Day 031: Fulfillment

"The lips of righteous men understand lofty things, but men without discernment die in want." Proverbs 10:22

This proverb seems to be straightforward, but I end up asking, "Why would somebody want to go without discernment, then?"  We already have the facts that righteousness leaves us without want, but the proverb states that a lack of discernment is something that is real and possible.

Spiritual discernment is something that we all need to be aware about, because it can guide us in life.  I feel that spiritual discernment comes from a willingness to allow for the Holy Spirit to work in us and guide us in our lives.  But how do we make this work for us?

The answer comes from the first part, for the righteous understand lofty, high things.  It means that we need to be preparing our minds to start building up our understanding and knowledge.  It means that we need to devote ourselves more to the Holy Spirit.  And, of course, we are in a time when we have so many resources available to us, the chief of which is our bible.

I love the book of Proverbs because it makes me think about things.  Starting in Chapter 10, each verse brings me to think about an entirely new concept.  The catch, though, is to allow the proverb to live in me and through me.  I need to let the Holy Spirit guide me by the means of the words that I read.

When we prepare ourselves with reading, praying, meditating, and thinking, we can begin to comprehend the lofty things, the things that exist way past us.  We can start to understand the love of God, or the sacrifice of Jesus.  That preparation also allows us to invite the Holy Spirit to become a major driver of our lives.  And, when we let the Holy Spirit take control, we will be so fulfilled that we will not want anything else.

 

Day 030: Our Teacher

"He will guide the gentle in judgment; He will teach the gentle His ways.  All the ways of the Lord are mercy and truth for those who seek His covenant and His testimonies." Psalm 24:9-10 (25:9-10)

I remember that before the first day of the new semester, I would always wonder, "how's this teacher going to be?"  If it were one from whom I had already taken a class, I would wonder, "how would s/he teach this subject?"  I always had a question, and it wouldn't be until the semester was over that I would be able to determine how the teacher did.  It's not like I was exactly like the person from RateMyProfessor or another review of the like.  Each person learns differently, so I might like a teacher another hated.

Also, when it came to evaluating a teacher, a lot depended on how much work one put into the class.  Each teacher had a different workload, but the expectation was usually the same.  The people who had the more favorable thoughts about certain professors were usually the ones who did all the work.  And, further up, the teachers for courses designated for seniors or graduate students usually incorporated a certain level of discussion - the things the teachers taught were much more subjective in nature.  Of course, if a certain professor's interpretations or ideas were not in line with a student's, that student would probably dislike the professor.

When I read these verses, I thought about how we already have a syllabus laid out for us.  We know that God is our teacher, and God is a teacher that will never be late, absent, or ignorant.  God, the fountain of all knowledge and wisdom, will teach us God's ways.  Unlike all the other teachers we've had in the past, God is one who is tried and true.  We know of the goodness of God, and we know that God means well for us in all that we have to do.  God will challenge us, indeed, but God will also be there to walk beside us, to help us fill in the blanks, to guide us through our most difficult times, so that we will come to understand so many great things.  God is inviting us into the classroom, the one where we will learn all that we need to know.

Day 029: Discerning Speech

"Righteous lips cover hatred, but those who bring forth abuse are very lacking in discernment." Proverbs 10:19

Probably one of the most talked about images or issues in the entire bible is the mouth.  We use it to speak and communicate in a way that most people who speak our same language can understand.  But our words, though on the surface they are just utterances of sound, can bring forth different meanings.  Some of the meanings are mundane, like, "I'm going to the store," or, "The dog barked."  Some of the meanings are provocative, some in the good way, and others in the bad way.

In my personal reading of this proverb from the Septuagint, I understand the second half as reading, "but those who bring forth abuse are senseless" or "are without direction".  Taking all of these for the interpretation of one word, though, can help me understand what is going on in the proverb.

Hate is something that is so easy for us to do, for we can point the finger so quickly when something doesn't go our way.  Think about how easily children say the phrase, "I hate ...".  When we grow up, we become conditioned so that we either say that phrase in a hyperbolic way, or we reserve the phrase for very choice occasions, when we truly have hatred towards something or someone (or, we want to think of it as being in that way).

Hatred separates us from those we hate.  We isolate ourselves by saying that we hate others.  And, when we start saying that we hate every single thing around us, we start to put ourselves into a little box, where we lack direction, where we can't accomplish anything.  When we hate someone, sometimes we just like to go to our little corner and burn with anger against that one person.  We waste our time we could be using to learn or to communicate to think about how much we hate that person.

So what does it mean, then, to cover hatred?  I like to think that this proverb is another way of saying, "think before you speak."  When we can take some time to think about what we are going to say, about what we hate, we can start to consider not only the consequences of our accusations, but also the other qualities in that person.  We can also start to make it a moment to learn more about our sincerest beliefs and about why they exclude that person.  Why does that guy want the room to be red while I cannot have it any other color than blue?  Why does that woman say that there is no church without the liturgy while I enjoy an altar call instead?

The moments where we are tempted by hatred are ones where God is trying to speak to us.  These are challenges of our own faith.  God is trying to help us understand how to be better missionaries, so that we can continue to spread the gospel, both abroad and in our own hearts.  When we have the opportunity to discern whether to bless or to condemn, we have the opportunity to hear God speak to us in a difficult situation.

Day 028: Steadfast Beliefs

"Instruction guards righteous ways of life, but instruction incapable of criticism goes astray." Proverbs 10:18

This proverb suggests a narrative that seems to be making its rounds in this political season.  In a debate or a press conference, someone poses a question to a politician, and that politician, in turn, dodges the question entirely.

Another example is when gay men (or women as well, I'm sure) who keep their homosexuality to themselves, finding partners here and there for one night stands on mobile apps or websites, blatantly reject their being not straight.  They can be politicians who vote against all pro-LGBT measures but still maintain their app accounts.  They can be activists who openly condemn the LGBT community but still have their man of the night.

We are scared by our own beliefs, but we don't want to be challenged either, for that would require us to humble ourselves from being masters, sages, or teachers to becoming students, apprentices, or babies.  But, as Christians, we have a great example of what we are supposed to do.

Jesus was not at all afraid of his message or his mission.  He talked to all the chief priests, church leaders, and scribes about all things religion.  He talked before multitudes about all the things that are supposed to be happening.  He explained everything to his disciples, correcting them when they went astray.  He took all of these teachings straight to the cross - death - the ultimate criticism.  But, he rose, and his teachings are still relevant to this day.

