress. I’ll not mention the ice pick jabs that stop me in my tracks.
  2. It’s slow. I mean painfully slow. After eight weeks, I only have to wear my brace at night but now I’m supposed to voluntarily move my hand and wrist. Each effort is a test: does it still hurt? See point one.
  3. The healing is not observable. In fact, I think my wrist looks like something leftover from a Frankensteinian procedure. There’s some weird things going on inside my skin: the tendons are tormented, the nerves are shaken, the bone is unyielding. The outer skin is poor camouflage to what is happening inside.
  4. Limitations are numerous. I suppose there is improvement here, after all, I can wash my own hair, put on deodorant, and snap my bra. Breakthroughs. But not for many weeks on the front end and the last thing I wanted to do was ask for help. But I see the truth of it. The initial pain is simply too much to bear alone. I had to confess to my restrictions, my body imposed prohibitions.
  5. Inertia prevailed. Exercise? Forget it. Productivity? No chance. Typing? Be still my hands. Field trips or escapades? Not hardly. The bed drew me mostly. I wasn’t just tired in my body, I was tired in my mind. I didn’t want to think about my injury. I still don’t, not really.

So where is the good news? The list is the same as always: patience, trust, gentleness with oneself, and a sense of humor. This is tortoise territory (as in the tortoise and the hare); slow and steady wins the race.

But the last thing I want to share is that these lessons are the same for the heart. If anyone has experienced a broken heart, the symptoms are probably the same, as well as the “solution.”

Time heals, God heals. That’s a promise. But it’s still up to each one of us to walk it.

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A Perversion of Justice

Posted in Eastertide, Feast Days and Holy Days, Lectio Divina, Lectionary, Lent, tagged , , , on April 19, 2019| Leave a Comment »

It was quite political back then as well. Governments were corrupt and so was the religious establishment.

Everyone thought they knew how things would go. For the disciples, they had a miracle worker as their teacher/leader. He could stop a storm and raise people from the dead. Surely he would prevail.

The Sanhedrin and Pharisees had a prophecy and traditions to uphold. They were “all in” and were confident that they would know and recognize the foretold Messiah. But this young upstart, this Jesus, was just another rebel, using tricks and magic to sway the masses.

And the Romans, well, they had their law and order and strength to rule the whole world. Their gods had blessed their Caesar and they were loyal to a fault. Why would they even question that authority? God help the man who tried.

Just One More Death

He was just one more punishment, one more lesson for the masses, one more death. That one they called Jesus, he could have talked his way out of it; the evidence was sketchy at best. The crowd could yelled louder to release him. Even the disciples wondered why he didn’t stop the proceedings.

None of it made sense to the human mind or to the naked eye. sometimes it’s the worst of times that must happen to shed light on the truth.

” By a perversion of justice he was taken away.
   Who could have imagined his future?” Isaiah 53:8 [RSV,CV]

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Betrayal in Plain Sight

Posted in Eastertide, Lectio Divina, Lectionary, Lent, Spiritual formation, tagged , , , , , on April 17, 2019| Leave a Comment »

It’s Holy Week and devotions abound as believers recount and remember the passion story. Despite what our culture promotes, bunnies and colorful eggs, this is our high holiday, the most important part of the Christ story. Without Good Friday and Easter, the Christmas story is meaningless. But what stands out today?

I was caught off guard by these two verses (John 13:18 & 21): “I am not referring to all of you; I know those I have chosen. But this is to fulfill this passage of Scripture: ‘He who shared my bread has turned against me [from Psalm 41:9].’” . . . After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, “Very truly I tell you, one of you is going to betray me.”

Jesus knew. But here’s the point: they all knew. He told his disciples plainly. It’s not like the truth was hidden inside a parable or a mystery. Scripture goes on to say they didn’t understand, but ultimately, I believe they simply chose not to draw a conclusion. They didn’t want to know.

We see this all the time even today. The narcissist says, “are you gonna believe me or your lyin’ eyes?” The perpetrator says, “I couldn’t help it, my childhood was bad.” The victim says, “I thought he would change.” The voter says, “He’s just exaggerating, he doesn’t really mean it that way.” The cheater says, “It was just that one time.” Lots of excuses for not knowing or not seeing or not believing.

The worshiper cries out in song, “Open my eyes, I want to see Jesus,” even though God is actually present already, all around. The prayerful one asks for guidance, instruction, and counsel while God is speaking all the while within. We are not listening. We are not looking. We are not believing what is already there.

Jesus was betrayed by more than just Judas Iscariot. He was betrayed by all of the disciples by one degree or another. Even the beloved John could have acted at the disclosure Jesus gave him. Maybe he tried to stand up to stop Judas and Jesus stayed his hand. Maybe. After all, the ultimate betrayal had to happen one way or another.

And then there’s the rest of us, who waved our palm branches as Jesus entered the city only to cry out “crucify him” a few days later. Not you? Then tell me you have not required grace for the lie you told yesterday or the company copier you used for your tax forms or the joke you made about the lady in WalMart. We know. And we betray.

Each day has challenges and just like Peter, we will commit many misdeeds before the rooster crows even once. Betrayers abound, see them for who they are and forgive, respond righteously, and move on. And why must we forgive? Because we have done no less.

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Wisdom Building

Posted in Eastertide, Lectionary, tagged , , , , , on April 15, 2015| Leave a Comment »

house in groundI find the acquisition and/or practice of wisdom a great mystery. We are told throughout the Proverbs and elsewhere in scripture that we can ask for wisdom and it will be granted. In this way, it is a gift. And yet, clearly, wisdom is also wrapped up in experience and the ability to translate understanding into application.

