The Seventh Sunday after Epiphany
February 24, 2019
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.
Transfiguration Sunday
March 3, 2019
Give me liberty or give me death
Although there is much debate about the authenticity, reliable publications such as Time magazine cite these words as the closing words of Patrick Henry in a speech calling Americans into the Revolutionary War on March 23, 1775. His speech is reported to have ended: "Gentlemen may cry, peace, peace -- but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! -- I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!" In short, I would rather die than be under the rule of others. Variations on this theme can be found in mottos all over the world. New Hampshire puts their state motto on their license plates, Live Free or Die.
2 Corinthians 3:17
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
God saves us. What does God save us for? I have asked this question of strangers and one answer I have received is "eternity." There are probably many "right" answers but one would be to answer, "freedom." The Gospel message is that we are set free, liberated from our sin, through forgiveness. As such, we are always free, no matter the circumstances. A common Bible given to prisoners has a title on the cover: Free on the Inside and the introductory notes make exactly this point. In the same way, the freedom that Jesus gives is not one that we go to war to earn. If we don’t earn this freedom, we certainly don’t fight for it. It is one we receive as a gift- and cheat death of its power by doing so!
Lent 1
March 10, 2019
An open door may tempt a saint
This phrase can be found in James Holwell's Spanish Proverbs of 1659. A cursory internet search pulls up versions in Hindi suggesting that similar phrases may have arisen in multiple cultures. I also found a clever take on the Lord's Prayer. Lead me not into temptation (I can find the way myself.) All this is to say that temptation may not need to be very much to be effective. Addicts know this explicitly.
Luke 4:13
When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.
This verse has left me scratching my head for over thirty years. Opportune for the devil, I assume. You would expect it to be an inopportune time for Jesus that the devil would choose. And what makes for an opportune time? And if Jesus can yield opportune times, how often might we be doing so? If it only takes an open door for a saint, then what does it take for me, a door that possibly be opened? Yep, more questions than answers but I have come to believe that is the correct response to temptation. When we think we have it figured out, we might be the most lost we've ever been.
Lent 2
March 17, 2019
We are not human beings having spiritual experiences;
we are spiritual beings having human experiences
Stephen Covey and Wayne Dyer have both been credited with these words as well has Teilhard de Chardin whom they give credit for saying it before they did. In The Phenomenon of Man, de Chardin cautions against any form of dualistic thinking such as the separation of physical and spiritual. “Nowhere either is the need more urgent of building a bridge between the two banks of our existence — the physical and the moral — if we wish the material and spiritual sides of our activities to be mutually enlivened.” Even the clever phrasing attributed to Covey, Dyer and others takes us into the either/or realm we best avoid. De Chardin describes such thinking as "at once impossible and anti-scientific." When de Chardin states that “to think we must eat he assures us that the "mutual independence" of the body and mind is “as clear as their interrelation.” If the tidy quote above is expressing this complex mystery then it is faithful to de Chardin. If it is an attempt to solve the mystery and lay the physical beneath the spiritual, then it is a misrepresentation.
Luke 9:33
As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him,
"Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters--
one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah." (He did not know what he was saying.)
Luke's account of The Transfiguration story (9:28-36) clearly portrays Peter as not appreciating the moment. He seeks to fuse the spiritual experience in time with the building of homes. Instead, Jesus leads Peter down the mountain and back into the mission and ministry of healing and teaching. Jesus denies Peter's attempt to arrest the spiritual and make it physical. The spiritual life lives through our bodies, beings and relationships. The spiritual is physical and the physical is spiritual. We are human beings having spiritual experiences and we are spiritual beings having human experiences. There is no need to choose, order, prioritize or simplify. A German speaking friend of mine uses a little phrase, “hier lasst uns Hütten bauen” which she translates as “let’s just stay here.”
Lent 3
March 24, 2019
God will never ask more of you than you can give
There is a problem with these words. Many people have died because of what life demanded and now they are not able to give us their perspective. One could also say that, as long as we have something to give, God has not asked too much of us. Restating the words in this way is redundant: It means the same thing.The aphorism implies that whenever we survive trauma, God is our rescuer. But it does not account for cases where people survive an incident, but their trauma destroys them later.
1 Corinthians 10:13
No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone.
God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength,
but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.
This Bible verse yields the same challenge as the phrase above. It does not allow for the situation which is beyond our strength. Some of us have hope that God will meet our every need. For others, this promise that seems false when measured by our experience is reason enough not to bother with the whole idea of faith. Most of us struggle in the most difficult place, the middle, neither shutting down our inquiry with blind trust nor giving up and refusing to trust.
Lent 4
March 31, 2019
Fools rush in where angels fear to tread
Alexander Pope's Essay on Criticism, which is a poem published in 1711, contains these very words. Jumping ahead 288 years, Fools Rush In is the title of a 1997 romantic comedy starring Matthew Perry and Salma Heyak. It is about a couple being brought together by a pregnancy resulting from a one night stand. Both characters are the "fools" who "rushed in." It is a conservative expression that coaches against risk and action and gives credit to angels for acting on their awareness and showing restraint.