This proverb calls us to listen, to learn, to investigate.  When we don't listen, we find that we are alone in our thoughts, hating the world around us for not understanding.  When we don't learn, we can take our own thoughts and bring them into some radical conclusions - some of which can be very destructive to ourselves and to our world around us.  When we don't investigate, we don't understand why we even believe what we do in the first place.

We need to take all this into account, so that in the face of criticism, we can remain resilient.  We need to listen to God, to learn from God, to investigate God.  God is willing to teach us.  Are we willing to learn?

Day 027: The Source

Jesus answered and said to them, "Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things.  But I say to you that Elijah has come already and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished.  Likewise, the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands."  Matthew 17:11-12

In his ministry, Jesus took many opportunities to show disciples exactly who he is.  In the transfiguration, Jesus reveals himself in all his glory before three specific disciples.  They had all the information they needed, and yet they still had trouble accepting Jesus as the son of God.

Today, we are very blessed to have access to so much information. You can use so many different search engines to find answers to questions that your friends probably don't know the answers to.  You have access to so much of the world's knowledge.  But, we still prefer to pretend we know things.  We like to recycle lies.  We like to read lies as well and believe them.

In this political season, we like to buy whatever the ads are telling us.  We believe the tears that actors were paid to shed.  We indulge in the voice of a politician who is probably going to turn their back on us.  We allow for these people to make up factoids on the spot without taking the five seconds to check them out for ourselves.

If we go even deeper, we have the bible, published and bound, made cheap, so that we can all have a copy, let alone find online.  Yet, we let people tell us otherwise about it.  We like to cycle many myths that we don't understand, and we like to believe things that aren't there.  However, another issue is that we don't want to take time to learn.  Today, I came across a Greek proverb that says,

"One day does not make a wise man."

Sure, we might be able to get watered down answers in seconds so that we can keep a conversation going over lunch with friends.  But, in order to understand God, to hold onto God, we need to give God all the time we have.  We need to allow ourselves to be molded by God's hands, not by tempting human ones.  We need to go straight to the source to strengthen our faith.

The bible is long.  The church services might seem long.  The prayers might seem long.  But, we find ourselves wasting our time on our phones, playing games that get us nowhere, spending money on trinkets we might forget about before we even receive them, reading about things that don't have any substance.  We need to devote ourselves more to God, for that is the only way we will have a lasting relationship.  We need to fill ourselves with all things spiritual, so that we can see the all-encompassing glory of God.

Today's Readings:

Exodus 3-4

Psalm 21:18-32 (22:18-32)

Proverbs 10:15-16

Matthew 17:1-13

Acts 27

Day 026: Facing the Facts

From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised on the third day.  Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, "Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!" Matthew 16:21-22

The disciples followed Jesus around and made valiant attempts at understanding all that he had to teach.  However, in a passage like this one, we learn that they were fine with following Jesus, just so long as the mission lined up with their own views.

In the same way, we haven't changed much, nearly two thousand years after the fact.  We treat Jesus as if he is our chauffeur, our butler, our servant.  Instead, we should be treating Jesus with reverence, remembering that we are here to serve him.  Jesus, through his mission, taught us that we are going to have to go through some difficult times in order to achieve all that needs to be done here on earth.

In the Bible, we see that the apostles didn't really get the ball rolling until they had witnessed the Pentecost.  They had to wait until they openly received the Holy Spirit in order to start their missionary work.

The lesson is that we don't have to wait to start.  We just need to be willing.  We need to join each other with one accord so that we can listen to the voice of God, so that we can understand what our mission is, so we can receive the Holy Spirit.  God will always provide for the way, but we just need to be willing to stop at the doorway so that God can give us our lunchbox on our way out the door.

Day 025: The Journey

So Joseph said to them, "Do not be afraid, for I belong to God.  But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive."  Genesis 50:19-20

Perhaps it is just because of reading stories like this, but I do like to live my life by looking for the reasoning behind all the things that happen.  I like to think about what people mean, especially those who have fallen away from my life or those whom I have removed.

Growing up, I have been taught many times that God has a plan for my life, and I won't always understand it, but I need to maintain my faith.  As I have grown up, I have learned that all of this is very true.  God is taking us in so many directions, but we need to remain faithful to the fact that God is walking with us every step of the way.

The best part of this, though, is that God will show us so many new and different things that we'd never imagined.  Many times, God shows us things we had pushed away.  God brings us new foods that we had pushed away as children.  God brings us new music we had covered our ears from.  God brings us new pictures that we had torn up and burned on our own time.

Let's take the time to listen to God and to be receptive to all of the new and glorious things God has for us.  Let us pause to look all around us, to absorb our new environment rather than barreling through and trampling the delicate plants along the way.

 

Day 024: Magnified in the Name

"Some glory in chariots, some in horses, but in the name of the Lord our God we shall be magnified." Psalm 19:8 (20:7)

Over the past few weeks, I have been thinking about what it means to be a Christian.  What does it mean to believe in Jesus?  What separates my theology from that of other religions?  On top of all that, what does it mean to believe in the name of the Lord?

I don't think I will ever come to a definite answer, but my journey in this quest is very inspiring.  I enjoy seeing parallels with other religions and other denominations than my own.  Ultimately, though, I must say that verses like the one above speak lots to me.

Jesus revealed himself in the form of a man who used very challenging words.  I also like to believe that Jesus is all the wisdom that comes down to us from all of the Old Testament.  With that, I can start to understand more about my own beliefs: that the name of Jesus encompasses all of the wisdom and knowledge of the world.

I love knowledge and wisdom.  I love to read these challenging passages.  I also love to read these verses that reaffirm my faith, for they say that there is no other name that will magnify us.  And it is so true!  By taking time to read the Bible, to meditate on the word, to pray and listen, and to observe how others are communicating with God, we all learn more about ourselves.  We can find peace in a world that doesn't want us to have it.  We can find joy in a world that doesn't have it.  We can improve ourselves in a world that wants us only to fail.

We need the strong arms of God to lift us up and carry us along.  When we rely on the treasures of this world, the horses (or things that give us horsepower) or the chariots, all the riches that the world wants us to believe we could have, we fall.  However, when we take the challenge and reach for God who is already reaching for us, we will find ourselves growing and going in so many different directions.

Day 023: God Provides

"Also do not be concerned about your goods, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours."  Genesis 45:20

At the end of the story of Joseph, after all its twists and turns, for the better and the worse, this message sums up the entire story.

