And they cast lots to divide his clothing. The people stood by, watching Jesus on the cross; but the leaders scoffed at him, saying, "He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!" The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine, and saying, "If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!"
Jesus was used to that mocking question, “If you are…” In his time of testing in the desert, the three big temptations were prefaced with, “If you are the Son of God…” During his earthly ministry, Jesus was a king in disguise, like royals in fairy tales who wander their realm as commoners to find out what’s really going on. And he had a really good cover, “plain old human.” All through his public life, people questioned his heavenly identity because of his earthly markers – how could someone who came from Galilee be the Messiah? How could someone whose family we know be the Holy One?
And here, on the cross, stripped of his humanity, even his clothing, Jesus looks nothing like the Anointed One. The onlookers mock him; his own followers ache for him to show himself at last, for his sake, and for theirs. "It’s time for the phone booth, Clark – we know you’re Superman. Show yourself!” And Jesus does nothing. Nothing, that is, but forgive his executioners, pray to his heavenly Father, extend salvation to a thief dying with him. Nothing much.
A few weeks ago, I discussed Martin Luther’s notion of the Glorious Exchange, in which Christ takes on our threadbare beggar’s rags and gives us his royal robes to wear. Here is that moment. As his persecutors cast lots for his cloak, Jesus puts on our raggedness, our self-centeredness, our capacity for cruelty, and allows it to die with him.
But no one can tell that’s what’s going on. Paul wrote, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation…” The problem is, even as image he is invisible. He just looks like a poor sap who shot for more than he could pull off and is paying the ultimate price.
Are there times when you’ve joined that chorus? “Come on, Jesus, I’m believing in your almighty power to transform all things, to make us all whole. Now would be a great time to show yourself…” I’ve prayed that more than once. In fact, that prayer probably haunts a lot of our doubt and despair. And even so, we are invited to persist in praying, in believing, in claiming, in rejoicing.
So think of a really challenging situation you are faced with right now. Invite Jesus to show up in it and reveal power and life. Is it more impossible than what Jesus did on the cross? Sure, it looked like death had won. Took a few days to find out something deeper had happened.
It might take more than three days for us to see what God is up to in our prayers. And some things we will never understand in this life. That doesn’t mean Superman is gone or defeated. It’s just that, for some strange reason, God has chosen to make us the phone booths in which Clark becomes Superman. So, give the man some space.
11-19-13 - Forgive Them
When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing."
One of the greatest obstacles the early followers of Jesus had in presenting the Good News was what Paul refers to as “the scandal of the cross.” It’s hard enough to support the claim that your spiritual leader is a human being who is also the divine son of God, and that this human/divine person was killed and buried and yet managed to rise from the dead. But the notion of a holy man crucified? Crucifixion was one of Rome’s worst forms of execution, reserved for the lowest criminals and revolutionaries. This was crazy.
“But we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles,” Paul insisted after noting that “Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom.” He continues: “But to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” (I Cor.1:22-24)
It is hard to associate power and wisdom with the image of a naked, beaten, helpless man nailed to a cross. Yet that is exactly what Christian belief invites us to do, to see beneath the outward image to the spiritual reality. And that reality Jesus demonstrated in a gesture of incomprehensible generosity: “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing." He recognizes that the Jewish leaders seeking his death and the Roman leaders carrying out the unjust sentence are so caught up in systems of human control, they can’t see the larger picture or their own complicity.
Each gospel writer stresses in the story of Jesus’ crucifixion those elements he thinks matter most. Luke, champion of the poor and outcast, who so often highlights Jesus’ compassion, puts this act of forgiveness on the cross front and center. This is the kind of kingship we are to follow – forgiveness for the unforgivable, even at the point of death.
So – how are you with forgiveness today? Is anyone harming or holding you back, to whom you might extend this kind of grace? For me, many of our elected leaders come to mind, caught up as they are in power games and shifting allegiances, perhaps too much so to remember why they wanted to serve. “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing…”
Bring to mind someone you feel you need to forgive today. Hold her in your mind’s eye; let the light of Christ surround him. Put yourself into that circle of light with that person – even if you don’t like the company. This is prayer. And what we see in prayer we invite to be made real in our lives.
