Advent 2
December 8, 2024

You can't unscramble an egg

A similar phrase is "you can't un-ring a bell."  Both appeal to the logic and observed reality that some things are irreversible.  It can be used in a variety of contexts from a caution not to do something that is irreversible to, after the fact, telling someone not to bother trying to do the impossible.      

Philippians 1:6
I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you 
will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ.

Like and egg can’t be unscrambled God’s plan for creation remains in God’s hands.  God’s creation is ongoing and moving forward, not backwards. All things work towards completion. There are positive and negative influences and good and bad ways but the destiny of creation remains in God’s plans and caring. 

Advent 3
December 15, 2024

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure

A more vivid expression is “He who repairs not his gutters repairs his whole house.” It talks about the value of investment up front. It is akin to politicians advocating for funding for social needs such as education, healthcare and infrastructure. The follower of this advice invests in the present, to avoid greater costs in the future. The expression implies that the pound of cure is 16 times the worth of an ounce of prevention. While not to be taken literally, it implies the decision should not be a difficult one. For those who are confused with weights and measures outside of the metric system, this phrase can be shortened to “prevention is far better than cure.”

Philippians 4:6-7           
Do not worry about anything,
but in everything by prayer and supplication
with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,
will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

While the Bible certainly contains many verses about the value of forbearance, there are also many that seem to tell people not to plan ahead, to live in the moment instead, because God will provide. There is a fine line between prudent planning and worthless worrying. Often we cannot even tell the two apart. And the advice of others may not always be clear either. My yoga teacher describes her preparation as "Plan plan plan, pray pray pray.” One does not have to set up planning and praying as opposites. God can be in both our thoughts and our plans, and we can commit those to God in prayer. Animal rights activist and yoga teacher Sharon Gannon says, “My practice is something I do for God. Period.” With these words she overcomes the false dichotomy of prayer and preparation.

Advent 4 
December 22 , 2024

Pride goeth before a fall

Aesop tells the story of two fighting cocks: After winning a battle over the other, one flew to the top of the house and began to crow in glee. This attracted an eagle which flew down, scooped the fighting cock and flew him back to his nest. This allowed the other fighting cock to take his place on top of the henhouse. Pride went before the fall. The very line that we read above is a slight abbreviation of Proverbs 16:18: “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.”    

Luke 1:51-52    
He has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, 
and lifted up the lowly;
he has filled the hungry with good things, 
and sent the rich away empty

Pride is one of the seven deadly sins constantly identified within the scriptures. While verse 51 speaks explicitly of pride preceding a fall, verses 52 and 53 speak of success in the political and financial realms. It is as if pride is just assumed (as a natural byproduct of success). It is as if the teaching is more about the transient nature of earthly rewards more than about the sin of pride. Or, perhaps, we are being told that pride is so insidious that we cannot ever assume we can enjoy success without its presence. In all cases, we are to be careful, mindful and corrective of our pride.
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Christmas 
December 25, 2024

One's loss is another's gain

Cited as first used in English in 1527, this saying has enjoyed many evocative variations since then. In his song Hank Williams Said It Best, Guy Clark offers 48 different plays on the phrase. Because the phrase has been used in so many contexts, its meaning is varied and ambiguous. Does it mean that we live in a kind of zero-sum world where we have to define winners and losers in all cases? In the game of Monopoly, for instance, does one player gain and another lose in each trade? Does this phrase deny the possibility of “win-win” solutions? Or does it mean that perception is everything and that what one person perceives a loss, another can perceive as a gain? Similar phrases are “One person’s meat is another person’s poison” and “One person’s trash is another’s treasure.”

Luke 2:10      
But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for see -
I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people:

The Luke verse speaks to the second understanding I noted above. Namely that we can perceive the world in a win-loss dichotomy if we so choose. Shortly after the pronouncement of good news in Luke we hear of all the changes that are to come, including the tumbling of the mighty and the freedom of the oppressed. While this is truly good news to the downtrodden, the comfortable cannot possibly see that they are being led to a new and unimaginably greater way of living. The interpretation that we live in a zero-sum world where we must have losers if we have winners, is simply not supported by the Bible. Conversely, a theology of abundance is always proclaimed. It starts with the gift of Creation as described in Genesis One; it is then echoed throughout the Bible, with Psalm 104 being perhaps the most delightfully poetic echo of the Creation story. However, it often takes time to realize that when “the world is turned upside down” it can be a great gift.