Our lives are in God's hands.  We can choose to do things one way or another, but God has the final say.  God also wants us to be successful.  God wants us to be the best that we can be.  However, we, in our immaturity, can't always know what's best for us.  Sometimes we have a vision about what's best for us.

When I look back on the past few years, I notice that things haven't always gone my way.  I wanted to leave home after high school, so I auditioned and made it in to Longy School of Music.  While I was there, I began to learn more about how to perform everyday house tasks and how to live life more healthily.  However, I was only able to stay there for a year, and I hated the fact that I had to come back home.  I didn't like having to go to a different university.  But, while I was studying at the University of Houston, I learned much more about my interests, particularly by improving my writing.  I also met two of my best friends by studying there.  Though I had many frustrations in the University of Houston, I graduated from there, and then moved to Chicago to go to graduate school at Chicago College of Performing Arts.  It was there in Chicago that I was able to perfect my music making and where I was able to explore more freely my life as a Christian.  I made another very close friend while there.  After graduating, I didn't make it into any program that I had auditioned for, so, once again, I felt like a failure coming back home to Houston.

Up until the past month or so, I hated answering the innocuously American question, "So, what do you do?"  I hated not having an answer.  Before, I was able to impress, by saying I was doing a double major, or I was studying in a far away city, or I was pursuing my master's at a relatively young age.  I was only able to stumble for words.  But, the past few months of being back here have brought me so many amazing things and people, particularly my amazing boyfriend and an opportunity to perform historical music, a style I had not been able to play nor practice seriously for almost six years - a style of music that many had looked down upon me for.  I have also been able to learn more about the Episcopal Church and God in this time.

I may have my own goals, and Joseph may have had his own as well.  But, through the many twists and turns that we must go through in life, we shall see that God always provides.  God is good, and God is great.  God is holding me by the hand through life, and I strive never to let go.

Day 022: Following

"When Jesus heard it, He departed from there by boat to a deserted place by Himself.  But when the multitudes heard it, they followed Him on foot from the cities.  And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude  and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick." Matthew 14:13-14

I find that this situation is a good structure for how we should live.  Jesus goes away from the place where there are many misunderstandings.  His people follow him there.  He has compassion on them.

Jesus is moving to many different places, constantly.  Jesus is speaking to different groups who haven't accepted the Gospel yet, and he is bringing more and more people to the table.  Jesus is calling us to go with him, so that we might be able to learn even more from him.  Right after this passage, we learn about the feeding of the 5,000, which is a sign of the Eucharist.  Jesus is always teaching us.

Today, especially in the United States, we are constantly facing the arrival of new people, some from different wars or conflicts, and others for their own well-being and/or their goals.  They speak in different languages, they practice different customs, and sometimes we are comfortable with relying on our own misunderstandings.  The women who wear headscarves are wicked in their ways.  The men who murmur in a different language are cursing us under their breath.  The children who are working to provide for their families are obviously trying to atone for their family's sinful ways.

But Jesus is walking before these new people.  Just as he sent all the apostles into foreign territory to preach, baptize, and anoint, he is sending us into the new groups of people so that we ourselves may learn more about the beauty in God's creation.  We can learn about new ways to pray, new ways to worship, and new ways to sing when we go where Jesus is sending us.

Lastly, we need to be ready to learn.  We need to be ready to believe.  When we follow Jesus, he always has compassion on us.  He will forgive us all our sins, our misdoings, our doubts.  He will cleanse us and feed us.  We just need to be ready to depart our comfort zones, our isolated towns, and follow Jesus onto the shores, so that we can learn more about his faithfulness.

Day 021: Constancy

"Poverty humbles a man, but the hands of courageous men enrich others." Proverbs 10:4

Money is great.  It lets us buy the things we need and also the things we want.  We can use it to buy dinner at a decent fast casual restaurant and a lavish dessert from a world class bakery.  However, money is very fickle.  The banks grow and shrink, the stock market, even when tame, is capricious.  The job market (even if all the net sums show growth) is unstable.  Today you'll have a job and tomorrow you'll lose it.  Today you know the country has money saved up for you, but tomorrow you'll realize that you didn't fill out the right paperwork.

In today's society, to be poor is to be outcast.  Politicians will speak about the poor as if they are just a single pawn on a chess board.  They bunch all of those making money below a certain point as a single group of people that can be argued about rather than people who have lives and feelings.  Even worse, still, is those who were once rich but become poor.  In our society, we see that as a terrible form of humiliation.  Even in many churches, people will say that to be poor is to be at odds with God.  We assign value to people based off of how many slips of paper laced with linen they have or what a body of computers determines to be their worth.

Where is one to turn, then, if everybody makes fun of them for being poor?  That's where this proverb comes from.  It shows that money is something that is fickle.  Poverty happens!  The real value, though, comes from virtues, from wisdom, from courage.  This proverb calls us to be courageous and to reach out to those in need.  We are being called to enrich each other.

We've become so accustomed to putting others down based on their bank accounts or their clothes or houses or cars when we should really be building people up from their souls.  We are called to prepare the way of the Lord.  We can only do that by building each other up, by encouraging others, by paying into an economy of virtues.

Even though the global economies will see their growths and recessions, taking whatever lives with them, the economy of virtues, of mercy, of God's love, will only continue to grow.  When we take time to invest in our spiritual health, in our souls' growth, we will be enriched.  God's bank is right in front of us.  We just need to take a step into the doors so that we can grow from all that God has to give us.

Day 020: Hearing

ὁ ἔχων ὦτα ἀκούειν ἀκουέτω 

ho ekhon ota akuein akueto

"He who has ears to hear, let him hear." Matthew 13:43

This is an interesting phrase that Jesus repeats throughout the gospels, and I find it to be particularly poignant.

Greek had this interesting feature where there was a third person imperative conjugation, which doesn't exist in English or Spanish today.  The imperative mood in a language is one used for commanding.  So, when one says "go there," the verb "go" is used in the imperative.  However, in English and Spanish, that mood is reserved for the second person, the "you" or "tú/vosotros" form. There isn't really a way to direct it to the third person (he/she/it/they; el/ella/ellos/ellas).  In Greek, on the other hand, a person could very well tell someone "go" in the second person, or "(let him) go" in the third person.  *In my Greek class, my teacher told us to translate this form as "let him/her verb"

The reason I find this phrase to be special, though, is because of the fact that Jesus already had disciples all around him.  Jesus had people he could have commanded, "You who have ears to hear, hear."  But he didn't.  Jesus didn't want to restrict his message just to those around him.  Jesus wanted to make sure that his message was going out to all of those who wanted to hear.