We do not live in a culture which prizes or admires forgiveness; many associate it with weakness. Christ demonstrated the greatest power and wisdom in extending unmerited grace to his executioners. Christ has extended such grace even to you, even to me.
One of the greatest obstacles the early followers of Jesus had in presenting the Good News was what Paul refers to as “the scandal of the cross.” It’s hard enough to support the claim that your spiritual leader is a human being who is also the divine son of God, and that this human/divine person was killed and buried and yet managed to rise from the dead. But the notion of a holy man crucified? Crucifixion was one of Rome’s worst forms of execution, reserved for the lowest criminals and revolutionaries. This was crazy.
“But we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles,” Paul insisted after noting that “Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom.” He continues: “But to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” (I Cor.1:22-24)
It is hard to associate power and wisdom with the image of a naked, beaten, helpless man nailed to a cross. Yet that is exactly what Christian belief invites us to do, to see beneath the outward image to the spiritual reality. And that reality Jesus demonstrated in a gesture of incomprehensible generosity: “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing." He recognizes that the Jewish leaders seeking his death and the Roman leaders carrying out the unjust sentence are so caught up in systems of human control, they can’t see the larger picture or their own complicity.
Each gospel writer stresses in the story of Jesus’ crucifixion those elements he thinks matter most. Luke, champion of the poor and outcast, who so often highlights Jesus’ compassion, puts this act of forgiveness on the cross front and center. This is the kind of kingship we are to follow – forgiveness for the unforgivable, even at the point of death.
So – how are you with forgiveness today? Is anyone harming or holding you back, to whom you might extend this kind of grace? For me, many of our elected leaders come to mind, caught up as they are in power games and shifting allegiances, perhaps too much so to remember why they wanted to serve. “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing…”
Bring to mind someone you feel you need to forgive today. Hold her in your mind’s eye; let the light of Christ surround him. Put yourself into that circle of light with that person – even if you don’t like the company. This is prayer. And what we see in prayer we invite to be made real in our lives.
We do not live in a culture which prizes or admires forgiveness; many associate it with weakness. Christ demonstrated the greatest power and wisdom in extending unmerited grace to his executioners. Christ has extended such grace even to you, even to me.
11-18-13 - The King of What?
I seem to get a lot of pop song snippets when I'm working on Water Daily. Today it’s Sara Bareilles’ King of Anything, which I’ve heard a few times on the radio. “Who died and made you king of anything?” goes the chorus.
This coming Sunday ends the church year before we rev back up with Advent. On the last Sunday in “ordinary time” we honor Christ as King. King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And in the years when we focus on the Gospel according to Luke, the passage appointed for highlighting Jesus’ kingship is the crucifixion. Yep, right before Christmas.
Looking through this story offers us lots of opportunity to talk about what kind of king would be put to death on a cross with common criminals on either side. “Who died and made you king of anything?” is the attitude of the leaders standing, watching Jesus die. An inscription hangs over him, “This is the King of the Jews.” The soldiers supervising the execution mocked him, "If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!" Pilate had interrogated him about his kingship, and Jesus only gave him cryptic answers like, “My kingdom is not of this world.” No one knew what kind of king this could be.
Today, let’s just stay on the threshold of this story and think about Jesus as king. Is he king (boss, chief, higher power…) in your life? Let’s put ourselves into a feudal, monarchical system for just a moment – how do you feel about Jesus being the highest authority in your life? Are there any places, or topics, or people over which you’re unwilling to cede power to God? Why?
If you’re willing, have a conversation with Jesus about that. I do believe he will listen and not make a grab for what you have not offered. He’s an amazingly patient king that way…
And if you are willing to acknowledge Jesus as King in your life, where do you find the blessing in that?