1st After Christmas 
December 29, 2024

If a job is worth doing, it is worth doing well

The Earl of Chesterfield wrote in a letter to his son on the 10th of March, 1746 "whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well." He then goes on to say that this applies "...down to the lowest things, even dancing and dress" which he must have considered as the lowest of the low. While we see absurdity in the opposite - "whatever is worth doing is worth doing poorly" we certainly can't pretend that everyone does everything as well as they could.  In fact, all sorts of resentments, distractions and justifications produce work that is less than it could be. My first job out of high school was setting up banquet and meeting rooms at a large downtown hotel. I worked with a guy who seemed to live by the rule, "nothing is worthwhile doing, but if you have to do it, do it as slowly and poorly as possible." I remember him once asking me to stop what we were doing so he could sing me a song. He promptly sang Simon and Garfunkel's 59th Street Bridge Song, or in particular, the words, "Slow down, you move too fast, You got to make the morning last."  At least he was upfront about it. A similar sounding quote has different, albeit perhaps related implications, “Anything easy isn't worth doing.” The fourth of the four agreements written by Don Miguel is “always do your best.”     

Colossians 3:23       
Whatever your task, put yourselves into it, 
as done for the Lord and not for your masters,
since you know that from the Lord 
you will receive the inheritance as your reward;
you serve the Lord Christ.

The Bible verse is almost identical to the proverb and may, in fact, be its inspiration.  It goes beyond the proverb giving a focus to all activity, that is all done for God. Fred Kaan's 1972 hymn, Worship the Lord includes this sentiment with the refrain "worship and work must be one."  In fact the Greek word, liturgy, is those two words in one; The work of the people and the worship of the people. 

Epiphany 
January 6, 2024

You cannot shake hands with a closed fist

When she was prime minister of India, Indira Gandhi was speaking about hostilities with Pakistan when she said, “India wants to avoid a war at all costs but it is not a one-sided affair, you cannot shake hands with a clenched fist.”  This is not a confession; it is an accusation. Presumably, both parties need to be sure that their hearts, minds and hands are open when they speak. Surely, we are not always the ones best placed to evaluate our own judgment. Can she really see her open hand and Pakistan’s closed fist with clarity?  One of my favourite professors, David Lochhead wrote a book about interfaith encounters: The Dialogical Imperative.  The key point was one of vulnerability.  Unless both sides were willing to learn something new, no real dialogue is possible.  Without such vulnerability, there is just a pair of dialogues, albeit side-by-side. A Christian and a Muslim will never have meaningful dialogue unless they are both open to being influenced and changed by the other.  The "closed fist" of the metaphor describes the precise lack of openness that comes when there is no possibility of change. 

Matthew 2:12
And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod,
they returned to their country by another route.

I have heard, and appreciated, several sermons focused on this verse where the last two words "another route"(NIV) or "another road" (NRSV) was understood as "another way."  The sermons spoke of the wise men, the magi, as having been changed, by experiencing the baby Jesus and by the God given dream. They left not simply by taking a different road, but with a different approach to life; “another way” of being. Herod was powerful and therefore both revered and feared. And Herod's request to know how he could find Jesus (Matthew 12:8) could have easily been taken by the magi as genuine.  The safest and logical response for the three travelers from the east would have been to report to Herod as requested. Yet, they went home a different way. Here, early in the story of Matthew, we see an example of being open to new information, being ready to change our plans, to being open to external influences and to greet others with a soft supple hand rather than a clenched fist.

Baptism of Our Lord
January 12, 2024

Between a rock and a hard place

There is no real advice in this phrase. However, the fact that it is used to describe a situation that is very difficult with no apparent solution, implies that all situations have to be reckoned with and when you are “between a rock and a hard place,” it is better to be honest about than in denial of your circumstances. The most literal use of this phrase might be by bestselling author Aron Ralston with the title of his book, 127 Hours: Between a Rock and a Hard Place. Ralston tells his story of being pinned by an 800-pound boulder against a canyon wall in Utah and choosing to cut off his arm in order to survive the ordeal. A similar phrase known to many is “to be caught between the devil and the deep blue sea.” The jailhouse phrase “hooped” which often refers to hiding drugs in your anus, is also used describe situations where no options are attractive.

Isaiah 43:2-3a  
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.
For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.

The confidence God gives is that we are protected in all situations, not just when things feel good. This confidence is meant to transform us. Transform us where our insecurities– and we all have many – no longer hold us hostage. Transform us to a place where we do not cling, control or cover up who we really are. To trust in God being there whenever you feel “between a rock and a hard place” liberates you to no longer anticipate such situations and to live freely at all times! Generally, people who live in such freedom are inspiring, inviting and inimitable.

