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Lectionary - August 2003 |
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Lectionary - August 2003 |
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3 August 2003 - Year B - Pentecost 8 Wesley White August 3, 2003 2 Samuel 11:26-12:13a This should be an interesting week as we look at sin (action without pity) and a need for a clean heart -- while, at the same time, we celebrate gifts and graces (GOD's presence already present whether we recognize it or not). Wesley White John 6:24-35 What is the work (external) we must do? -- The work of belief (internal). [vss 28-29] And so we go around and around. We look for signs to come that have already come. We resist the gift of the past as we insist there is something new that will catch our attention and make a difference in our living. To pay attention to the present moment is the switch that allows us to jump back and move ahead. This is not an on-off switch, but an on-on switch as we stand in the here-and-now and switch to the past and switch to the future - both - assisting them to be in better touch with each other and to bring a word of correction to each other. So, what, again, is your work today? As you look at your calendar, will you be switching back and forth or just keeping your nose the to the grindstone, making work unimodal instead of multivalent? May your search bear surprising fruit. Wesley White Ephesians 4:1-16 Each person is given grace; each given gifts to aid in building the whole body, the whole ministry of GOD in Christ Jesus in Church in All. A blocking point for these graceful gifts is trickery and craftiness of doctrine taken out of the context of a history movement of doctrine and lifted to idolatry. So we can deny the grace and gifts of a whole Iraqi people by appealing to the behavior of a limited number of "bad apples." So we can deny the grace and gifts of an individual gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender person by appealing to generalized statements categorically denying their reality. We can manipulate grace and gifts to fit our biases with so little difficulty. Self-referencing system (idolatry) - thou art me and you and we together. Grace and gift's great grace and gift come to disburden us of such use of grace and gift. It is tough being this mature beyond spiritual infancy and this unified beyond imposed unity. And, yet, it is worth it. Rejoice in having this path to follow. "And mark that you do this with humility and discipline - not in fits and starts, but steadily, pouring yourselves out for each other in acts of love, alert at noticing differences [of grace and gift] and quick at mending fences [where grace and gift have been denied]." [The Message, vss 2-3 with additions] Wesley White Psalm 51:1-12 Isn't it amazing how a big lie works. Repeat it often enough and its a done deal. Be so extravagant in hyperbole that the unbelievable is judged to be true because you simply wouldn't say such stuff it it weren't true. While the experience of things going wrong or our decisions and actions going wrong is common enough, this sort of overstated response has helped us buy into unbalancing our lives toward the miserable worm approach. According to an excurses on the term "heart" in the Psalms [NISB], "Elsewhere in the OT the heart is sometimes devious, perverse (Jer 17:9), and attracted to evil (Gen 6:5; 8:21; Eccl 9:3), but in the psalms there is little mention of such evil inclinations for those oriented to God. There is, rather, belief that the path to God lies within. Only one psalm says, "create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.' (Ps 51:10). By contrast references abound to the righteous who rejoice (Pss 32:11; 64:10; 97:12) and follow justice (Ps 94:15) on account of the disposition of their hearts. "While we may believe that God wants contrition and repentance, only one psalm hold this prerequisite: 'The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite hearts, O God, you will not despise.' (Psalm 51:17). More usually, God aspires to teach the heart what it needs: (51:6) (86:11) (90:12). "Wholeness comes as God instructs the heart to know, reorienting understanding as needed, so that the psalmist is confident (49:3)" It is time to see the goodness of creation in this psalm, not a projection of "original sin". Listen to verse 10 from Eugene Peterson, "God, make a fresh start in me, shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life." Now, isn't that refreshing, a penitential lament that helps us see beyond the hyperbole and lets us knowingly smile. Wesley White 2 Samuel 11:26-12:13a Nathan's name means "gift." What a gift it is to see ourselves as others see us. O wad some power the gifte gie us, A clearer part of this would be seen if this pericope weren't cut before verse 14. We would see forgiveness and consequences of behavior