Luke 15:2
And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying,
"This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them."
Jesus rushed in where the Pharisees refused to tread. Namely among sinners! As I have pointed out consistently, it is such behavior that led directly to Jesus being killed. Yes, the same Jesus who asked that we follow him, before he started doing such things! It is true that one can find scriptures that promote caution and scriptures that promote risk. But few can be taken to promote recklessness. The central promise is that God will care for us as we venture out to do the right thing such as Jesus did when he "ate and drank with tax collectors and sinners." (Matthew 9:11, Matthew 11:19, Luke 5:30 and Luke 7:34)
Lent 5
April 7, 2019
Be here now
This is the title of a 1971 book by American spiritual teacher Ram Dass, born with the name Richard Alpert. In the book, he included several posters. One of the posters reads "What are you doing? Planning for the Future? Well It's all right now. But Later? ...Forget it baby that's later. Now is Now Are you going to be here or not. It's as simple as that." Eckhart Tolle found a way to update the message in the late 1990s and sold over three million copies of The Power of Now.
Isaiah 43:18-19
Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old.
I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.
The call to the present moment is another seemingly universal spiritual principle. Jesus' phrase "The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand" is call to the moment. This verse from Isaiah says the very same thing. God is at work. Pay Attention. Be here now. Now has power. The Power of Now is real.
Passion Sunday
April 14, 2019
It’s a dog eat dog world
It is said that this phrase began as "dogs don't eat dogs" and changed to its current form as a sign of desperation that such respect was no longer visible. Dogs eating dogs is deplorable. However, the words are often spoken to heighten toughness and call people to get ready for a dogfight. The metaphor, when applied to team sports, office politics and other settings sets the stage for permitting the worst of the worst. Again, we see the kind of thinking that helps someone justify life in the world of organized crime. One time when I speaking with a man convicted of murder, he explained in his defense, “It is not like I killed a civilian.” He had taken the metaphor of a drug dealing “turf war” one step further than the rest of us and named his victim as a soldier on the other side. He lived in a dog eat dog world. And that is sad.
Philippians 2:4
Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.
These gentle words call us back much further than the simple politeness where we would not devour our own kind. Paul describes anything but a dog eat dog world. The metaphor of dogs eating dogs is as far from being conducive to loving community as one can get. Dogs do not eat dogs in Christ’s Economy. If we want our dogs to be safe, we need to show them a good example.
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.
All this material is copyleft. Feel free to use it however you see fit, with or without attribution.
If you wish to value this page, please make a donation to the Winnipeg Quaker Meeting.
February 24, 2019
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.
Transfiguration Sunday
March 3, 2019
Give me liberty or give me death
Although there is much debate about the authenticity, reliable publications such as Time magazine cite these words as the closing words of Patrick Henry in a speech calling Americans into the Revolutionary War on March 23, 1775. His speech is reported to have ended: "Gentlemen may cry, peace, peace -- but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! -- I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!" In short, I would rather die than be under the rule of others. Variations on this theme can be found in mottos all over the world. New Hampshire puts their state motto on their license plates, Live Free or Die.
2 Corinthians 3:17
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
God saves us. What does God save us for? I have asked this question of strangers and one answer I have received is "eternity." There are probably many "right" answers but one would be to answer, "freedom." The Gospel message is that we are set free, liberated from our sin, through forgiveness. As such, we are always free, no matter the circumstances. A common Bible given to prisoners has a title on the cover: Free on the Inside and the introductory notes make exactly this point. In the same way, the freedom that Jesus gives is not one that we go to war to earn. If we don’t earn this freedom, we certainly don’t fight for it. It is one we receive as a gift- and cheat death of its power by doing so!
Lent 1
March 10, 2019
An open door may tempt a saint
This phrase can be found in James Holwell's Spanish Proverbs of 1659. A cursory internet search pulls up versions in Hindi suggesting that similar phrases may have arisen in multiple cultures. I also found a clever take on the Lord's Prayer. Lead me not into temptation (I can find the way myself.) All this is to say that temptation may not need to be very much to be effective. Addicts know this explicitly.
Luke 4:13
When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.
This verse has left me scratching my head for over thirty years. Opportune for the devil, I assume. You would expect it to be an inopportune time for Jesus that the devil would choose. And what makes for an opportune time? And if Jesus can yield opportune times, how often might we be doing so? If it only takes an open door for a saint, then what does it take for me, a door that possibly be opened? Yep, more questions than answers but I have come to believe that is the correct response to temptation. When we think we have it figured out, we might be the most lost we've ever been.
Lent 2
March 17, 2019
We are not human beings having spiritual experiences;
we are spiritual beings having human experiences
Stephen Covey and Wayne Dyer have both been credited with these words as well has Teilhard de Chardin whom they give credit for saying it before they did. In The Phenomenon of Man, de Chardin cautions against any form of dualistic thinking such as the separation of physical and spiritual. “Nowhere either is the need more urgent of building a bridge between the two banks of our existence — the physical and the moral — if we wish the material and spiritual sides of our activities to be mutually enlivened.” Even the clever phrasing attributed to Covey, Dyer and others takes us into the either/or realm we best avoid. De Chardin describes such thinking as "at once impossible and anti-scientific." When de Chardin states that “to think we must eat he assures us that the "mutual independence" of the body and mind is “as clear as their interrelation.” If the tidy quote above is expressing this complex mystery then it is faithful to de Chardin. If it is an attempt to solve the mystery and lay the physical beneath the spiritual, then it is a misrepresentation.