I guess in our story the answer to Ms. Bareilles’ question, “Who died and made you king of anything?” is “Jesus did.”
This coming Sunday ends the church year before we rev back up with Advent. On the last Sunday in “ordinary time” we honor Christ as King. King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And in the years when we focus on the Gospel according to Luke, the passage appointed for highlighting Jesus’ kingship is the crucifixion. Yep, right before Christmas.
Looking through this story offers us lots of opportunity to talk about what kind of king would be put to death on a cross with common criminals on either side. “Who died and made you king of anything?” is the attitude of the leaders standing, watching Jesus die. An inscription hangs over him, “This is the King of the Jews.” The soldiers supervising the execution mocked him, "If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!" Pilate had interrogated him about his kingship, and Jesus only gave him cryptic answers like, “My kingdom is not of this world.” No one knew what kind of king this could be.
Today, let’s just stay on the threshold of this story and think about Jesus as king. Is he king (boss, chief, higher power…) in your life? Let’s put ourselves into a feudal, monarchical system for just a moment – how do you feel about Jesus being the highest authority in your life? Are there any places, or topics, or people over which you’re unwilling to cede power to God? Why?
If you’re willing, have a conversation with Jesus about that. I do believe he will listen and not make a grab for what you have not offered. He’s an amazingly patient king that way…
And if you are willing to acknowledge Jesus as King in your life, where do you find the blessing in that?
I guess in our story the answer to Ms. Bareilles’ question, “Who died and made you king of anything?” is “Jesus did.”
11-15-13 - Peaceable Kingdom
The portion of Isaiah we’re looking at depicts different visions of peace and security. It even goes beyond human life to show peace reigning in the natural world, with an image that is known as “The Peaceable Kingdom”: The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, the lion shall eat straw like the ox;
In this vision, predator-prey relationships are completely overturned; in fact, there are no predators. Carnivores have become vegetarians – a return to life in the Garden of Eden, in which plants and trees provided all the food that was needed, in which there was no killing to eat, no killing to settle scores. All that came outside the Garden, after the first man and woman were expelled.
They shall not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain, says the LORD.
No one will hurt. No one will be hurt.
On my drive back from DC yesterday morning, I passed about seven carcasses of deer and other animals slain by humans moving too quickly to get somewhere that seems more important than the world around them. It seemed such an awful counter-narrative to Isaiah’s. Oh, I do realize that in part deer are vulnerable because predator-prey relationships have been overturned in other, not so positive ways in our world; without predators they have to go further and further for food, wandering onto our roadways. And I do know that the natural order can also be fierce and dangerous. But my spirit is wounded whenever I see a dead animal. I’m increasingly leery of the whole idea of killing animals for food.
So this image is powerful for me. It proclaims: “The order we call natural has been undone and remade by God.” I want the lamb and the wolf to hang out together – I love wolves, I love lambs. I want the lion to like eating ox food, not oxen. And yes, I want people to stop slaughtering animals and one another. Call me hopelessly naïve. I find this vision compelling.
Well, what we do as people of faith is call into being what is not yet. (There’s a Bible verse that says something like, “call what is not as though it is.” Prize for the first person who finds it…) If it already exists in the mind of God, it already is – we invite it to be made known in the here and now. So God puts out this vision in Isaiah of a restored creation with peace and security for every living creature – we add our faith to it, and it will be. Sooner or later… sooner, if we all agree. Transformation happens.
I want to add my faith to this beautiful vision. What visions do you want to call into being? Your own? Something somebody else has described? Where are your prayers leading you today?
Yesterday, Sandy Hook Promise, one of the groups launched in Newtown in the aftermath of the mass shooting last year, unveiled its initiatives for bringing peace by working to prevent gun violence and encouraging parents. Their new website says: Sandy Hook Promise (SHP) is a national, non-profit organization led by community members and several parents and spouses who lost loved ones in the tragic mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, 2012 that claimed the lives of 20 first-graders and 6 educators. Our intent is to honor all victims of gun violence by turning our tragedy into a moment of transformation.