living side-by-side. This is not a forgive and forget policy, but a forgive and live-and-learn policy. Wesley White Ephesians 4:1-16 The politics of the church are always a marvel to behold. What might be this thing called "speaking the truth in love" when so many different gifts are interacting with one another. We might say that the divisions between the people of GOD go back to the gifts given to these same people. In fact, this day our Episcopalian friends are "debating" sexual gifts. Religion is rather unligamented. Evidence? My bias within my caucus within my denomination within my Christianity within my projection of life.... There is a connection here between the gift of creation given and the various responses to it that the earliest of folks used as excuses so they might be seen in the best light. Just how might the various categories of apostles and prophets and evangelists and pastors and teachers not shade the the truth for their own enhancement. In The United Methodist Church how we do struggle with Local Pastors and Full Elders and all the rest. In local congregations how we do struggle with the various mini-congregations within it, each desiring the best hearing and the ability to set the agenda. This passage is probably more about maturity than it is about unity. The maturest of of the apostles know about serving rather than being serviced. The same with the other gift categories. New-born and adolescent apostles need to validate their gift by being honored rather than honoring others. The same with the other gift categories. This is a challenge to the church as the maturest are understanding and the less mature do whatever they can to shift the church to understand them rather than to understand other gifted people. The tendency is to the lowest common denominator. Lord, have mercy on the political life of religion. Wesley White John 6:24-35 NISB has a "special note:" Eternal life does not speak of immortality or a future life in heaven, but is a metaphor for living now in the unending presence of God. Is nothing as it seems? If we carry this formula forward, why don't we have golden streets and bejeweled walls right now? Are all those details also metaphors? What then is the unending presence of God a metaphor for? How deeply nested might these holy metaphors be? If we go to metaphor four have we gone past a trinity of three-dimensions? There are those who find metaphors to be euphoric and those that find them to be profane. For now, feed on metaphors of eternal bread. 10 August 2003 - Year B - Pentecost 9 Wesley White August 10, 2003 2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33 A sense of being bereft echoes through our scriptures this week. What of value to you, that keeps you connected, would cause you to experience being robbed of meaning should it be taken away? family? Wesley White John 6:35, 41-51 There is complaint about your person. You knew that, right? To be self-differentiated is to be able to recognize that complaint as on target and you need to change (we all need our Nathan's) or to recognize that complaint as a projection by whatever system you are dealing with (we all need to stand and say, "this is what I said and this is why I said it" without lapsing into defensiveness). So what complaint have you recently heard and in which category does it fall? May you make the needed change. May you stand firmly for change to a larger perspective. From another tradition, another way to come at this same thing is: The Relation of States of Consciousness and Stages of Consciousness: No Model Is Complete without Both Ken Wilbur Online "As both lucid dreaming and lucid sleeping start to occur (usually as one progresses and develops in meditation), one can begin to experience these higher states and realms and bring them into consciousness during the waking state . For example, in a type of meditation known as savikalpa samadhi (or mediation with an object of awareness), one can directly (while fully awake) experience the higher reaches of the subtle realm; in states of nirvikalpa and jnana samadhi, one directly experiences the causal realm; in states of sahaja samadhi, one directly realizes the nondual (which we will discuss in a moment). "In all of those cases, one is developing one's capacity to experience higher states by converting them into permanent acquisitions. States that are normally unconscious have been made conscious; states that are normally temporary have been made permanent. One progresses from a Wakefulness of the waking state, through a Wakefulness of dream state, to a Wakefulness of the deep sleep state: one's consciousness fluidly unfolds from gross to subtle to causal embrace, with each expansion of consciousness including and enveloping more and more realities. (For the stage- or wave-like nature of these developments, see below, Part II.) One thus increasingly gains a liberation