Luke 9:33
As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him,
"Master, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters--
one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah." (He did not know what he was saying.)
Luke's account of The Transfiguration story (9:28-36) clearly portrays Peter as not appreciating the moment. He seeks to fuse the spiritual experience in time with the building of homes. Instead, Jesus leads Peter down the mountain and back into the mission and ministry of healing and teaching. Jesus denies Peter's attempt to arrest the spiritual and make it physical. The spiritual life lives through our bodies, beings and relationships. The spiritual is physical and the physical is spiritual. We are human beings having spiritual experiences and we are spiritual beings having human experiences. There is no need to choose, order, prioritize or simplify. A German speaking friend of mine uses a little phrase, “hier lasst uns Hütten bauen” which she translates as “let’s just stay here.”
Lent 3
March 24, 2019
God will never ask more of you than you can give
There is a problem with these words. Many people have died because of what life demanded and now they are not able to give us their perspective. One could also say that, as long as we have something to give, God has not asked too much of us. Restating the words in this way is redundant: It means the same thing.The aphorism implies that whenever we survive trauma, God is our rescuer. But it does not account for cases where people survive an incident, but their trauma destroys them later.
1 Corinthians 10:13
No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone.
God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength,
but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.
This Bible verse yields the same challenge as the phrase above. It does not allow for the situation which is beyond our strength. Some of us have hope that God will meet our every need. For others, this promise that seems false when measured by our experience is reason enough not to bother with the whole idea of faith. Most of us struggle in the most difficult place, the middle, neither shutting down our inquiry with blind trust nor giving up and refusing to trust.
Lent 4
March 31, 2019
Fools rush in where angels fear to tread
Alexander Pope's Essay on Criticism, which is a poem published in 1711, contains these very words. Jumping ahead 288 years, Fools Rush In is the title of a 1997 romantic comedy starring Matthew Perry and Salma Heyak. It is about a couple being brought together by a pregnancy resulting from a one night stand. Both characters are the "fools" who "rushed in." It is a conservative expression that coaches against risk and action and gives credit to angels for acting on their awareness and showing restraint.
Luke 15:2
And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying,
"This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them."
Jesus rushed in where the Pharisees refused to tread. Namely among sinners! As I have pointed out consistently, it is such behavior that led directly to Jesus being killed. Yes, the same Jesus who asked that we follow him, before he started doing such things! It is true that one can find scriptures that promote caution and scriptures that promote risk. But few can be taken to promote recklessness. The central promise is that God will care for us as we venture out to do the right thing such as Jesus did when he "ate and drank with tax collectors and sinners." (Matthew 9:11, Matthew 11:19, Luke 5:30 and Luke 7:34)
Lent 5
April 7, 2019
Be here now
This is the title of a 1971 book by American spiritual teacher Ram Dass, born with the name Richard Alpert. In the book, he included several posters. One of the posters reads "What are you doing? Planning for the Future? Well It's all right now. But Later? ...Forget it baby that's later. Now is Now Are you going to be here or not. It's as simple as that." Eckhart Tolle found a way to update the message in the late 1990s and sold over three million copies of The Power of Now.
Isaiah 43:18-19
Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old.
I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.
The call to the present moment is another seemingly universal spiritual principle. Jesus' phrase "The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand" is call to the moment. This verse from Isaiah says the very same thing. God is at work. Pay Attention. Be here now. Now has power. The Power of Now is real.
Passion Sunday
April 14, 2019
It’s a dog eat dog world
It is said that this phrase began as "dogs don't eat dogs" and changed to its current form as a sign of desperation that such respect was no longer visible. Dogs eating dogs is deplorable. However, the words are often spoken to heighten toughness and call people to get ready for a dogfight. The metaphor, when applied to team sports, office politics and other settings sets the stage for permitting the worst of the worst. Again, we see the kind of thinking that helps someone justify life in the world of organized crime. One time when I speaking with a man convicted of murder, he explained in his defense, “It is not like I killed a civilian.” He had taken the metaphor of a drug dealing “turf war” one step further than the rest of us and named his victim as a soldier on the other side. He lived in a dog eat dog world. And that is sad.
Philippians 2:4
Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.
These gentle words call us back much further than the simple politeness where we would not devour our own kind. Paul describes anything but a dog eat dog world. The metaphor of dogs eating dogs is as far from being conducive to loving community as one can get. Dogs do not eat dogs in Christ’s Economy. If we want our dogs to be safe, we need to show them a good example.
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.
All this material is copyleft. Feel free to use it however you see fit, with or without attribution.
If you wish to value this page, please make a donation to the Winnipeg Quaker Meeting.