Psalm 93
"Ascension" - Years A, B, C
"Reign of Christ" - Year B
Consider the triangle.
Wide at the base and indistinct because of the roiling waters. Single-pointed above where there is but stillness.
There is a presupposition that this model is the best model and that the best place on the model is the top. Yet, as we close off one church year and begin the next there is soon to be a cycle that draws us back to the top diving into the bottom - what topological fun as the silent word takes on noisy flesh.
I know how inappropriate it is to foster these sorts of mixed-upnesses between scriptural traditions, cosmological models, anachronisms and neologisms. and the like. But I simply can't get used to static images of a living G*D or a living me or you. Every time we get to surety of decrees and call them holy it feels like the still before the storm or that what is running deep below the still waters is about to break loose.
If majestic on high is the Lord, can this same Lord be majestic in low places as well? Well, of course. May we have the eyes and ears to hear.
http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2003/november2003.html
Psalm 93 or Psalm 132:1-18
2 Samuel 23:1-7 or Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14
Revelation 1:4b-8
John 18:33-37
So, who are you? We need to listen to other's perception of us. There will be some truth there. It will give us a clue about who we have been, are, or might yet become.
For this to be most helpful it is good to have some idea that we are fulfilling a meaningful interaction with the other and with a community larger than our immediate community. With this larger perspective we can take other perceptions and not battle them. Sometimes we can even claim them (probably to the consternation of those who were trying to get our goat).
I am who I was born to be. This is a deep truth each of us have access to. When we do connect with it, it is amazing what power is set free within and through us.
Here is an empowering exercise. Stand in front of a proverbial mirror and say aloud, until it is firmly stated, "For this I was born – to testify to wholeness." Stating this truth continues our completion and emboldens us to assist others to arrive at a similar spot for themselves. This is leadership.
- - -
where did I come from
alpha
where am I going
omega
right now I'm between
mu and nu
I am glad to be here
me and you
for this I was born
for this I will die
in the meantime
we enjoy between times
we are and were
and are yet were-ing
to a new witness
all are loved free
look up and down
jump and kneel
remember and anticipate
amen and amen
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2007_11_01_archive.html
“Highness” is emphasized in both Psalms. Whether talking about the quality of being or a title, we have a long heritage of up being better than down. In so many ways the children’s game of King of the Mountain is a model of life. Capturing the high ground brings a tactical edge (at least until drones came along). We still use some arbitrary moral high ground as a basis from which to whip up the winds of war.
This natural law naturally claims that G*D must be the highest of all highnesses. If we can’t quite get there, we can be associated with that we claim can be at the pinnacle.
As we easily consider ascension as separation from, it might be worth raising a question about any purpose of being above and beyond. Such a position can help question any status quo. When looked at from the perspective of subjected people, the status quo is better than anything worse, even if not as helpful as something else. Coming at life from a generational perspective rather than an individual one allows a questioning of present authority. Ascension can give the distance needed to better evaluate where we have been and come to an insight of where we might yet be. Ascension allows a look over the next range of hills.
This can cut several ways. We may look into a new land and claim there are giants there; retreat! We may also look beyond and see a new community worth all the trouble it takes to get to.
Are you willing to ascend or just leave that to Jesus?
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2014/05/psalm-47-or-93.html