from the binding torment of being identified with lesser, smaller, shallower states; one gains an increasing liberation from their binding spell, until one can transcend and include all states in pure empty Consciousness as such--an ultimate realization or enlightenment that is known by many names, but the Great Liberation will do." Wesley White 2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33 It is a scene to pull at our heartstrings - David mourning the death of his rebellious son Absalom. Had David shown the same level of involvement with his daughter's rape by another of his sons we may never have come to this moment of grief. So, whose misdeeds are you ignoring or protecting through your silence and what might you project will be the larger consequence that will come from ignoring the pain of one? This kind of pericoping (huh?) is fair warning to look beyond the moment or particular piece of scripture. Since this is a continuation of the prior story from chapter 13, it will be important to do some contexualizing. If we just let it go with this part of the story we will get into the same bind the church has gotten into with particular verses justifying slavery or condemning women in leadership and miss the larger picture. This kind of narrow-vision approach has also caused us to reap the whirlwind regarding other gifts of sexuality (pray for the Episcopal church in these days). The larger picture reminds us there is no racial difference between Gentile and Jew, no gender difference between female and male, no loving difference between homosexual and heterosexual, etc. On a lighter note, note that the ents had their day, doing in more than swords. Ancient and slow though they be, when engaged they are very powerful. Wesley White Psalm 130 Hope - wait. Wait - hope. Chicken - egg. Egg - chicken. Heads - tails. Tails - heads. Love - marriage. Marriage - love. Horse - carriage. Carriage - horse. Creator - creation. Creation - Creator. Where does this end? Check out "Scarred by Struggle, Transformed by Hope" by Joan Chittister. Try this on for size: "Hope is not a matter of waiting for things outside us to get better. It is about getting better inside about what is going on inside. It is about becoming open to the God of newness. It is about allowing ourselves to let go of the present, to believe in the future we cannot see but can trust to God. Surrendering to the demands of the moment, holding on when holding on seems pointless, brings us to that point of personal transformation which is the juncture of maturity and sagacity. Then, whatever the circumstances, however hard the task, the struggles of life may indeed shunt us from mountaintop to mountaintop but they will not destroy us. "We always think of hope as grounded in the future. That's wrong, I think. Hope is fulfilled in the future but it depends on our ability to remember that, like Jacob, we have survived everything in life to this point -- and have emerged in even better form than we were when those troubles began. So why not this latest situation, too? Then we hope because we have no reason not to hope. Hope is what sits by a window and waits for one more dawn, despite the fact that there isn't an ounce of proof in tonight's black, black sky that it can possibly come." Wesley White Ephesians 4:25 - 5:2 Puns are fun. A pun in any other language is still a pun. This is nothing to quibble about. Let's wrap our tongue around some geeky Greek. It turns out the English word "kind" (4:32 NRSV) sounds like "Christ" in Greek. I hope this isn't Greek to you. So we end up with "be Christ to one another..." Therefore, imitate the meaning of Christ -- focus on the steadfast kindness of GOD. Imitate the kindness of Christ, the Christ of kindness. Keep at this until, in years to come, your name, also, will be used as a substitute for "kindness." It won't be Tom, Dick or Harry; it will be Kindness, Kindness or Kindness. It won't be Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice; it will be Kindness and Kindness and Kindness and Kindness. How would our religious life be different if we were known as Kindians instead of Christians? Wesley White 1 Kings 19:4-8 Elijah was so depressed he couldn't get out of his furze bush (NJB). He was so depressed he had to be fed. Then he would lie down again. Again and again, I suspect more than just twice, an angel came to encourage him to again visualize and enter the mythology of life (the 40-ness of life) beyond the reality of the details and the stacking of events against him. May you be as encouraging as the angel, first dealing with the basics of food and moving beyond that to the meaning of life as journey. As you journey back to the basics of your faith experience, your Horeb, may you be opened to not simply repeating but breaking new ground that brings together formerly impossible constructs such as the sound of silence so you can