Exodus 32:1-14

Proper 23 (28) - Year A

GD had a second thought that caused a change in GD. Hooray! Is this not a sign unto us as significant as rainbows and pillars of fire and manna and circles within circles and mangers?

Evil threatened turned out not to be evil done. A disaster was averted through a second-thought.

In the midst of an ever-present current economic “disaster” we might wonder how many second-thoughts were allowed to come to fruition and how many died aborning?

In the midst of whatever personal “disaster” (again, perception is significant here) we are experiencing, we would benefit from a reflection on our second-thought process. The same goes for a congregation or other institution.

One of the blessings of the progressive movement is its ability to see beyond what is purported to be common-sense or orthodoxy. We are freed through a second-thought process to visit any number of situations again for a first time. In such a manner are idols best rooted out and extraneous baggage (then and now, gold) released.

In this case Moses and G*D sharpened each other. May you continue to sharpen your second-thoughts by honing them against your current “opponent” (again, ...).

- - - - - - -

a most beloved phrase
And the Lord repented

and Moses and you
and I and we and all

the most specific
the one and only

Lord ever constant Lord
Lord the same Lord

repented then and now
repented again and again

And the Lord repented
a most beloved phrase

As found in Wrestling Year A: Connecting Sunday Readings with Lived Experience

Moses tried to calm G*D down, to pacify G*D who was ready to change horses mid-stream.

Enough, already, with complainers against the consequences of freedom. Freedom does not provide a sense of security or basic survival needs. No wonder idolatrous captivity holds such appeal.

Have you heard yourself complaining about the results of freedom recently? Isn't that why we don't insist on information before making decisions as evidenced by the appeal to "trust us, we have secret stuff" from an administration looking to go to war? We in the public appear to want to have plausible deniability so war is not our fault but their fault, so we don't demand clear evidence.

But the track record of betting on Adam/Eve or Noah/Naamah or Abraham/Sarah all brought disappointments. Would Moses/Zipporah really be a better option? Would you be a better option? Should G*D get rid of everyone else and clone you as the way to bring creation to its fulfillment?

Moses did well to talk G*D down to earth from high dudgeon. May we talk our own leaders down. May we work for the good of all and not just for our own dominance.

http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2002/october2002.html

We have all had refuge spots along the way. They, like other adaptive behaviors, have seen us through tough times. These times and places in which we can take a breath and re-clarify a vision of a better tomorrow are precious to us. In some sense they are defining moments.

Our tendency is to continually return to these same refuges when things get tough. That can work for a bit, but, eventually, we need to find ourselves surprised by a new refuge, never before thought about or envisioned. It is this quantum leap that reveals whether we are stuck in some idolatry of the way in which we will prescribe the relief now needed. Golden calves, and other less obvious sources of relief, seemed to have ameliorated our situation in the past and so we keep going back to that well.

We need a new experience that moves the fearful shroud of a commanding mountain into a place of renewed presence of abundance for whatever journey we are on.

A key for this transformation of briar patch into refuge is participation in various liberation movements that remove disgrace from one peoples or another. There are still plenty of disgraced folk around. So pick one and go to work to provide a refuge for them, and, lo and behold, find a new refuge for yourself. [Note: this is not just one-way work of helping ourselves by helping others, but entails a mutuality that puts our own need for refuge in the hands of others who, in turn find a new refuge for themselves.]

It is time to move on to the graceful and challenging work of challenging disgrace. Or, as Fred Craddock put it,

"To be Christian is to cease saying,
'Where the Messiah is there is no misery'
and to begin to say
'Where there is misery there is the Messiah.'
The former statement makes no demands;
the latter is an assignment."

http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2005/october2005.html

Moses is delayed on the mountain: Worry. Take things into your own hands and build an alternative worship experience. Dance around a golden calf, which is what hoarded resources are good for.

Wedding guests have refused their invitations and killed the messengers: Recompense. Take things into your own hands and kill the killers. Invite any left to the wedding. A seemingly generous act finds the violence of recompense still active when someone doesn't live up to a dress code. With a finer and finer sieve are folks caught, until none will be able to stand. Many are called, but few are chosen. Few are chosen, and even these will eventually be speechless.