The gospel was never meant to be reserved for only a select group of people.  It was meant to be spread.  It was meant to be proclaimed.  Jesus calls us to serve so that we may bring others into the love of God.  Jesus called us all to find those who have ears to hear so that they could receive the message.  Jesus calls us today to be the ones who plant the seeds and water and tend the garden.

Jesus didn't command us to be lazy.  He did say that he would do everything for us.  He commanded us to act.  He commanded all of those who weren't in his circle, all those who were ostracized, all those who were oppressed, to act, to receive the message, and to live the message.

Today's Readings:
Genesis 39-40
Psalm 17:1-16 (18:1-15)
Proverbs 10:1-2
Matthew 13:18-43
Acts 20

Day 019: Direction

"Some therefore cried one thing and some another, for the assembly was confused, and most of them did not know why they had come together." Acts 19:32

We have memes of this situation floating around the internet, and one of my favorite ones is as such: "Who are we?"
"Spanish Students!"
"¿Cómo te llamas?"
"¡Bien!"

We can gather and speak loudly, but if we lack direction, we are putting ourselves at a risk of falling apart in the times of pressure or challenges.  And, of course, Jesus is all about presenting us with a challenge, whether it be of faith or of how to live.

Paul and some companions go into Ephesus in order to preach, but some people start to get antsy about the fact that the Gospel is about Jesus and not Artemis, whose statues and temple provide a strong source of revenue for the city.  And, yet, when they are faced with the Gospel of love, of miracles, of grace, of forgiveness, they all freak out.  They are going to lose their livelihood.  Then, they go to riot, but they have no idea how to riot.  I mean, is there really a way to riot against the good news of love and forgiveness?

And, since they have no good argument, such that they can't even agree on what they're rioting about, they end up nearing a censure for rioting without a cause.  They remain silent.

The life that Jesus asks us to live is not an easy one, by no means, but we need to be open to all that he is offering.  Rather than kick and scream at him, how about remaining silent and listening?  We can only wander for so long in our own ways before we reach a test.  Let's let Jesus guide our lives.

 

Day 018: Fruits

"Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit.  Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things?  For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.  A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things."  Matthew 12:33-35

Jesus calls us to do many things.  He calls us to go out and preach, bring more people to God, baptize the outsiders, donate, pray, fast, give alms, support the poor, and many other things.  I know that all of this sounds too overbearing.  But, at the same time, I find that Jesus gives us good advice, even if it sounds like an admonishment at first.

Imagine a machine designed to make automatic phone calls.  It can greet you and direct you to the services it needs to, but once you start asking for it to talk to you, it can only say, "I'm sorry, may you please repeat that," or, "I didn't understand. What would you like?"

Is that how we are going to be in the face of Jesus?  We need to be prepared.  Think about a fruit.  An apple comes from a tree.  How much larger is the tree than the apple?  The tree has to prepare so much just to bear one apple.  It has to form a trunk so it can protect itself, it needs to grow tall so it can get enough sunlight, it needs leaves to sustain it, and then it makes flowers so that they can attract pollinators to help the process of making an apple.  Couple that with the many years it takes for a tree to even consider bearing fruit and you have a lot of effort - a lot of preparation.

So, what are we to do?  Can we even bear fruit without preparation?  Most certainly not.  Can we prepare?  We most definitely can.  We have so many resources around us, and if you are reading this, you probably have access to the entire internet, which has even more resources than you could even imagine.  Take some time to prepare.  Prepare by reading the Bible.  Prepare by consulting spiritual leaders or friends.  Prepare by meditating and praying.  Prepare by practicing the fasts.  Prepare by trying to make new friends.  Prepare by learning about other people.  God will help us with our preparations, but we have to be willing to take on the challenge.

 

Day 017: Newness

"God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands.  Nor is He worshiped with men's hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things."             Acts 17:24-25

Sometimes, we like to put God into a box.  We like for God to be exactly the image we have on our wall.  We like for God to be the chants, the incense, the organ, the icons, the statues, the gold, the marble, the cushy pews.  In our attempts to bring God to others, though, we end up putting God into a cage.  We draw limits.

These limits we place on God can become very isolating.  Sometimes, these limits can be from something as simple as a lack of cultural understanding.  Maybe the chorales you've grown up singing don't mean anything to someone who grew up singing coros.  Someone who grew up kneeling and yelling before God doesn't get what standing and listening to prayers even means.  If we don't try to understand these differences (at the very least), we can get into some major trouble.  God is the thing we keep in the wooden box, not the one in the ceramic vase.

But who is God?  None of our words are enough to even touch on what God is.  In the Bible, we have countless examples trying to explain God.  In the end, though, we must remember that God is not dead.  God is living in each of us, every day.  We don't give life to God.  It's the other way around: God gives life to us all.

When we put aside our differences, we can start to understand God more.  When we put aside our thoughts and prejudices, we can start to witness God.  When we try singing that new song or reading that new prayer, we can experience God.  God comes to us from many languages and cultures, but God is the same living God that compels us to become better people.

Day 016: Value

"It is better to enjoy my fruits than gold and precious stones, and my fruits are better than choice silver." Proverbs 8:19

One of the things I find unsettling is how we as humans have assigned values to certain materials. When it comes to precious stones, some, of course, are rare, but others, not so much.  Diamonds, which are mostly regulated by a select group of people, are distributed so sparsely that they seem to be much more valuable than they actually are.  If the entire supply of diamonds were made available, they'd probably be worth no more than quartz.

Going further, we have many devices today that are made quite cheaply, whose materials only add up to so much value, and, yet, we have to pay fortunes for them.  Look at phones, computers, cars - they are all priced at such a higher value than their raw materials.  But, what gives them their value is their function.  Phones, especially the latest ones, can connect you not only by voice, but also by face and personality.  Computers help us to produce documents, connect to many other individuals in countless ways, both good and bad.  Cars help us get from one place to another.  Also, if we are so inclined, these all can be used to show off some semblance of worth, with the more expensive products raising more eyebrows. But, when one doesn't know how to use these things, or when a pig finds a truffle in the yard, or a dog a diamond, these materials mean absolutely nothing.

For me, the above verse tells me that action is what is needed these days.  We spend our times debating on Facebook and Twitter, making blog posts, writing long essays, compounding pictures, and making our presence known.  However, it is only whenever we go out into the world and act that we can ever get anything done.