hear anew by paying attention to the context for the meaning of particular notes. lornewfriesen@yahoo.ca This text is rich in meaning First, I am amazed that the man who prayed, "I have had enough Lord, take my life", which I read as a death wish, is taken up to God without dying. Secondly, at a practical level, when we are depressed, we often feel that God has abandoned us. As one person said, "It feels as though my prayers bounce off the ceiling back at me, they don't go anywhere". In our depression we feel that God doesn't hear our prayers. Part of this divine mystery is that God doesn't speak to Elijah(according to the text) when he prays his death wish. It is not until forty days later on Mt. Horeb that Elijah hears God's voice, and then God addresses him with a quesiton, "What are you doing here?" The Divine invites us to tell him our story. Wesley White Thanks, Lorne (I presume from your address) - This comment is helpful to me in waiting/hoping an impossibly long time (even if it is the just right or kairos time of 40 days). It even gently reminds me to ask for more stories about how folks got to where they are. This is tough for this J that does judge pretty quickly. One of the other interesting stories that could come from here is the story of the servant. I usually think about Elijah being alone. Perhaps it is because he deliberately went off to pull a Jonah, pouting under a wee tree. What about this invisible servant. Did they take their task seriously enough to track Elijah down and play angel with him. As servant leaders can we image taking our task seriously enough to play angel with folks? Wesley White Psalm 34:1-8 How does the angel set up a circle of protection around you? That is probably a clue about a gift you have or the way you might help to set up a circle of protection for others? Is this space for you to choose a way you hadn't seen before because you were so busy fleeing or battling with some difficulty that options had flown away from the flurry of your preoccupation? Or did the angel do your work for you? As you have experienced deliverance, know there are some others (not all others) who will need your witness and presence to aid them. Often times this is a process of like calling to like - the addict to the addict approach. Pay attention to how you were cared for and learn and pass it on. 17 August 2003 - Year B - Pentecost 10 Wesley White August 17, 2003 1 Kings 2:10-12; 3:3-14 There is a sense of "Wait, there's more!" from infomercial glory in the scriptures. We cut off our appreciation of the complexity of scripture in so many ways. Let's get at least as intense as the hucksters at adding layers of value. Wesley White John 6:51-59 How can he/she/anyone (to go by length of word - might it be better to go from general to multitasker to univisioned, anyone/she/he, or or some other categorization?) hold such a silly view as flesh-eating? Isn't it amazing what we lose out on by jumping to conclusions regarding the limits of life. If we find meaning in one area it is like kudzu or creeping charlie, it invades beyond its establishment. What of our tradition are we still propping up, not because we find it helpful, but because it has taken a weed-like grasp beyond its initial meaning? I wonder if we need an annual Kudzu award for the most invasive part of our tradition that goes beyond its realm of experience to restrict experience in other ways. Any nominations for such. Wesley White 1 Kings 2:10-12; 3:3-14 Young Solomon got his Miss America wish for world peace through personal wisdom. He also go two tests to go along with it - riches and long life. What is your evaluation of how wise Solomon was with his riches? It sometimes seems he simply used it to get more and more and more. What is your evaluation of how wise Solomon was with his longevity? Didn't things fall apart when he died and so how did he spend his time? Seems like he failed to take the longevity of the system into account. We usually apply the "divide the baby" scene to Solomon's wisdom, not these immediate gifts/tests. What happens to your view of Solomon if we track these other additional gifts/tests through his reign? Wesley White Psalm 111 A comment in the NISB is intriguing. " Praise the Lord! This is the familiar plural imperative 'Hallelu-yah,' which opens and sometimes closes several psalms.... The speaker is at once praising God and instructing the congregation about the nature of God and the duties of God's people." This tension between individual praise and communal instruction is still alive and well in our worship music wars. How's it going in your place? Here we are battling a Hobson's choice in this matter and not yet able to see and move beyond it. I hope you are doing better. Wesley White Ephesians 5:15-20 Live wisely, not carelessly, unthinkingly, in the midst of desperation and evil. A key here is looking at the word the NRSV