This is one way we bring about the peaceable kingdom – allowing our tragedies to become moments for transformation, our pain turned to purpose. Another part of Isaiah tells this vision again, with a different ending: The lion shall lie down with the lamb… and a little child shall lead them. Amen.
In this vision, predator-prey relationships are completely overturned; in fact, there are no predators. Carnivores have become vegetarians – a return to life in the Garden of Eden, in which plants and trees provided all the food that was needed, in which there was no killing to eat, no killing to settle scores. All that came outside the Garden, after the first man and woman were expelled.
They shall not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain, says the LORD.
No one will hurt. No one will be hurt.
On my drive back from DC yesterday morning, I passed about seven carcasses of deer and other animals slain by humans moving too quickly to get somewhere that seems more important than the world around them. It seemed such an awful counter-narrative to Isaiah’s. Oh, I do realize that in part deer are vulnerable because predator-prey relationships have been overturned in other, not so positive ways in our world; without predators they have to go further and further for food, wandering onto our roadways. And I do know that the natural order can also be fierce and dangerous. But my spirit is wounded whenever I see a dead animal. I’m increasingly leery of the whole idea of killing animals for food.
So this image is powerful for me. It proclaims: “The order we call natural has been undone and remade by God.” I want the lamb and the wolf to hang out together – I love wolves, I love lambs. I want the lion to like eating ox food, not oxen. And yes, I want people to stop slaughtering animals and one another. Call me hopelessly naïve. I find this vision compelling.
Well, what we do as people of faith is call into being what is not yet. (There’s a Bible verse that says something like, “call what is not as though it is.” Prize for the first person who finds it…) If it already exists in the mind of God, it already is – we invite it to be made known in the here and now. So God puts out this vision in Isaiah of a restored creation with peace and security for every living creature – we add our faith to it, and it will be. Sooner or later… sooner, if we all agree. Transformation happens.
I want to add my faith to this beautiful vision. What visions do you want to call into being? Your own? Something somebody else has described? Where are your prayers leading you today?
Yesterday, Sandy Hook Promise, one of the groups launched in Newtown in the aftermath of the mass shooting last year, unveiled its initiatives for bringing peace by working to prevent gun violence and encouraging parents. Their new website says: Sandy Hook Promise (SHP) is a national, non-profit organization led by community members and several parents and spouses who lost loved ones in the tragic mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, 2012 that claimed the lives of 20 first-graders and 6 educators. Our intent is to honor all victims of gun violence by turning our tragedy into a moment of transformation.
This is one way we bring about the peaceable kingdom – allowing our tragedies to become moments for transformation, our pain turned to purpose. Another part of Isaiah tells this vision again, with a different ending: The lion shall lie down with the lamb… and a little child shall lead them. Amen.
11-14-13 - New Earth/New Heavens
For the rest of the week, I would like to look at one of the readings from the Hebrew Bible set for Sunday, a beautiful prophecy in Isaiah, in which God announces: “For I am about to create new heavens and a new earth.”
I spent yesterday on Capitol Hill, lobbying for passage of background check laws to reduce gun violence. And I thought, as I walked the halls and corridors of Congress, rushing from House to Senate office buildings and back, that most of the people who choose the political life do so because they want to participate in remaking the earth. Very few get rich doing it, and the stresses are unbelievable. You have to have a desire somewhere to help make life better, for at least some of the people some of the time.
This passage is a timely one for me, given what I’ve been doing this week at the Brady conference. Background checks work. It’s been proven – as it has been that the 40% of purchases that manage to sidestep background checks result in gun violence that makes us all less secure.This passage gives voice to the yearning for peace and security which should be the birthright of every man, woman and child – and animal – on this planet. It articulates beautifully the hope of a restored creation living in harmony:
I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and delight in my people; no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it, or the cry of distress. No more shall there be in it an infant that lives but a few days, or an old person who does not live out a lifetime…
Reading that, I can’t help but think of the men and women I met this week who lost little children and spouses, brothers and uncles to gun violence. I think of the residents of Newtown facing the first anniversary of the loss of so many children; of people in Bridgeport and Chicago mourning their dead – the sound of weeping never quite dies away.