The pursuit of wisdom and knowledge are what add value to a person because it requires the person to think and to put all of these things into practice.  Otherwise, they are just like precious stones - stowed away in a box.  All of the greatest knowledge can be stored in books and placed on grand shelves in an extravagant library in the middle of the city, but if their contents are not being applied, they serve nothing more than kindling for a fire.  It is even safe to say that the vast majority of the world's knowledge and wisdom is stored on the internet, but if they are not being accessed or taught or applied, they are nothing more than pages that we want to navigate away from, pop-ups we want to delete, banners we wish to ignore.

So, rather than find a bible to place on our shelves, prayer beads decorate our wrists, rosaries to hang from our rear-view mirrors, icons to adorn shelves, let's live their examples.  Read about these things.  Live the prayers.  Live the faith.

Day 015: The Good News

Jesus answered and said to them, "Go and tell John the things which you hear and see. The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them.  And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me."  Matthew 10:5-6

When Jesus was carrying out his ministry, there were many people who were wondering what was going on.  People wanted guidance, and Jesus reassured them in this way.

Each time I read this, I hear Jesus speaking in a way that is very excited but poignant at the same time.  It's intense.  He raises his hands as he's listing out what's going on.  He's saying that so much is changing.  And that's a good thing.

Any reading through the gospels reveals that there were many outcasts in Jewish society.  If one wants to read more about that, just go to Leviticus to read about how many more people are supposed to be put off to the side in order to sustain the early Jewish society.  The blind and lame were just that, sitting off to the sides.  The lepers were people you wouldn't look at, because your parents told you that their sins brought them there.  The deaf were people who served no purpose.  The dead were eternal, and the poor didn't deserve the gospel.

Jesus came into the world in order to bring together all of the outcasts!  Jesus came to overthrow all the corruption that society had condoned, and Jesus came to bring wisdom and discernment to everybody.  Jesus is here to change all of our lives, and blessed are we who are not offended because of him.

Blessed are we who are not offended because: the poor can have houses; the sick have doctors and healthcare; those who look different aren't ostracized; God's mercy extends to everybody, even those we don't like; our prejudices are proven wrong; God's love reaches to the heavens and God's faithfulness stretches to the skies; God's love extends to all colors, races, sexual orientations, genders, gender expressions; God calls all the faithful.

Jesus made us think in ways that are still difficult for us to comprehend, but he understands that and is willing to work with us, to change us, and bring us closer, so that we may all walk together, in the same direction, hand in hand, with one accord, in the Spirit.

Day 14: Pain

"Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves.  Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.  But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues.  You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles.  But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak.  For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you."  Matthew 10:16-20

When Jesus sent out his disciples, he reminded them that there was going to be pain, persecution, trials, and, yes, even death.  Jesus knew pain just in the same way that we feel it.  Jesus knew temptation.  Jesus knows us.  This is why he spent his entire ministry on teaching his disciples and those who followed - all the way down to us - on how to deal with situations.  I find that this passage is the most concise warning, and it is because of this brevity that the message feels even more poignant than others that I read.

Jesus has sent us into this world, where human nature has been allowed to flourish in many different ways.  One way, however, has been in our own desire to order things and people in ways that allow us to be on top, while they are at the bottom.  We have classes based on the amount of money one has.  We have churches that are exclusive, based on how people pray or preach or read or celebrate.  We have court systems that routinely criminalize the innocents or shut off the voices of those who speak differently.  We have come up with a game that has so many rules that everybody loses in the end.

Jesus sent us out there to stop it, but not in the easiest way possible.  Indeed, Jesus has taught us that violence is never the answer and that all violence does is continue to divide until the Divine has to intervene.  Jesus has taught us that we are to love in all instances, that we are to treat everyone with the same respect that they deserve.  Jesus taught us about agape, caritas, charity, unconditional love, even when it seems difficult.  And why is that?

In the face of pain, when the multitudes of people are staring at you, some with stones, others with guns, others with rotten food, others with all that they are worth, ready to fire, love will prevail.  The voice of God is love in all situations, and it is through love that the voice of God will be heard.  When we raise our swords or fists or guns, we only incite even more violence to divide us all up even more.  In the trials, God is ready to speak to anyone who is willing to listen.

I find it difficult to speak coherently whenever I am filled with anger, rage, disappointment, and even sadness, but it is when I take the words of Jesus to heart that I am able to calm down, for Jesus moves in these difficult times.

Today's readings:
Genesis 27-28
Psalm 11 (12)
Proverbs 7:1-6
Matthew 10:16-33
Acts 14

Day 013: The Harvest, The Goal

Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”       Matthew 9:37-38

 Here is a place where Jesus gives us a prayer to say.  What better way to pray than to pray the way Jesus did?

This specific passage is one that usually rings with the message that Jesus is calling for us to go out and do the work of God.  Indeed, there are so many people out there who are hungry for the Gospel.  But, at the same time, we are all weary from the troubles of this rude world.  We need to pray for Jesus, the Lord of the harvest, to send out his laborers our way.

These days, I had been getting into a sort of rut.  I graduated with my master's degree, but then I didn't know what to do next.  I got turned down in four auditions as I was preparing to graduate, and then I hadn't really picked myself back up from that.  I feel pretty broken in that respect.  However, now that I have plans to perform more this year, I am starting to feel ready to face challenges anew.  It was because I set tangible goals that I am ready to pick myself back up.

When I think about my current situation and story, I can't help but think about how God's chosen people were when Jesus came into the scene.  People were pretty set in their ways of interpretations of the Scriptures and had lots of constructs set in place for their society.  They found a passable way of living under oppression.  But, when Jesus came to the world, he challenged everybody to think about everything in new ways.  How can you spread the Gospel to the other nations?  How do you treat these new people?  How do you receive the love of God?  What is going wrong with your customs?

Jesus means change.  Jesus means change in the lives of the Jews in the past, and Jesus means change in my life today.  Jesus, for me, is the Lord of the goal.  I have trouble whenever I wander around, as a sheep without a shepherd, and it is only whenever I pray to the Lord of my goals, the Lord of my success, the Lord of all that is good in the universe, the Lord of mercy, the Lord of compassion that I can continue down the way.  Life is never going to be easy, and Jesus' life is the prime example of that, but the outcome will sure be worth it.

Today's readings:
Genesis 25-26
Psalm 10 (11)
Proverbs 6:26-40
Matthew 9:32-10:15
Acts 13

Day 012: The Jesus Table

Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples.  Matthew 9:10

This is one of my favorite images of Jesus because it is timeless.
Every day, we are confronted with our own demarcations about who are with us and who aren't.  We encounter people saying who should eat with whom, who should speak with whom, who should look at whom.  These confines can become quite ugly.