It is difficult to let our gentleness be shown in a wilderness setting or an example of heavenly blessing. We refuse to take the time to remember goodness and mercy all the days of our life.

- - - - - - -

glory is exchanged for grass
every day
that which is before us
is never as delightful
as that which is not
grass is greener elsewhere

grass is exchanged for grass
grass for grace
promises of G*D with us
in Moses' return
in a heavenly banquet
fall on empty ears

we hallucinate grass
until gold becomes an oasis
busy-ness an edge for advancement
getting hungrier and hungrier
settling for empty calories
unsettling the ox within us each

http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2007_10_01_archive.html

G*D had a second thought that caused a change in G*D. Hooray! Is this not a sign unto us as significant as rainbows and pillars of fire and manna and circles within circles and mangers?

Evil threatened turned out to not be evil done. A disaster was averted through a second-thought.

In the midst of the current economic "disaster" (as perceived by some or many) we might wonder how many second-thoughts were allowed to come to fruition and how many died aborning?

In the midst of whatever personal "disaster" (again, perception is significant here) we are experiencing we would benefit from a reflection on our second-thought process. The same goes for a congregation or other institution.

One of the blessings of the progressive movement is its ability to see beyond what is purported to be common-sense or orthodoxy. We are freed through a second-thought process to visit any number of situations again for a first time. In such a manner are idols best rooted out and extraneous baggage (then and now, gold) let go of.

In this case Moses and G*D sharpened each other. May you continue to sharpen your second-thoughts by honing them against your current "opponent" (again, . . .).

http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2008_10_01_archive.html

When our main source of inspiration is delayed or otherwise falters, we are often very quick to give up on it. We expect our connection to the biggest power we know to be very present to us and quick to respond.

Of course there are always those who stubbornly stick with a previous iteration of a god, never able to let go and attach to a seemingly more effective power. Additionally there are those whose relationship to what they trust is more complex.

Simply know that both those who quickly give up and those who stubbornly hang on always lose their resources. Either they face a rising ante to get the old god to come through or they get over-run with bad investments in the face of a rising new economy in an old universe.

Spiritual stick-in-the-mud’s can stir the ire of a jealous god or simply be ignored. In some sense it is easier to deal with a jealous god as they will at least give negative attention rather than none and if we are to persuade our god to act on our behalf we need to first get said god’s attention.

Don’t you love it when Moses goes all Buddhist on YHWH - “Hey, big guy, seems like you are getting pretty attached. Got a co-dependency going?” This seems to have been effective ministry to G*D.

http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2011/10/exodus-321-14.html

Changed

a most beloved phrase
And the LORD repented

and Moses and you
and I and me and all

the most specific
the one and only

LORD ever constant LORD
LORD the same LORD

repented then and now
repented again and again

And the LORD repented
a most beloved phrase

= = = = = = =

Reader Comment:

what does it do
to those
who have so much
adamant,
self-righteous,
condemning-of-others
certitude
to imagine
that their great and powerful
one and only
LORD of OZ
is a self-avowed,
practicing
mistake-maker?

oops...
that can't be right.

[T]

http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2011/10/changed.html

When the cat is away, the mice will play. This is one of the difficulties of authority—it leads folks to be afraid and see themselves as prey. A helpful use of authority is that of teaching folks how to think and learn on their own. Imagine if Moses had assisted folks to engage YHWH and YHWH to engage the people beyond a hierarchical relationship.

This is one way of evaluating pastoral leadership at any time in history. Is it empowering better thinking and deeper relationships? If so, good energy will continue to flow. If not, there will ultimately be abuse of power from either the congregation or the pastor as they tussle for being at the right hand of G*D.

About the best thing going here is that wonderfully freeing line about G*D changing G*D’s mind about planning disaster. Enough disaster is going to happen without planning more. Can you imagine a king or an image of heaven that takes change into account regarding a king’s actions or heaven’s exclusivity? If so, we can yet grow further. If not, well, who will still stand for long?

http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2014/10/exodus-321-14.html