I think of the promise of security and work and rest envisioned in this prophecy:
They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat…
This is true peace, when each person can live in safety in their own home, bringing up their children to thrive in trust. This is the world God says he is bringing into being. This is the promise we are invited to participate in making real.
What do you long for when you think of God making a new heavens and a new earth?
What aspect of life in this world do you feel called to help renew? Where do you want to put your energies? Start by praying about that area, and imagining yourself making a difference, in the power of the Spirit.
What do you see yourself doing or saying? Keep inviting God into it.
I know I will keep working and praying for peace on our streets.
“They shall not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain, says the LORD.”
I believe in the power of love to transform and convert the most evil heart. I have to, despite evidence to the contrary. The evidence is not more powerful than the power and the promise of God. God is creating the new heavens and the new earth – and we are here at the beginning. Every day.
I spent yesterday on Capitol Hill, lobbying for passage of background check laws to reduce gun violence. And I thought, as I walked the halls and corridors of Congress, rushing from House to Senate office buildings and back, that most of the people who choose the political life do so because they want to participate in remaking the earth. Very few get rich doing it, and the stresses are unbelievable. You have to have a desire somewhere to help make life better, for at least some of the people some of the time.
This passage is a timely one for me, given what I’ve been doing this week at the Brady conference. Background checks work. It’s been proven – as it has been that the 40% of purchases that manage to sidestep background checks result in gun violence that makes us all less secure.This passage gives voice to the yearning for peace and security which should be the birthright of every man, woman and child – and animal – on this planet. It articulates beautifully the hope of a restored creation living in harmony:
I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and delight in my people; no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it, or the cry of distress. No more shall there be in it an infant that lives but a few days, or an old person who does not live out a lifetime…
Reading that, I can’t help but think of the men and women I met this week who lost little children and spouses, brothers and uncles to gun violence. I think of the residents of Newtown facing the first anniversary of the loss of so many children; of people in Bridgeport and Chicago mourning their dead – the sound of weeping never quite dies away.
I think of the promise of security and work and rest envisioned in this prophecy:
They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat…
This is true peace, when each person can live in safety in their own home, bringing up their children to thrive in trust. This is the world God says he is bringing into being. This is the promise we are invited to participate in making real.
What do you long for when you think of God making a new heavens and a new earth?
What aspect of life in this world do you feel called to help renew? Where do you want to put your energies? Start by praying about that area, and imagining yourself making a difference, in the power of the Spirit.
What do you see yourself doing or saying? Keep inviting God into it.
I know I will keep working and praying for peace on our streets.
“They shall not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain, says the LORD.”
I believe in the power of love to transform and convert the most evil heart. I have to, despite evidence to the contrary. The evidence is not more powerful than the power and the promise of God. God is creating the new heavens and the new earth – and we are here at the beginning. Every day.
11-13-13 - Faith on Trial
I may have overdone it with the “end of the world” stuff the past two days. Yes, Jesus refers to wars and famines and portents of the end, but that is not his focus. He is preparing his followers for the hard times to come, when the structures of their faith are torn away, and they face persecution from both Jewish leaders and Romans for their belief in Christ.
"But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name.” He says they will be betrayed by family and friends and handed over, and, “some of you will die.” But there’s an upside: this will give them a chance to testify. Then he says something strange: don’t prepare. “So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance; for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict.”
Defending our faith is not a situation many of us will have to face. I have heard testimony from African clergy who have faced bitter persecution and bombed churches and death threats. But most Christians I know are more likely to be mocked than persecuted for their faith. “Why do you bother with that?”
And what would you answer? What do you say when people ask why you believe in Christ? As the old saw goes, “If you were on trial for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?” Name some of that evidence, just to remind yourself.