Jesus came to change all of that.  In the earlier scriptures, there are many examples of God choosing seemingly unconventional people to carry out God's work, but that didn't seem to be enough for us.  We, indeed, are stubborn.  We needed a man to go from the comfort of his own home, his own friends, his own people, to the outcasts.  We needed a living example.

But Jesus did not stop there.  He revealed himself as our doctor, and he made sure we were ready to take on his mission.  He fed us as his children before pushing us off the nest.  He went to wherever we were so that we might know that he is always around us.

In this picture of Jesus sitting at a table with all those who were 'unworthy' according to the scholars of the time I find comfort.  I am comforted because I know that Jesus will always be there for me.  I am comforted because I know that Jesus is always ready for me.

Today's readings:
Genesis 23-24
Psalm 9:33-39 (10:12-18)
Proverbs 6:1-25
Matthew 9:9-31
Acts 12

Day 011: Boundaries

"And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, as upon us at the beginning.  Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how He said, 'John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.'  If therefore God gave them the same gift as He gave us when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could withstand God?" Acts 11:15-17

The great thing about having access to the book of Acts and the letters of the early church is that we can see how interpretation and explanation of the Gospel took form in the beginning.  We also have help in understanding the often difficult words that Jesus spoke.

Here, Peter made a profound discovery during a visit he made with some Gentiles earlier: that God extended all the same gifts of the Holy Spirit to everyone and not just the Jews.  And this caused lots of resistance from those who were Christians because they thought the gifts would be reserved just for them, those who had descended from Abraham, those who had been educated in the traditional Jewish laws.  Even Peter had to put aside his reservations.

Today, in the study notes in the Orthodox Study Bible about Abraham sending away Hagar and Ishmael, I learned that it was through faith that people could claim to be sons of Abraham, for Abraham bore many different nations aside from the Jews.  Historically speaking, there are Jews who claim descent from Isaac and Muslims who claim descent from Ishmael - so many people.

We, as humans, are prone to set boundaries and borders on things that we claim as ours.  We like to say that people related to us by blood are our family (well, except for that one aunt who says mean things; and my best friend there has been so great to us that he's practically part of the family).  Nations draw borders all the time, and they can cause issues, such as an abundance of enclaves and exclaves, or strife between tribes who never wanted to be with each other.  Our politicians draw borders in the United States in order to say which people belong to each other, not only by location but also by political affiliation, to the chagrin of the American people and some judges.  Our churches draw borders between who are welcome and who are not, depending on things as knowledge, experience, or custom.

The beautiful thing about the gifts of God, though, is that they transcend all our boundaries, even when we don't like it.  God uses this as a way to teach us to love one another and to see our neighbors as friends and not foes.  God's unconditional love is something that we will always struggle to understand, but it is something that we always have the opportunity to receive in our hearts.

P.S.  From now on, I will include the readings I am following.  I devised a reading plan for my personal use, and I can probably write a little more about it another time.  For the Psalms, I use the Septuagint numeration; the Masoretic (more common in the United States) numeration will be in brackets.  Today's readings are:
Genesis 21-22
Psalm 9:22-32 (10:1-11)
Proverbs 5:15-23
Matthew 8:18-9:8
Acts 11

Day 010: Welcome

Then he said to them, “You know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or go to one of another nation. But God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean." Acts 10:28

Through Peter's vision, God showed us a new way to see the church.
As Peter prefaces in this situation, Jews were not supposed to associate with outsiders.  But, after Peter saw the vision, he understood that not only did God purify all animals, but also all people.  God sent a message with Peter so that Cornelius could be received into the body of Christ, alongside all the foreigners.

That's how the church grew.  It wasn't with people who closed themselves off to a study, just to become stagnant with their own interpretations, speaking among only scholars and not congregations.  It was with the willingness of the disciples to be challenged, to be taught anew, to welcome those around them, to go out and serve, to see strangers as guests rather than aliens.

When we, as Christians, are open to listen and receive the voice of God, only then can we grow and unite.

Day 009: Divine Command

But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel." Acts 9:15

Go.
This is a recurring command in the Bible, and it usually means to leave one's comfort zone.  God told Abraham to go from his home.  Jesus commanded the disciples to go and preach.  Here, Jesus commands Ananias to go and finish a conversion of one of the most terrifying men in the early church: Saul/Paul.

Now, the Bible is also quite clear that many who are called will talk back to God, will have some sort of resistance.  Ananias, though, makes an argument that sounds quite weak, for he says "I have heard about that man."  Hearsay.  That's a very troubling thing that we as humans like to rely on.  We love to add fuel to our judging engines whenever we can.  Despite the fact that there are records of all the trouble Paul had done, Ananias says that he relied on what he heard.  I find this as an opportunity for us to learn to trust in God.

If we are to assume that God is our Father, then how should we treat God?  Shouldn't we obey?  I'm sure many of you have experienced the chastising from your parents, whether physical or verbal or both.  Eventually, we children learn to obey without talking back.  And, most of the time, things go the way they are supposed to when we listen and obey.  Doing that homework assignment got us through school well; not eating too much candy helped us feel better in the long run; sleeping on time for school made it that much better for us.  If that's how our relationships with our parents are, how much better would God's plans be for us?  Why must we talk back to God?

God has a history of challenging us, and that only makes us better people.  God challenged Abraham and Sarah to have faith in their future progeny.  God challenged many scholars to devote themselves to wisdom.  God challenged Joseph and Mary to accept the gift of bringing up Jesus, the Christ.  God challenged Ananias essentially to walk into the den of lions so that the church may grow in an unimaginable way.

How is God challenging us today?

Day 008: The Price

“Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money!" Acts 8:20

These words are more pertinent today than ever before.
In this specific instance, Peter shouts this to Simon because this would make all the work of God be just for his own glory, not that of God or even of the growing church.  I do feel, though, that this response speaks even louder on a broader context: God is not restricted to a single social class.

In today's society, there are lots of things that cost money.  Higher education, particularly for my generation, is quite expensive, and sometimes can seem to be reserved for people belonging to a certain pay bracket.  Housing is another expense.  And, still, healthcare here in the United States is terribly expensive, even with these controversial aids to make it more affordable,  There are even churches - yes, you read correctly, churches - that demand so much money just to become a member, or at least to be in a supposed communion with God: pay this amount, and God will bless you.  But, we have this situation where Peter says that God cannot be bought.

