Proper 15
August 16, 2020
You shouldn't tell tales out of school
The phrase is likely older than 1530 where it is found in British Reformer William Tyndale's The Practyse of Prelates. Often appearing with the word “never” at the start, it is generally used as a rejoinder to mind your own business. The fact this phrase arose in the context of a school could imply that such behaviour is correctable in the young but intolerable in the adult. This notion is strongly enforced in the criminal world, sometimes in brutal ways. Slicing someone’s mouth to make it bigger is a punishment for having talked or “ratted out” someone to police. The scar marks them forever not to be trusted. In that culture, the circumstances are irrelevant and the innocence of the phrase above is but a mere dot in the distance.
Matthew 15:19-20
For out of the heart come evil intentions,
murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander.
These are what defile a person,
Confidentiality, respect for privacy, and the absence of gossip all fall into a well-known category. This is the category of things that people say are wrong but still do. Surely these words of Jesus, which lump false witness together with an impressive list of wrongdoing, can be understood as a reminder to “never tell tales out of school,” for such actions not only “defile a person” but undermine the very spirit of healthy community.
Proper 16
August 23, 2020
Ours in not to reason why
This phrase is actually a slight misquote from Lord Alfred Tennyson's 1854 poem about the Crimean War, Charge of the Light Brigade. His actual words are "Theirs not to make reply, Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do and die. Into the valley of Death, Rode the six hundred." It talks about a soldier's role to follow orders rather than to think for himself. Even if one's owns reason can predict certain annihilation! It is often used in much broader terms than the narrow military context for which it was first written.
Romans 12:3
For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you
not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think,
but to think with sober judgment,
each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.
This verse encapsulates what might be the greatest challenge of living the faith. We are not freed from thinking for ourselves nor are we given carte blanche to trust our every instinct. Instead we are to live in challenging middle ground where we are asked to test the spirit of each moment. We are to use our God given sober judgment; we are to reason why! Yet, there is a constant call to humility as to remember where our ability to reason comes from. We are prone to err on both sides of the "sweet spot" where we follow God’s lead. We can create a false humility where we never reason and therefore abdicate our creaturely responsibilities. Or, conversely, we can tilt too far in the other direction and trust our own judgment so much we forget that very ability to judge is a gift from God. This applies in the moment, as well as both in the past and in what is yet to come.
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.
August 16, 2020
You shouldn't tell tales out of school
The phrase is likely older than 1530 where it is found in British Reformer William Tyndale's The Practyse of Prelates. Often appearing with the word “never” at the start, it is generally used as a rejoinder to mind your own business. The fact this phrase arose in the context of a school could imply that such behaviour is correctable in the young but intolerable in the adult. This notion is strongly enforced in the criminal world, sometimes in brutal ways. Slicing someone’s mouth to make it bigger is a punishment for having talked or “ratted out” someone to police. The scar marks them forever not to be trusted. In that culture, the circumstances are irrelevant and the innocence of the phrase above is but a mere dot in the distance.
Matthew 15:19-20
For out of the heart come evil intentions,
murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, slander.
These are what defile a person,
Confidentiality, respect for privacy, and the absence of gossip all fall into a well-known category. This is the category of things that people say are wrong but still do. Surely these words of Jesus, which lump false witness together with an impressive list of wrongdoing, can be understood as a reminder to “never tell tales out of school,” for such actions not only “defile a person” but undermine the very spirit of healthy community.
Proper 16
August 23, 2020
Ours in not to reason why
This phrase is actually a slight misquote from Lord Alfred Tennyson's 1854 poem about the Crimean War, Charge of the Light Brigade. His actual words are "Theirs not to make reply, Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do and die. Into the valley of Death, Rode the six hundred." It talks about a soldier's role to follow orders rather than to think for himself. Even if one's owns reason can predict certain annihilation! It is often used in much broader terms than the narrow military context for which it was first written.
Romans 12:3
For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you
not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think,
but to think with sober judgment,
each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.
This verse encapsulates what might be the greatest challenge of living the faith. We are not freed from thinking for ourselves nor are we given carte blanche to trust our every instinct. Instead we are to live in challenging middle ground where we are asked to test the spirit of each moment. We are to use our God given sober judgment; we are to reason why! Yet, there is a constant call to humility as to remember where our ability to reason comes from. We are prone to err on both sides of the "sweet spot" where we follow God’s lead. We can create a false humility where we never reason and therefore abdicate our creaturely responsibilities. Or, conversely, we can tilt too far in the other direction and trust our own judgment so much we forget that very ability to judge is a gift from God. This applies in the moment, as well as both in the past and in what is yet to come.
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.