We may not have to stand up for our faith very often, but there are occasions when we’re called to testify in other ways – to stand for justice, to speak truth to those who have the power to change things. I may have such an opportunity tomorrow on Capitol Hill – and I ask your prayers. I am in Washington, DC this week, at the Brady Summit on Preventing Gun Violence. There are about 250 people from all over the country here, and today’s sessions were powerful and informative, moving and helpful. We heard from public health officials and a congresswomen, from the Director of the ATF, from doctors, law enforcement, activists and parents who’ve lost children to gun violence. Tomorrow morning, we gather for some training and then we go to the Hill to speak to legislators, to remind them that background checks work, and urge them to close the internet and gun show loopholes that allow 40% of gun purchasers – mostly people we all agree should not have access to guns - to bypass background checks.
I will wear my collar and bear witness to the stance that my faith community and many others take on this issue, supporting background checks and sensible gun laws to keep us safe. I don’t know what I will say, if given the chance, but I plan to be conscious that I’m not alone – that Jesus, who has promised to be with me through His Spirit, will be right there – and he can be pretty persuasive.
After all, it’s not our job to represent God, or even to make other people believe in God – it’s just up to us to make the introductions, to speak of the love and truth we experience. The Spirit will do the rest.
"But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name.” He says they will be betrayed by family and friends and handed over, and, “some of you will die.” But there’s an upside: this will give them a chance to testify. Then he says something strange: don’t prepare. “So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance; for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict.”
Defending our faith is not a situation many of us will have to face. I have heard testimony from African clergy who have faced bitter persecution and bombed churches and death threats. But most Christians I know are more likely to be mocked than persecuted for their faith. “Why do you bother with that?”
And what would you answer? What do you say when people ask why you believe in Christ? As the old saw goes, “If you were on trial for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?” Name some of that evidence, just to remind yourself.
We may not have to stand up for our faith very often, but there are occasions when we’re called to testify in other ways – to stand for justice, to speak truth to those who have the power to change things. I may have such an opportunity tomorrow on Capitol Hill – and I ask your prayers. I am in Washington, DC this week, at the Brady Summit on Preventing Gun Violence. There are about 250 people from all over the country here, and today’s sessions were powerful and informative, moving and helpful. We heard from public health officials and a congresswomen, from the Director of the ATF, from doctors, law enforcement, activists and parents who’ve lost children to gun violence. Tomorrow morning, we gather for some training and then we go to the Hill to speak to legislators, to remind them that background checks work, and urge them to close the internet and gun show loopholes that allow 40% of gun purchasers – mostly people we all agree should not have access to guns - to bypass background checks.
I will wear my collar and bear witness to the stance that my faith community and many others take on this issue, supporting background checks and sensible gun laws to keep us safe. I don’t know what I will say, if given the chance, but I plan to be conscious that I’m not alone – that Jesus, who has promised to be with me through His Spirit, will be right there – and he can be pretty persuasive.
After all, it’s not our job to represent God, or even to make other people believe in God – it’s just up to us to make the introductions, to speak of the love and truth we experience. The Spirit will do the rest.
11-12-13 - And I Feel Fine...
11-12-13…. An auspicious date on which to talk about the end of the world. Or do to almost anything… And let’s get that REM song in here now: It’s the end of the world as we know It… and I feel fine.
Truly? Is there a way we can feel fine about worlds ending, whether it’s The World, or pieces of ours? I don’t know about fine, but I do believe we can attain a spiritual quality of trust and disentanglement that allows us to meet all kinds of circumstances with serenity.
Part of the shock in what Jesus said about the temple being destroyed as a sign of the end (of something… he doesn’t actually say the end of the world…), is that the temple was so solid and so central to his followers' identity. How can something so vital and real become as nothing?
Even our grandest buildings, even the institutions they represent, even the hopes and dreams of those who are invested in those institutions, are among the things of this world which are passing away. And – shock of shocks – so are we. We believe we have a future beyond this world, but our time here is finite. (Here is a video reminder of how small we really are in the grand scheme of things.)