translates as "debauchery." While that word carries negative overtones of being out of control in several different ways, the Greek from which it comes might be stated with less emotional and broader language of "excess." We are back to the old moderation in all things that will better allow the Spirit to be noticed. Crowding our lives means less noticing of new material, which is part of the work of the Spirit. I must admit to a messy desk. I tend to work in multiple projects. I can find things on my desk. Others can't. But if someone puts something on the desk I can't see it there. Leave me notes on my chair. Is my excessive clutter debauchery? It probably doesn't come up to that standard. Is my over-flowing desk a sign of excess? Probably. How do you limit the Spirit in your life? Does the Spirit have to leave things on your chair or are there multiple ways to get your attention? Wesley White Proverbs 9:1-6 This is the first part of a choice laid out for us. Verses 1-6 invite us to a feast toward meaning within and beyond a lifetime. Verses 13-18 invite us to shortcuts that pave the way to death. Between are some rules of thumb that decide where we will focus. To limit our presentation of Lady Wisdom (is there a male equivalent to Sophia?) without a contrast to Madame Whore (lots of male equivalents here?) leaves folks with the impression that religion is for the half-blind who aren't really tempted, as differentiated from the fully-sighted who see well enough to make a choice about life. Wesley White Psalm 34:2-15 "I will bless the Lord at all times." (34:1) "I sought the Lord, and was answered." (34:4) "Keep your tongue from evil." (34:13) There are so many different realities experienced and expressed in psalms. The same is true in church music. How do we keep open to the wide variety of hymns and praises? I would like for the church to be able to see that any good love song can be sung in church. It takes next to no work to translate a good popular love song into a religious context. How might we find our way to use songs with theological language in them and songs that demonstrate theology without using the official church lingo? Having thus declared, I show my age. I just looked up Billboard's Top 10. It appears I have been passed by. Lyrics aren't where its at. There was some meat in the lament at number 8, "Where is the Love." How do we sing the Lord's song in the foreign land of American pop culture? Who would know to ask for such a thing? prmb That male equivalent to Woman/Lady Wisdom would be Jesus.
Wesley White Some of this linkage may have led Julian to image Jesus in the feminine - Jesus as GOD the Mother . A question that comes to mind about Jesus being Wisdom is how have we have limited the Wise or Prophetic Jesus through our nearly universal Priestly image of him? 24 August 2003 - Year B - Pentecost 11 Wesley White August 24, 2003 1 Kings 8:(1, 6, 10-11), 22-30, 41-43 Choices abound. What are we going to do with our heritage? What are we going to do with the gift of tomorrow? What are we going to do when life gets weird and that which we have staked much on turns difficult on us, when it turns out righteousness does not protect us from afflictions and we find out we are more chirpy sparrow than soaring swallow? Will we still choose to make known mystery or settle for some form of ignoring that the enemy is us? Wesley White John 6:56-69 Quite a range of responses to Jesus - complaining, disbelief, rejection, confessing faith, betrayal - and these among his followers. Do you feel better about your setting now that you see how Jesus was responded to? What is your understanding of the straw that broke the disciples' backs and caused them to leave? Was it the bread/flesh talk? the ascension suggestion? the destiny vs. free-will proposal? something beyond Jesus himself, something in the culture that wasn't being transformed quickly enough? So why are you still sticking around this Jesus? And how can you state that without getting into religious talk that will need more and more talk to explain your point? Any idea what your breaking point is with Jesus? with the Church? It might be well for us to reflect on Simon Peter's affirmation of Jesus as the Holy One and Jesus' response to that by indicating that he chose both Peter and Judas - affirmer and betrayer. How does this reflect the calling of GOD of both saint and sinner? (Oops, I just strayed beyond the pericope again - I guess we don't have to wrestle with that after all and we can simply rejoice in the affirmation.) Wesley White 1 Kings 8:(1, 6, 10-11), 22-30, 41-43 There are a couple of helpful progressions here. From the ark surrounded by priests (v 6) to the inner sanctuary (v 10) to heaven and highest heaven (v 27). The presence of GOD expands. From Solomon, the Lord's servant, (v28) to Israel (v 30) to foreigners (v 41) all will be heard by GOD. Where are we in individual congregations and whole denominations and generic religion these days with these expansions? Are we still moving forward or retrenching? It feels like the orthodox and creedal emphases these days is moving us in reverse order, contracting the pattern from creation to my house to having GOD in my pocket and narrowing us from all people to my people to me. Pray with Solomon and do better than he after he was finished praying. Wesley White Psalm 34:15-22 "Disciples so often get into trouble; From youth and childhood days comes a memory of a hymn verse