Another issue we face is the fact that money speaks louder than ever.  We have politics that are driven by the flow of money, from corporate sponsoring to individual spending.  The richest nations dictate which way the money flows and which policies are correct and not.  We even have churches that can only be heard when they have the money to spend on a radio station, TV station, or even a megaphone.

I find all of this to be scary, because I am not a person of wealth.  I know that I am by no means the poorest guy out there, but I still feel somewhat powerless against this wind that money blows.  However, when I read that God cannot be bought, I find comfort, because I know that God is reaching out just for me, for free.

Day 007: Mercy

"But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust." Matthew 5:44-45

Mercy is all over the Bible, but it seems that the times that mercy seems to be unfair that we remember it the most.

As I make my way through Genesis, I am seeing details that I have forgotten that describe mercy. Not only do they show merciful situations, they help expand on what may be difficult words to understand, such as what Jesus preached.

Lot is a Sodomite, according to Genesis, for he took residence in Sodom.  As a result of a conflict between different kings, including the king of Sodom, Lot ended up as a prisoner of war.  Abram engages in a rescue mission and ends up saving Lot, some allies, and the cavalry of Sodom.
Abram saves not only his family but also the people of a "wicked and sinful" nation.

I don't have an explanation as to why God would have saving a land with a very bad reputation in addition to God's people, but it sure is a demonstration of mercy.  Abram was appointed to do the work that was assigned to him, and he left everything else to God.  Of course, we all know that later on God destroys Sodom in a terrifying way, but for this instant beforehand, God delivers both the family of Abram and the wicked and sinful people of Sodom.

When I hear these words of Jesus, I can only think of all the times that I have been spared by God, the times that God has shown me mercy.  I can also think of how a director assigns parts for a play, or a manager the jobs at a restaurant, or the rector the jobs of the laity.  Jesus gave us our scripts: to love, to serve, to forgive, to pray.  When we perform our roles, God will show us what is perfect in God's eyes.

 

Day 006: Courage

"And do not be afraid of intimidation when it comes upon you, nor of the attack of the ungodly when it comes at you; for the Lord will be over all your ways, and He will plant your feet firmly, that you may not be shaken."  Proverbs 3:28-29

With today being the celebration of the Epiphany, I can only think that this relates so strongly to the occasion of the magi coming to see Jesus.  They had to go their way through land at night, it seems. Now, I feel scared enough when I have to drive at night and only my headlights are guiding me.  I can't even imagine how terrifying it must have been for these people to be going at night with nothing more than a bright star among many other stars.  It was sheer faith that kept them going in order to bring their gifts to Jesus and then to return to their home land.

But where does this courage come from, for I don't feel it all the time.  Even in this section of Proverbs, the writer tells his reader to remember wisdom at all times.  The magi are considered to be wise men in some translations.  According to the Middle Liddell Ancient Greek Dictionary, magi in ancient times were priests or wise men from Persia who were experts at interpreting dreams.  So it seems that they had such great wisdom that they couldn't care less about intimidation.

Then again, I find myself thinking that there is a consolation, and that's taking the time to listen to God's voice.  God speaks to us constantly by different means, but we need to be receptive to it.  Think about how the radio works: there are many broadcasting towers releasing information in the form of sound all around us, but it is only when we use a device that is tuned to a certain frequency that we can hear what is going on.  With older radios, one has to adjust a dial carefully enough so as not to receive just feedback.

We should approach prayer and meditation and reading in this same way.  I don't know if the magi were Jews, but if they were, they were probably well versed in the Hebrew Scriptures enough to have such encouragement swirling around in their heads when they traveled.  They were, though, probably skilled enough to know when God was speaking to them in dreams, and they probably had the skills to be silent and listen to God.  So, I find that reading the Bible and listening to what God is trying to tell me through my reading is one way of making sure to have wisdom always in my heart.  If I can just tune myself into more and more spiritual frequencies, I'm certain I will be able to experience God in that many ways.

Day 005: Truth Abounds

"God by wisdom founded the earth and prepared the heavens with discernment. With perception the depths were broken up, and the clouds flowed with dew."               Proverbs 3:21-22

I adore reading the Scriptures that are usually bunched up and called "Wisdom Literature" because of the way they make me think.  I can't take anything just for its face value, but at the same time I can't forget the value of the words.

Of course, what comes to mind is the opening of John's Gospel, which states that the Word, or Reason (which is an older meaning of the word logos), was present in the very beginning.  And that then brings about the idea that Jesus has always been around.  Going even further, I can also say that this passage from Proverbs explains that Jesus is Wisdom, Discernment, and Perception.

A few years ago, when I was starting out in my creative writing program at the University of Houston, I learned some major guidelines for writing poetry.  The two that were always passed around were, "Avoid cliches", and, "Avoid abstractions."  Taking these two to mind would help any poet avoid writing a poem that belonged in a Hallmark card (two words that meant that one's writing was not worth reading).  Avoiding abstraction, though, meant to avoid words that encompassed the world in a concept, such as wisdom, discernment, or perception.  Does this sentence really mean anything: "The wisdom of discernment is the beginning of perception"?  I find that each word is just too broad.

However, the best poetry would be whenever we students could find a way to incorporate such great terms into concrete ideas so that we could understand them better.  By wisdom, God founded the earth.  God prepared the heavens with discernment.  With perception God broke up the depths.  In keeping with the words of Proverbs, I can see that the writer is trying to tell me something, that there is wisdom, discernment, and perception all around me.

After reading this, I understand that God has prepared a world for me that will teach me in so many different ways.  Just as nature inspired the Romantic poets and urban life the Beats, there are so many more aspects that can teach me and everyone.  The only thing left to do is to seek it out, to trust in God with all my heart and not exalt my own wisdom (Proverbs 3:5).

Day 004: Peace

"You heard me when I called, O God of my righteousness. You strengthened my heart when I was in distress; Have mercy on me, and hear my prayer.

"I will both sleep and rest in peace, for you alone, O Lord, cause me to dwell in hope." Psalm 4:2, 9

This psalm made me think a lot about what God's peace is.  Of course, every Sunday we are reminded that this peace surpasses all understanding, but, at the same time, we can still take some time to contemplate it.

Today, at least in American culture, there doesn't seem to be much room for peace.  We are constantly on our way to somewhere, usually in pursuit of  money or in pursuit of a way to show off that money.  We're concerned about the latest health fad, despite what we may say about the pundits who preach them to begin with.  We need to satisfy all our wants.  We strive for more time to focus on our social media presence or our knowledge of current events, regardless of whether they are things reported by Al-Jazeera or TMZ.  This time that we strive for is something we are even willing to sacrifice our presence at church for, let alone our personal devotion to God.

