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.
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.