Wisdom built her house; . . .
 “Come, eat my food,
    and drink the wine I have mixed.
Abandon your simplistic ways and live;
    walk in the way of understanding.” [Proverbs 9:1, 5-6, CEB]

gardenI have asked for wisdom but I confess, I don’t have the patience to wade through its giving. I am unwilling to accept that the process of gaining wisdom may be more similar to building a house or cultivating a garden. Both take time. And energy. And persistence. Both take the gifts of God (materials and weather) as well as the participation and knowledge of the builder.

Wisdom may be a gift but it is useless until it is unwrapped and used. And only in its use, does wisdom flourish.

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God of the Living

Posted in Eastertide, Lectionary, tagged , , , , , , , , on April 13, 2015| Leave a Comment »

living god[Jesus said,] “He is not the God of the dead, but of the living. You are badly mistaken!” [Mark 12:27, NIV]

Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal. . . . My soul yearns for you in the night; in the morning my spirit longs for you. [Isaiah 26:4, 9a NIV]

Your name, Lord, endures forever, your renown, Lord, through all generations. [Psalm 135:13, NIV]

Forever. Eternal. God of the living, through every generation that was and is and is to come. For those who doubt, I say, the odds are in God’s favor, that forever means forever and eternity has no end. We, finite beings, cannot really fathom the infinite. It is a concept that has no comparison, no metaphor.

Graphic by Ace Montana

Graphic by Ace Montana

By the same token, we have mistakenly assumed we know what it means to “live.” Is it really just our seventy or possibly eighty years that will measure our living? Even if it’s one hundred years that we walk or ride the earth, is that all there is to living? Breathing by lungs, blood pumped by a heart, brain synapses firing: Is that all there is? Is God merely the God of this corporeal body? Or, is God the God of a living soul?

And for this reason, the soul and spirit yearn for God, the One whose Presence sustains and protects and cherishes. The soul lives by God. Amen.

P.S. I have had to add another Lectionary site to my devotions as my initial choice did not have daily readings. For those who are interested: http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/daily.php?year=B

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One in Heart and Mind

Posted in Eastertide, Lectionary, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on April 12, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Basic-Human-NeedsI’m not really commune material. Is that a confession? I mean, how many people do you know who are? It sounds so wonderfully romantic, these newly minted believers who met together and shared together and insured the stability of everyone: no one was in need.

The community of believers was one in heart and mind. None of them would say, “This is mine!” about any of their possessions, but held everything in common. The apostles continued to bear powerful witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and an abundance of grace was at work among them all. There were no needy persons among them. [Acts 4:32-34a, CEB]

But what does it mean to be in need today? We have corrupted this word, I’m afraid. I look at my own life and it’s a bit of a joke. For instance, I have two grown children and a “plus one” living in my house right now and along with myself, there are four cars between us. That’s right, every person has his/her own car. And yet, if one of those cars isn’t working, the first words out of our mouths is: OMG, we NEED a car. Each person has his/her own cell phone (of course) and there are 3.5 bathrooms, so we are almost 1:1 on that score as well. We have 3 dogs and each dog has his/her own dog bowl. mazlowThe list goes on and on. These are not the “needs” that the first testament church was meeting.

More likely, this verse refers to food, shelter, and clothing. Each person who joined their “church” was guarantpeople helping peopleeed a sustainable life.

As far as living corporately, I don’t believe we will ever reach that point in the contemporary church.

However, I still believe if every church on every corner of every city, town, or community, would engage and provide folks in their immediate environment with necessities of life, then hunger could be eradicated, adequate clothing could be provided, and everyone would have a roof over their heads. But, the cycle of poverty and welfare in this country has become a nightmare of “need” wrapped in entitlement. I don’t know the solution. How can we turn the culture back from this slippery slope where people enter into deep debt to have a car or a house or private school they cannot afford. It is not just a cycle of poverty, it is a cycle of perceptions and expectations.

How can we become more authentic in our relationships with people in our midst? How can we be satisfied with less? How can I?

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The Gate and the Cornerstone

Posted in Eastertide, Lectionary, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 10, 2015| Leave a Comment »

cornerstone[Peter said] “. . . then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. Jesus is ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’” [Acts 4:10-11, NIV]

This is the gate of the Lord
    through which the righteous may enter.
I will give you thanks, for you answered me;
    you have become my salvation.

The stone the builders rejected
    has become the cornerstone; . . . [Psalm 118:20-22, NIV]

gateOriginally, a cornerstone was foundational to the construction of a building because all other stones would be laid out in reference to it. Later, this stone became more ceremonial with inscriptions and time capsules and the like. I am sure that both Peter and the Old Testament writers were referencing the Messiah as a cornerstone to the faith in its most traditional sense. For the disciples, Jesus was the cornerstone for something very new upon which believers would build a church–a force of change. For the psalmist, the prediction would be that the One Messiah would be rejected (unrecognized for his assigned role to humanity) and despite being a way to God, the way would be closed. And yet, despite rejection, the foundational stone would remain and the “building” would grow.

We are living the outcome, for good and for ill. The “house” is still standing, rooted and grounded by the cornerstone. And inexplicably, this structure is also a gate. As soon as anyone links up with the cornerstone, that person becomes a “gate” for the next person to enter, to connect.

holdinghandsIt’s a strange metaphor when combined, and yet, I get it. In this picture, the gates (the people) are transparent but linked up. We are transparent because we want people to be able to see inside, to behold the glory as it were, the spark and flame of life.

Jesus, the cornerstone of the Church as it was meant to be. Jesus, the cornerstone of my life as it is meant to be as well. Come in. The way is open; the gate is open.

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