Of course, another way of looking at this lack of space for peace in our lives is by our need to be correct.  We can no longer have civilized discussions.  We don't like to agree to disagree.  We love going to coffee shops with our friends to talk about how another circle of friends is messed up in its thinking.  We love to make fun of other cultures we don't understand.  We also love to get into arguments whenever people we hold dear (if even for just a minute) disagree with us.  We take out words that we'd never use, weapons we'd never have, or armies we'd prayed we never use in order to assert our opinions.

How can we involve peace into our lives?  I mean, if this psalmist can talk about how great it is to dwell in hope in a way that allows her/him to rest in peace, surely there's a way to it.

God's peace has many forms.  As I make my way through reading the Bhagavad Gita, I learn even more about what peace means.  Meditation comes in so many different ways, and even our greatest Judeo-Christian writers write poignantly about how important it is to meditate/pray.  I feel that peace can come to us in many ways that we can incite arguments - there are embers burning that we can decide to kindle.  No one way works for everyone.  For some, the opportunity for peace is the silence in between each petition during the Prayers of the People.  It's the chant against a drone of cantors standing before a triangular, wooden stand.  It's the invocation of an ancient syllable/prayer in the middle of one's room.  It's the sound of a guitar strumming in the darkness illuminated by votive candles arranged in an icon.  It's the reading of a psalm amidst an anthology of rage, anger, love, forgiveness, and everything else in between.

When we take a moment to expand on these opportunities for peace, we submit ourselves to peace, allowing it to come into us and to rule over us, manifesting itself in many different ways: in rest, in hope, in wisdom (Proverbs 2:10-11), and in salvation (John 15:4).

 

 

Day 003: Birthright

"And do not think to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones." Matthew 3:9

When John speaks, he yells, and his teaching here is one of my all time favorite verses from the Bible.  His words are just as rough and unkempt as his own appearance, but they speak such a strong truth.
In the United States today, there are quite a few things that come from birthright, a few things that people who are born on American soil are entitled to: birth certificate, social security, citizenship the possibility of the presidency.  And this is something that many Americans like to show off.  Sure, it's great to be able to reap these benefits right from the cradle, but it's not something that everybody gets, or, in some instances (the reason I use the word entitlement), some people even deserve.  And if one of you readers think that this is getting gritty, let's take a look at this situation from the Gospel.

In the New Testament times, the Jews still maintained their view that only they who shared a common heritage back to Abraham were going to be saved.  They believed that they were entitled to the grace and mercy of God.  However, to further flaunt this point, they alienated themselves from the outsiders and, seemingly, preached that no matter what, they had Abraham as their ancestor.  I can even see how something like that can pan out today in different conflicts around the world.

And yet, when God sent God's Christ, God prepared all the people with a message of change, and, frankly, it was one that was uncomfortable to stomach: that the Messiah was sent to save all people. John, in the Gospel, tells everybody that, "Our family is growing, and the houses are being built, so get ready."  But who are building the houses?  Just before this verse, John preaches about living fruitfully.  Therefore, John demands for all of us who are in the family to start building the houses for the new members of the family.

So, when I look back at my nation, the United States, I constantly remind myself that it is such a blessing for me to have been born here, so that I may reap the birthright privileges.  But, I must also remember that my family before me fought so much just to get here, and that there are many people who are constantly fighting and struggling in the same way.  I hope and pray that I might be able to provide some sort of support for those who are struggling to become a part of this Great American Family, just as all of us are trying to become a part of the greater Kingdom of God.

Day 002: Communion

"When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place."  Acts 2:1

"Now all who believed were together and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need."  Acts 2:44-45

The account of the early church shows a business model that was quite successful, with numbers growing in the hundreds and thousands in the first years.  To me, what seems to be at the heart of it all is the communion between one another, sharing the Holy Spirit with one another.

To start, the early Christians, burning with the Spirit, spoke in the different languages of many different cultures of the time, and there were people coming from all over, hearing their languages, feeling the hospitality that comes from a love for God.  In addition to that, as some scholars point out, they divided their possessions among each other out of necessity, since there were many who were coming to them from afar.
This is the embodiment of Jesus' command in John's Gospel, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink." (John 7:37)

When I think about how the larger Church today works, I appreciate my own, the Episcopal Church, because of our communion table, which is open to all.  Just as Jesus commanded us to come to Him for fulfillment, we continue that invitation to this very day.  Unfortunately, though, the difference is that we extend this invitation reluctantly.  We only want a certain gender, a certain sexual orientation, a certain color, a certain race, a certain ethnicity, a certain culture, a certain language, a certain doctrine,  a certain credence.  We add terms and conditions to what Jesus explained simply and the apostles executed simply.

I am certain that each and every one of us has some need.  Some needs are material, and others are spiritual, but the important thing to remember is that we all have them and need to respect those of others.  How about making the church a place for those needs to be fulfilled?  How about coming together in the church with one accord?  How about bringing the Holy Spirit to our neighbors without that terms and conditions box?

 

Day 001: God's Transcendent Love

But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.  And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins."  Matthew 1:20-21

This new year, I really like the message that I get from the first chapter of the Gospel according to Matthew, for it gives a long explanation for a central truth: that God's love is transcendent.  God's gift, our savior, Jesus, is something that transcends all of our boundaries:
that it is for us regardless of our pasts,
that it is something that might not even make sense for us,
that our social constructs may not permit us to have it,
that it is just weird.

The chapter begins with the ever famous genealogy, with all the "begats" that we just love to make fun of (who even uses that form anymore?).  However, the interesting thing about the list of names is that many of the names are of men and women who were sinners, and even the most despicable, at that!  Kings drove God's people away from God's ways, people who were deceptive.  But, from this complicated family tree came Jesus.
To make matters even thornier, Jesus was conceived before Joseph and Mary were married, which is a taboo even today.  But, God takes care of things.  Sometimes, we like to think that God is far away from us and that we are alone in all of our tests and troubles.  God sent an angel to calm Joseph down, and it worked.  Though things were getting out of hand, God reassured Joseph that things were supposed to go just that way.

And so, as we might like to think that all the torments of the past year are behind us, some that we hope never to have to revisit, we must remember that God has our lives under God's control.  God's love, which is perfect for each one of us, has no boundaries.  We can push it away as much as we want to, but God has an angel waiting to tell us to keep calm.