When we truly integrate that knowledge into our being, when we truly see each day as a gift to be received in full, not only as a step along the way to another gift tomorrow, we begin to attain that serenity that allows us to meet the darkest times. This is that spiritual quality of apatheia we talked about a few weeks ago, that holy equanimity that we cultivate as we learn to let go of our agendas and receive God’s life and dreams for us.
Are there things or people or situations about which you find it impossible to feel peaceful? Would you like to invite God to give you peace even around these matters?
What would that look like or feel like? Try to imagine it…
St. Ambrose of Milan, a wonderful 4th century bishop, had a beautiful image for this in one of his mystagogical sermons on baptism (mystagogy is preaching and teaching on the holy mysteries of the church). In one of my favorite parts, he talks about how the newly baptized are to be like fish:
“Imitate the fish,” he says. “It is in the sea and above the waves. It is in the sea and swims on the waters. On the sea the tempest rages, violent winds blow; but the fish swims on. It does not drown because it is used to swimming. In the same way, this world is the sea for you. It has various currents, huge waves, fierce storms. You too must be a fish, so that the waves of this world do not drown you.”
Perhaps the week after a great many people met horrible deaths due to a fierce storm with violent winds and huge waves is not the time to hear this quote, which we’d all rather remained a lovely metaphor. Or maybe this is just the day to recall God’s fierce promise of peace that defies understanding.
Even in the face of devastation, our faith invites us to proclaim the love of a God who weeps with those who weep, who strengthens those who work for recovery, who invites us to look beyond what we can see to a reality of love and restoration we can only dimly glimpse. In Christ, we truly are fine. No matter what. No matter when.
Truly? Is there a way we can feel fine about worlds ending, whether it’s The World, or pieces of ours? I don’t know about fine, but I do believe we can attain a spiritual quality of trust and disentanglement that allows us to meet all kinds of circumstances with serenity.
Part of the shock in what Jesus said about the temple being destroyed as a sign of the end (of something… he doesn’t actually say the end of the world…), is that the temple was so solid and so central to his followers' identity. How can something so vital and real become as nothing?
Even our grandest buildings, even the institutions they represent, even the hopes and dreams of those who are invested in those institutions, are among the things of this world which are passing away. And – shock of shocks – so are we. We believe we have a future beyond this world, but our time here is finite. (Here is a video reminder of how small we really are in the grand scheme of things.)
When we truly integrate that knowledge into our being, when we truly see each day as a gift to be received in full, not only as a step along the way to another gift tomorrow, we begin to attain that serenity that allows us to meet the darkest times. This is that spiritual quality of apatheia we talked about a few weeks ago, that holy equanimity that we cultivate as we learn to let go of our agendas and receive God’s life and dreams for us.
Are there things or people or situations about which you find it impossible to feel peaceful? Would you like to invite God to give you peace even around these matters?
What would that look like or feel like? Try to imagine it…
St. Ambrose of Milan, a wonderful 4th century bishop, had a beautiful image for this in one of his mystagogical sermons on baptism (mystagogy is preaching and teaching on the holy mysteries of the church). In one of my favorite parts, he talks about how the newly baptized are to be like fish:
“Imitate the fish,” he says. “It is in the sea and above the waves. It is in the sea and swims on the waters. On the sea the tempest rages, violent winds blow; but the fish swims on. It does not drown because it is used to swimming. In the same way, this world is the sea for you. It has various currents, huge waves, fierce storms. You too must be a fish, so that the waves of this world do not drown you.”
Perhaps the week after a great many people met horrible deaths due to a fierce storm with violent winds and huge waves is not the time to hear this quote, which we’d all rather remained a lovely metaphor. Or maybe this is just the day to recall God’s fierce promise of peace that defies understanding.
Even in the face of devastation, our faith invites us to proclaim the love of a God who weeps with those who weep, who strengthens those who work for recovery, who invites us to look beyond what we can see to a reality of love and restoration we can only dimly glimpse. In Christ, we truly are fine. No matter what. No matter when.
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