Second Sunday after Epiphany
January 19, 2024

Variety is the spice of life

These words, written by William Cowper, appear at line 606 in his epic 1865 poem The Task. He is bemoaning the sense of fashion which would contrive that there is one best style and all others are inferior. Not much has changed in 150 years. Other phrases that promote variety include “To each his own,” “A change is as good as a rest,” and “Sameness is the mother of disgust, variety the cure.”

1 Corinthians 12:4-6   
Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit;
and there are varieties of services,
but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities,
but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone.

These verses come from a well-known section of 1 Corinthians where Paul uses the human body as a metaphor for the variety and unity the church is supposed to engender. Put simply, it promotes cooperation over competition and sees variety as a gift or an opportunity rather than a threat to be feared. Hopefully, you find a spicy variety of sayings at this site. I have really tried to practice what I preach.

Third Sunday after Epiphany
January 26, 2024

You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar

Who catches flies?  And why? I guess if you have a lot and they are bothering you, you catch them to kill them.  This sinister motive implied by the proverb seems to be lost. It is taken to mean that we are better to use a friendly approach rather than a mean spirited approach when trying to influence someone.  Thomas Fuller reported this saying in his 1732 collection Gnomologia.  Its form was “More Flies are taken with a Drop of Honey than a Tun of Vinegar.”  Both Henry Ward Beecher and Harriet Ward Beecher are credited with getting past the metaphor saying, "compassion will cure more sins than condemnation." 

Psalm 19:10
More to be desired are they than gold,
even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey,
and drippings of the honeycomb.

The Proverbs (15:1, 25:11, 25:23 and many others) also point, more often than not, that honey is preferred to vinegar. On the other hand, Paul suggests playing to a salty palate (Colossians 4:6). And while there may be millions of "turn or burn" sermons, that use the threat of endless hellfire, that have been preached, the adage pointing to honey over vinegar is echoed by Jesus when he sends his disciples to the "the roads and lanes [to] compel people to" attend a banquet.  (Luke 14:23) And while there may have been vinegar on the salad, we can also trust there was honey in the desert.

Fourth Sunday after Epiphany
February 2nd , 2024

The more I learn, the less I know

My uncle told me, when I started university, that my parents would become much smarter over the next few years.  He was an old radio broadcaster and had both a wonderful voice and a manner that always put one at ease. He was able to tell me that I was young and foolish and needed to grow up and appreciate my parents, but he did so with a velvet hammer.  I remember these words precisely because they did not threaten me. I did not push back but I did remember what he said and embraced his words fully within a few years. Soon, I became less critical of all those who were my senior. His words were easy to honor.  In the song, Borrowed Time, John Lennon expresses a similar thought with the words, "The more that I see, the less that I know for sure." This line of thinking is known as the Socratic Paradox.  In short form, “I know one thing: that I know nothing.” 

1 Corinthians 13:12 
Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face.
Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face.
Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.

One of my teenage pretensions was to be a fan of European art films.  I saw Ingmar Bergman's Through a Glass Darkly when I was 14.  In his introduction to the published screenplay, Bergman himself says that the movie “conquered certainty.”  This arty classic is said to “unearth the dysfunction of insanity, repressed sexuality, self absorption and more.”  Indeed, Bergmann challenges the appearances we keep the taken-for-granted idea that our lives will progress relatively untroubled.  Paul too called the faithful to a radical humility with these words to the Corinthians. We can never be certain. That is the human condition.  Age has a way of teaching us this if we have “eyes to see and ears to hear.” (Proverbs 20:12)

The Fifth Sunday after Epiphany
February 9, 2024

A volunteer is worth twenty pressed men

Less ambitious versions have a volunteer being worth only ten or two pressed (i.e. paid) workers.  The point is the same that a volunteer works with a purity of heart and spirit that is compromised once pay becomes part of the equation.  This is a phrase that cashes itself out frequently in my life. For one, I make my living by directing a program that is entirely driven by volunteerism.  For another, I choose to volunteer for many things I could be paid for. Two, in particular, are weddings and funerals. Rather than set an arbitrary fee for such things or try to negotiate based on the particular circumstances I just offer to provide the service and ask for a donation to a charity if they wish to value my efforts.   

Isaiah 6:8     
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 
"Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?"
And I said, "Here am I; send me!"

