Psalm 62:5-12
Epiphany 3 - Year B
The nations are in an uproar, in panic those who live at the ends of the earth;
your miracles bring shouts of joy to the gateways of morning and evening.
[Psalm 65:7b-8, NJB]
So what are we adding to today's mix? Is it uproar or joy?
Are we adding to the panic of those at loose ends or setting free heaven's movement?
A goodly part of the progressive insight is recognizing the victory is already won and rejoicing, not diligently mopping up. This is, of course, irresponsible in the eyes of those who sense every last detail must be put in place and explained. But it is part of our gift to the whole.
What will you hoot and holler about today that changed toward new life? How will you relate that miraculous shift to the regularity of creation and folks still stuck with a mop in their hand?
Today we are having our next meeting of the Kairos CoMotion planning team. It is time to leave home earlier than desired to get there. Pray for us.
I'll be using a song by Judy Fjell as part of our centering time (devotions). The refrain goes:
Where are you standin'
Are you standin' on the side of fear
Do you close your heart to others
when differences appear between you
Where are you standin'
Do you shout so only you can hear
Or do you listen to the beat of the world
Are you livin' in the hope of the world
Are you livin' for the future of this world
http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2003/january2003.html
Not only is G*D a refuge for us, but the very silence of waiting for GODot is a holy place of renewal.
In silence we reconfirm our hope for a preferred future already birthed among us and growing, no matter how imperceptibly.
In silence we find a place of solidity. If the silence cannot rob us of it, nothing can. In silence we can become disoriented (any sensory deprivation can do this) and so if we find that place of security in silence we can hold it in the midst of every other temptation to forget who we are.
In silence we find what is trustworthy and what is not. Silence tunes our ear to wrong notes so no matter how subtle the propaganda we can notice it and bring it to light. (Ahh the interplay of senses from sound to sight.)
In silence we find our unity and permission for our uniqueness. Enjoy extending your silent time an extra five minutes this day and, perhaps, ten tomorrow.
http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2006/january2006.html
Psalm 62:5-12
Jonah 3:1-5, 10
1 Corinthians 7:29-31
Mark 1:14-20
There are many great balancing acts where we are not shaken, where we rest. Among the greatest is that of "none."
Are you seen, do you see yourself, as being of little value, of great value? The difference is smaller than a jot or tittle. It takes nothing to push a balanced scale, an empty scale. Let it go.
Fisher of fish or fisher of folk? Net leaver or family leaver? First journey or second journey to Tarshish or Nineveh? We tell ourselves stories that one is better than the other.
In a time of fulfillment "all" and "nothing" lose significance.
Let me have all things, let me having nothing, I freely and heartily yield.
Let me have repentance, let me have good news, I freely and heartily yield.
Let me have mourning, let me have rejoicing, I freely and heartily yield.
Let me have prison, let me have Galilee, I freely and heartily yield.
What has been the tension you have been holding on to to define your present time here? Might this be a time of fulfillment where you can yield to both rather than wait for one to knock off the other?
- - -
rock against rock
devil against sea
addiction against addiction
we set our dilemmas
wavering between them
holding both so precious
we could never put one down
time against space
matter against energy
galaxy against quark
we set our paradoxes
choosing one and then
favoring the other
once, twice, and thrice
doctrine against doctrine
hymn against praise
faith against hope
we set our institutions
burning with passion
burning each heretic
loving sets more than love itself
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2007_01_01_archive.html
For G*D alone my soul waits in silence.
For G*D alone my soul pants like a deer for flowing streams.
For G*D alone my soul searches the heights and depths.
For G*D alone . . . .
My rock, my deliverance, my questioner, my friend, my image, my judge, my . . . .
For Neighbor alone my soul waits in silence.
For Neighbor alone my soul pants like a deer for flowing streams.
For Neighbor alone my soul searches the heights and depths.
For Neighbor alone . . . .
Beyond an affirmation that G*D pays a fair wage for a good day's work, how's your good-day's-work quotient? What would you consider a fair recompense for it?
Would you be willing to be recruited to the long line of prophets who are able to see the good and evil results of current behaviors and speak it clearly (whether believing it will make a difference or not). It is this seeing the results of present actions that is the gift of Eve's choice, not some a priori ideal of good and evil to be parsed beforehand and chosen for or against. Waiting in silence, etc., brings a new view of disciples and prophets. In addition to being alternative spellings of one another, they are both experience-based. Prophet Eve leads to Prophet Jonah leads to Prophet (your name here).
Play prophetically with these pairings:
silence – rock – deliverance – pour out
hope – salvation – honor - trust
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2009_01_01_archive.html
Called to change ourselves and the world around us - to set a new course - to enter into a new creation, an 8th day - to whisper and shout about change - to see G*D change : this is our rock of salvation, our power to proceed, regardless.
On the surface of this psalm it is G*D who doesn’t change but is a source of refuge for us when we waver or feel wobbly in the face of one violence or another. This seems to work for some. Blessings to them. For others of us, this static gap between G*D and ourselves is greatly disappointing in its mechanism to keep us in a juvenile state.
When it is all about G*D, its all about nothing.
When it is all about Creation, its all about everything being related.
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2012/01/psalm-625-12.html