that goes: Part of the power of that hymn is an understanding that disciples do often get into trouble and daily walking close to he will lead us safely o'er. This is our out from the consequences of daily trouble. Might it be helpful to come to understand that part of the closer-walk or cloister-walk is just exactly a getting into trouble? When we come to know that GOD is with us every time, we are better able to imitate Jesus, a great getter-into-trouble. Like him, our every bone will be safeguarded as we face the consequences of getting in trouble - a cross or equivalent. If this is the case, we don't need to spend so much time avoiding trouble or attempting to do so. Troubled disciples, arise. You have nothing to lose. Wesley White Ephesians 6:10-20 And around we go. There is all the external imagery of armor, lots of it, to battle a non-external enemy. Then, while all dressed to kill, we are to stand still and proclaim a gospel of peace. Since none of this is straight forward it is important to do more than allegorize or literalize or otherwise twist this into a logical meaning. Can you imagine Jesus dressed in this fashion? I see him standing naked saying, "I am truth; I am righteousness; I am peace; I am faith; I am salvation; I am Spirit; I am GOD; I am you; I am everyone; I am all." Talk about folks running away from Jesus because of what he says! There they go. Here we go, for how many among us would so stand? So pray for one another -- you and I may yet one day so stand, mysteriously. Deb Seles I am an Episcopal priest & our lectionary has that troublesome Ephesian 5 about husbands & wives. I am thinking of talking about how both are hard sayings: Jesus talking about being the bread of life (w/its implications of cannibalism & the whole notion of self-sacrifice) to his disciples AND the whole notion of how difficult it is for any of us (husbands AND wives alike) to 'love as X loved us' I will acknowledge the difficulty we have around the whole idea of submission but also what it means to be submitted to X...who is the only one we should be submitted to. John Lekander Why do we all allow the word SUBMIT to prevent us from seeing the fact of MUTUAL LOVE AND RESPECTING between a husband and wife. Take the whole context of that passage, and replace the word "submit" with "respect" or "love". Of course, the other aspect is that the "ideal" is being expressed. One is to respect a person (husband) who sacrifices himself like Christ did, and gave himself for the Church. Re-write the passage so BOTH the husband and wife SUBMIT to the other. Is it not true that feminists dislike this passage because of the word "submit" and extreme chauvinists likewise misuse the passage as an excuse for improper behavior. BOTH are equally incorrect in understanding and application. The REST OF US want this wonderful passage to be used in appropriate and beneficial ways. Wesley White Joshua 24:1-2a, 14-18 One of the issues at hand is how much we build our relationship to GOD on past events. In Joshua's recounting of the Israelite history and the people's shorter version we hear about some of the highlights of past relationships. This leads to the middle of verse 18 and that powerful word, "therefore." Folks are caught in a lot of therefores. When they remember they are very, very good and when they don't they are horrid. Folks are caught without their therefores. This may be part of the choice Joshua is talking about. Chose to remember and move on. Choose to remember and not repeat. Choose to remember how surprising the past was and choose to be ready to be surprised again. When we can remember the marvel of the moments of coming through, not just the fact of coming through, we are able to shift into an active anticipation of the future and a willingness to be present to the present. This is really a different orientation than remembering and therefore-ing. In light of another conversation from Ephesians 5 we may need to also look at the word "serve" in this verse. What does it mean to submit to, to serve, to mutually love and respect GOD's next encounter with us when we so easily get caught in only justifying our obedience, service, etc. on the basis of what we have so far encountered. How does this play with the John passage about difficult teachings and choosing to leave or affirm? What does