Proper 23
October 13, 2024

You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear

I recently heard a defense lawyer use this phrase in a sentencing hearing. He was acknowledging that his client had a bad record and there was no way to hide that. He used the image to say that you must acknowledge some things for what they are. A related phrase comes from computing science: "Garbage in, garbage out" says that the quality of the coding and the data put into a computer will have the greatest effect on the results that come out of a computer.  A sow's ear cannot be dressed up to look like a fancy silk purse, any more than a computer itself can correct faulty programs. Since technology has pretty much caught up to and passed this reality, garbage in, garbage out may well become a relic of the past.  

Mark 10:27  
Jesus looked at them and said, "For mortals it is impossible, but not for God;
for God all things are possible."

I want to look at this proverb and this verse through the lens of time.  It is one thing to revisit and reframe the past.  It is a different thing to re-imagine the future. If we live in the present and cast our eyes, minds and hearts to the future, we have to be open to taking down the barriers and removing the blinders that prevent us from seeing alternative futures.  It is right for a lawyer to say that, barring a legal pardon, a criminal record will remain what it is.  It is contradictory to biblical wisdom, however, to extend this to the future and say that the past is a perfect predictor of the future.  While we cannot go back in time and change a sow's ear into a silk purse, with God, all things are possible and a repeat criminal offender can change into a person of complete productivity.  As much to say, a sow's ear can be made into a silk purse. 


Proper 24
October 20, 2024

Suffering is optional.

Often these words appear in a longer form: pain is inevitable; suffering is optional. Often as not, writers cite Buddha but I could find no translations that yielded these words.  It has great resonances with Victor Frankl, who wrote Man's Search for Meaning, who made the same point by stating, “between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response we find our growth and our freedom.” By connecting Frankl's words to the quote, I suggest that suffering is a choice, and what is more, a choice one might not want to make.

Isaiah 53:10-11
Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him with pain.
When you make his life an offering for sin, he shall see his offspring, and shall prolong his days;
through him the will of the Lord shall prosper.
Out of his anguish he shall see light;
he shall find satisfaction through his knowledge.
The righteous one, my servant, shall make many righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.

Isaiah appears to contradict our quote. In the former, suffering is an unattractive option; in the latter, it is a requirement for prosperity.  However, I think we can do better than simply naming them as opposites. This is precisely the problem with pithy quotes.  The quote lacks the qualifiers that would bring the words closer to the truth. This makes the quote more compact and more easily remembered.  I don't imagine the choice between “pain” and “pain and suffering” would make much difference to an accident victim lying in a hospital bed for six months.  Whether one calls this “pain and suffering” or simply “pain” the individual has still had the same experience.  In order to make the quote reflect that subtlety, one would have to re-write the original quote. The problem is that it is no longer memorable or quotable. “As suffering is optional, you should choose to suffer in such a way, that it produces new vision and understanding, but if suffering is only its own end then it should not be chosen” is not going to appear on a T-shirt.  
 

Proper 25
October 27, 2024

It is up to me

My Auntie Marion summarized her life using her five fingers to count off the words.  At this point, she was pushing ninety with greatly compromised health and trying to care for my uncle.  They had been together for sixty years.  Life was not rosy but this phrase put things in perspective for her.  If she wanted to do something and could do it was up to her to do it or get help if that was possible.  That applied to everything in her life and looking at her challenges through the lens of this simple phrase helped make her predicament manageable. One could say that the idea we have to initiate our lives applies to all people in all places; it was just that her situation led her to greater clarity.

Mark 9:50
So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus.

This verse comes from the story of the healing of the blind beggar, Bartimaeus. Bartimaeus is described as throwing away his robe as he followed.  For the beggar, the robe was their tool. They would spread their robe out in front of them to collect money much as a busker puts out a guitar case or a hat. By throwing away his cloak, in the very instant Bartimaeus knew his days as a beggar were over.  And while one would be happy to receive their sight, he likely had no work experience other than begging. What was he to do? It was up to him. 


Proper 26
November 3, 2024

The American Way

The full phrase, "Dynamiting is not the American Way" is used in an 1885 edition of American Century.  The short essay speaks of cowardly acts, such as assassination and the use of dynamite in combat, as not being American.  The article attributes this to Union Civil War General William Hawley. One could extrapolate and say cruise missiles, smart bombs, drones, or any other distanced forms of aggression are not The American Way either.

Mark 12:31
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment

Hard to make an argument that dynamiting yourself or another like yourself is an act of love.  It would seem that Jesus agrees that dynamiting should not be the American way. 


Proper 27
November 10, 2024

Trust everybody, but cut the cards

Identified as a Russian proverb, this aphorism implies that trust has its limits. Or, at least, trust should not be tempted. One of the most common things I ever heard as a chaplain was: “I didn’t come to jail to make friends.” There are also a lot of cards played in jail to pass the time. I think those who have experienced incarceration likely have a great intuitive sense of the meaning of this phrase.

Psalm 146:3-4
Do not put your trust in princes,
in mortals, in whom there is no help.
When their breath departs, they return to the earth;
 on that very day their plans perish.
 
Verses such as these speak of the trustworthiness of God, and use humanity as a benchmark. The teaching is not to put your ultimate trust in others, but only in God. With whom, one would infer, you don't need to hedge your bets by “cutting the cards.” Such thoughts present challenges to theists and atheists seeking common ground.


Proper 28
November 17, 2024

Bloom where you are planted

The quote above has been variously attributed to Gandhi, Einstein and Churchill and they could have all said it. This adage implies another, which is: “You are exactly where you are supposed to be. ”Our experience in life will likely determine whether we believe this adage. If one has bloomed where they were planted or if someone has experienced comfort and fit throughout their life, then they might well agree with phrases like “Bloom where you are planted. ”If one has met a lot of failure in life or always felt out of place, they would likely question the value of this phrase, no matter who first said it. If we push the metaphor of a plant, we know that sometimes plants are replanted and they grow better in the new conditions. In the same way, sometimes people move and make other changes, such as in their careers, and do well. The AA movement asserts that “geographic cures do not work,” and uses other words to make the same point not to move from where you are.
 
Psalm 16:8-9
I keep the Lord always before me;
because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices;
 my body also rests secure.

These words come from a joyous psalm of thankfulness. A celebration of the writer’s trust in God to provide at all times and places. While certainly consistent with the idea that you can “bloom where you  are planted” because of God’s presence and direction which produces safety and security, it does not follow that at some point you may need to be replanted somewhere else. 

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Reign of Christ
November 24, 2024

No one has ever become poor by giving

Anne Frank, at age 15, wrote a short piece entitled “give.” Here is how it ends:

Give and give again. Keep hoping, keep trying, keep giving! People who give will never be poor! If you follow this advice, within a few generations, people will never have to feel sorry for poor little beggar children again, because there won't be any! The world has plenty of room, riches, money and beauty. God has created enough for each and every one of us. Let us begin by dividing it more fairly.

Psalm 132:15
I will abundantly bless its provisions;
I will satisfy its poor with bread.

Both the Hebrew and the Greek scriptures make constant reference to meeting the needs of the poor.  It is both a promise of God that it will happen, and a teaching to God’s followers to do it. Anne Frank seems to get it. God will provide for the poor, through the work of those who follow in God’s ways. 
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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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