The words "Here I am" are offered by Isaiah, Samuel, Abraham, Jacob, Moses and others, including Jesus. (John 7:28) While God's call is compelling, it leaves open the choice of response and the response to God's call is always voluntary.  God receives volunteers. The mission of the program I run is very simple: we match volunteer visitors with inmates who request a visitor. And I often say, no matter how professional, how effective, how compassionate a prison employee might be, a volunteer going in as a friend can do things that no paid person can do.  There is a delightful freedom in volunteering; that is why we do it.

The Sixth Sunday after Epiphany
February 13, 2021

When the sun rises, it rises for everyone

Universally reported as a “Cuban Proverb” and rarely attributed to any individual, these words make a radical claim on equality of all. Presumably it stops at all people but broadens the idea of “everyone” to include all creation. Similar proverbs can be found in many other cultures. One of my proudest moments as a correctional chaplain was when my performance review noted my fault in “seeing the jail in terms of us and them.” I wondered out loud, in rebuttal, if maybe I saw it that way because that was the way it was. I wasn’t sure why I drew that conclusion, I mused in my defense, maybe it was the uniforms, or maybe it was the locks and bars. Forgive my sarcasm. While the sun rises for everyone, jail is one place where everything that can possibly be done is done to ensure that people do not experience the freedom of equality.

1 Corinthians 15:28    
When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself
will also be subjected to the one who put all things
in subjection under him, so that God may be all in all.

The proverb speaks very much in the present as it describes, with delightful simplicity, what is. The Bible verse puts this radical equality into the future. Depending on your sense of time within God's realm, that may not make much difference. As the proverb yields the warning to be careful to not consider ourselves any better than anyone else, the implication of these words to the church in Corinth goes further, explicitly telling the church in Corinth that all things, including people, will be under God.

The Seventh Sunday after Epiphany
February 16, 2021

One good turn deserves another

This is a restating of the Latin phrase, quid pro quo, which means, “two things exchanged for equal value.” The Latin version is often used in criminal court when explaining a plea bargain where both sides truly give something up and both sides truly gain something. Quid pro quo describes what is rather than what ought to be. In contrast, the word “deserves” in the proverb implies an appropriateness or obligation to repay something with equal value. A less formal way of saying it is “You scratch my back, and I’ll scratch yours.” Different cultures have different understandings. In the Gitxsan culture of northern British Columbia, gifts require, at some point, a return gift of even greater value. As an outsider, I was always hesitant to give gifts, as it obliged the receiver to pay me back with an even greater gift. Once I gave someone some money to help with repairs from a house fire. It was nearly a year later but they gave me a pair of shoes that were worth more than my gift. As they gave me the shoes, they said, “Thanks for your help” and it took me a while remember why they were thanking me. So many things around finance were radically different in that culture than my own that this was only one of many moments of confusion and education.

Luke 6:31      
Do to others as you would have them do to you.

The phrase “One good turn deserves another” is not exactly a restating of “The Golden Rule” which appears not only in the Gospels but also in the teachings of practically every known religion. The difference is that Jesus speaks of an initiative rather than a reaction. It is as if he speaks of our actions as a “first strike,” to use militaristic language.“ One good turn deserves another” is very much about a reaction that is "deserved" rather than a grace-filled choice to initiate goodness. As beautiful and simple as the Golden Rule is, in practice it can be a little confusing. Does it mean that, if I loved macaroni and cheese beyond all things, I should serve it to anyone and everyone because of that? Isn't that a little bit like buying football gear for my wife who doesn't know a penalty kick from a field goal? Given it is a pretty universal habit to project our likes and dislikes onto other people, we need to exercise some caution when living out these, seemingly obvious, words.
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​​Year A of the Revised Common Lectionary (Click on the season you wish to see)
Advent
Christmas and Epiphany
Transfiguration and Lent
Easter
Pentecost to Proper Sixteen
Proper Seventeen to The Reign of Christ

Year B of the Revised Common Lectionary (Click on the season you wish to see)
Advent
Christmas and Epiphany
Transfiguration and Lent
Easter
​Trinity Sunday to Proper Sixteen
Proper Seventeen to The Reign of Christ

Year C of the Revised Common Lectionary (Click on the season you wish to see)
Advent​
Christmas and Epiphany
Transfiguration and Lent
Easter
Pentecost to Proper Sixteen
Proper Seventeen to Reign of Christ


For more on Glenn Morison and his book that led to this page, check out The Things We Say.

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