the congregation where you are need to wrestle with? Past therefores or present service or future surprises or ...? Wesley White Psalm 84 And how blessed all those in whom you live, Happy are those whose strength is in you, Blessed those who find their strength in you, Happy those whose refuge is in you, Your lively heart is both the substrate of the movement of a living GOD and a journeying response to the presence/strength/refuge of GOD. Now, how to communicate this? It is important to note that just before this a large breath was taken (larger than e.e. cumming's circus tent?), a selah pause or refrain or instrumentation bridge, in anticipation of moving to the next part of the journey. Let's all take a large breath, large enough to slow us down to walk with GOD (3 mph) and large enough to energize us to enjoy a never-ending pilgrimage. Then let us live in the bothness of poetry that breaks us open to joy and joyfully receives such brokenness. Let us bring together hopping sparrow and swooping swallow, the poor and the rich, the outcast and the privileged, the past and the future, heart and soul. 31 August 2003 - Year B - Pentecost 12 Wesley White August 31, 2003 Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 Hearing and responding run through this week. Can you hear love? Can you hear a new call? Can you hear, period? What are you hearing that pushes and pulls you to arise to tomorrow? Wesley White Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23 Are doctrines things that enter into people but cannot defile? Are doctrines things that come out of people that do defile? "In vain do they worship me, teaching human precepts as doctrines." (vs 7 NRSV) "They just use me as a cover for teaching whatever suits their fancy." (vs 7 The Message) As we look at the history of doctrines and their partialities (needing to be readjusted the next time around), it is tempting to discount the doctrinal impetus as evil. Sometimes it is. But there is a constant need for wrestling with significance and meaning in life, identifying how far we have come, claiming particular insights. There is a tension between doctrine that is transparent (a helpful lens to identify the presence of GOD) and opaque (an assertion that holds real life experience at bay). To arrive at transparent doctrine it must be held lightly and applied to self. When doctrine becomes opaque it derives from a particular political point or the result of a process wherein "time makes ancient truth uncouth" and is used against others. We have a variety of ways to institute and use doctrine. How might worship be a needed antidote to unhelpful doctrine? Rick Bratcher What seems to me to be an important message for us is the one given by what Jesus does, that is to question ,doctrine, to hold it up against the underlaying principles implied in the giving of the law, to compare doctrine to intent and practice to examine if it is helpfull or harmfull to faith and life. When doctrine hinders faith then it must change, or be enlightened by what faithfull people are doing, it must be responsive to the world, yet constant in its searching for connection to God. Here in lies the basis for progressive doctrine and practice, it can change, because it must change. Jesus acknowledges what no conservative will acknowledge, the old ways didn't work. Wesley White Not only do the old ways not work, but the current ways fall short as well. Read any news-paper/news-magazine, watch or listen to any news-broadcast - GOD's presence has not yet dwelt fully among us. We need a larger perspective and specific changes. Rick, and others, this important issue of dealing with doctrine and practice that can change is one that needs more than a theoretical construct. Are there some stories you can tell, that's not my forte, about that going on these days. Is this in the realm of sexuality (read an interesting report of the latest WOW conference by the Institute for Religion and Democracy, an organization that actively works against any progressive movement), environment, economy, community relationships, health, education, personal choices? How do we see this working in specific situations and thus put flesh on the concept? Sometimes stories can say more in a few words that a textbook can in many chapters. Sometimes the story needs to go on for a bit to build the background needed for a new way of traveling. If your writing is longer than this system will allow send it to me (wwhite@wisconsinumc.org) and I'll see it gets snuck in the backdoor of the dialogue software we are using, past the automatic limit. In this regard I was struck by an image in the August 23 Christian Century that likened the election of Bishop Robinson to the cutting of a Gordian knot in the frozen debate regarding the church and same-gender orientation. How might we help cut through other such knotty issues? PS - for a mathematical/topological approach to the Gordian knot issue you can browse here . Wesley White Song of Solomon 2:8-13 In Sacred Marriage: The Wisdom of the Song of Songs , words by Nicholas Ayo, paintings by Meinrad Craighead, there is this reference: "Marina Warner calls the Song 'That most languorous and amorous of poems,' which leaves the reader 'spellbound by its sensuality and drowsy voluptuousness.'" What will it take to read not only this passage, but the whole of scripture and life, languorously, amorously, sensually, voluptuously? Rabbi Aqiba may have had this in mind, seeing the Song as an entry point into the rest of the writings, when he wrote, "for the whole world is not worth the day on which the Song of Songs was given to Israel, for all the Writings are holy and the Song of Songs is the Holy of Holies." Can't you hear the scriptures, the witness of our elders, beckoning to us, "Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away." To read the scriptures as love poetry instead of a legal tome changes everything. It is not so much that we find the rules of life to follow and impel others to follow, but that we are found by the love of life to open and be opened to. May the scriptures pasture among the lilies that are us, until we know in our bones that my beloved is mine and I am the beloved's. May we also know this to be the experience of others and what binds us together is our respective experience of being loved and loving. Wesley White Psalm 45:1-2, 6-9 How would it be to have this be a psalm read at the next baptism in your congregation? A comment from the Christian Community Bible : "All of this can be applied to the church and also to each and everyone of us. On our baptismal day we were united with Christ and we entered into intimacy with God." Can you imagine the possibilities if we mutualized :) this and basked in the presence of verse 2 - You are most beautiful; grace is poured upon your lips; God has blessed you forever. Order the Christian Community Bible - you can also follow the links and find out more about this translation with study helps mostly from a liberation theology point of view. Wesley White James 1:17-27 ABCC'B'A' - a wonderful pattern in verses 26-27. A - think and use religion Here we have an example of the great reversal ever needed. Another way of looking at this is with the pattern of quick to listen, slow to speak, slower to anger. An implication is that our usual pattern of quickly angered, rapid to speak, slow to listen needs to be retrained, not retained (what a difference an "r" makes). Set aside 5 uninterrupted minutes; listen to this passage as you read it aloud three times, slowly. How did it change from the first to the last reading? Did some words begin to echo? What interconnections became clearer? Interconnections not just internally, between the words, but with your life. Were you able to actually do the above exercise or did you hear it only, and not act on it? Wesley White Deuteronomy 4:1-2, 6-9 Listen, give heed, to the rules and regulations that life may improve tomorrow as we live them today. It is probably important that more than hearing was asked. Listening is the operative word and listening suggests a desire for understanding. Understanding means paying attention to the dynamic of the rule as to its intended result from a particular starting spot. When the dynamic is listened to it becomes possible to live according to the spirit of the law and make the necessary adjustments as the circumstances in which the journey to the desired outcome change and are clarified. When this dynamic is only heard it becomes required to hold to the letter of the law, no matter what we have learned or how different the circumstances are that seem to activate it or how inappropriate it becomes. Listen, give heed, you may even begin to learn from changed circumstances and find yourself saying, "You have heard it said, but now....' Wesley White Psalm 15 Is this a song of limits or expansion? Who may abide? Who may dwell? What is the measurement of walking blameless, acting right, telling the truth? Any who do so - abide and dwell. Again, what is the measuring rod? Am I your measuring rod or you, my? Is it the past that rules the present and future? Is there an unchangeable Procrustean bed against which we stretch or lop off passers-by? Who abides and dwells - those who despise those who are not now dwelling, even if they may someday? Those who adamantly stand by their unchanging view of life? Those who live up to some external standard that excuses any profiteering of the poor as long as they don't take part in one particular activity? Blessings upon you and all who move toward the wholeness exemplified by walking blameless, acting right, and telling the truth - who honor all as being potential walking mates, who keep the meaning of both larger and smaller words, and who actively support the innocent. |