Psalm 123
Proper 9 (14) - Year B
Proper 28 (33) - Year
A
Mercy, G*D, mercy!
Mercy for us.
Mercy for others.
Mercy for all.Honor, G*D, honor!
Honor for us.
Honor for others.
Honor for all.
Issues of personhood and community cry out wherever discounting of creation goes on.
http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2002/november2002.html
Psalm 123 or Psalm 90:1-8, (9-11), 12
When dealing with violence (here spelled, "contempt"), the antidote is not stronger redemptive violence, but mercy. Admittedly this is not effective in the short-term, but the question must be raised about what would be. If we try the redemptive violence in the short-term in order to open the option for mercy to come, our experience is that we get bogged down in redemption protection and never get around to the mercy, for when would it ever be safe to let one's guard down?
When it comes to a thousand years equaling one yesterday the whole concept of short- and long-term flies out the window. We either are on the way to being who we desire to be or we are not.
An interesting question comes, how to deal with G*D's contemptuous violence toward sinners and other creations that don't or cease to measure up. How does one show mercy toward G*D. I keep going back to Bernstein's Kaddish (sample) to hear the human soothe G*D's fevered brow and to bring rest and sleep to an over-stressed deity.
This issue of violence and mercy go back to the Creator and are in our very bones. How long we have been playing this game! How long before our heart is wise enough to regularly choose compassion?
http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2005/november2005.html
Psalm 123 or Psalm 48
2 Samuel 5:1-5, 9-10 or Ezekiel 2:1-5
2 Corinthians 12:2-10
Mark 6:1-13
To keep us from being too inflated or elated we are given a thorn - hometown. Here people changed our diapers. Here people saw the bad haircut we gave ourself. Here errors in judgment as we moved through the stages of life are laughed about every holiday. Here people join in expecting to honor a conquering hero to return home.
Out of his own experience at Nazareth, Jesus sends out the twelve and ourselves. They and we find places as humbling as a hometown and new places that become our hometown.
Whether needing refuge and defense or providing such (opportunity for repentance), we stretch our walk with G*D to include folks for whom we are a thorn and folks who are a thorn for ourselves. Mutuality is not just support, but also correction.
- - -
in season or out
learning is in order
learning to live
without surprises
we will receive
hometown adulation
along with
hometown rejection
both are unrealistic
no surprise here
caught up to seventh heaven
or caught on a thorn
in season or out
teaching is in order
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2007_07_01_archive.html
Psalm 123 or Psalm 90:1-12
Judges 4;1-7 or Zephaniah 1:7, 12-18
1 Thessalonians 5:1-11
Matthew 25:14-30
Life has been given into our hands. Some have received one gift; some another.
What to do with gifts is a perennial issue. The way we use a gift this year may be different than the way we were called to use it last year. It is difficult to keep up with a Living G*D.
The doing of evil may be as simple as continuing to use a gift in a manner no longer called for. Persistence of evil might be seen as a persistence of behavior beyond its time with no new listening, learning, or living.
It is this persistence of past talents that can be the same as burying them in the past and protecting them from being invested in the present and future. Thank goodness for communities that continue to challenge and support us in our use of gifts - for challenging us when we keep repeating ourselves past usefulness and for stimulating and encouraging us to new uses of given gifts.
- - -
a thousand years
swept away like a dream
and we complain
we bewail
we are at wit's end
the pull of habit
is strong
persistent
insistent
desired
even if there is new grass
growing through cement
we cling to our cement
claiming it to be life
in the presence of real life
may the light of day
keep us from SAD
cast a beam upon our path
warm our waning days
and lead us to one another
a thousand days
pfftt
gone
no regret
today's enough
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2007_11_01_archive.html
Mercy is indeed needed. It is an ever-present need. There are contexts and events that are not controlable but, nonetheless, need a response that includes mercy.
At issue is whether mercy is exclusively what is needed. For instance, when and where will mercy appear as preemptive advocacy from the bottom-up rather than a benefit dispensed from on high? How might G*D's image interact with the rest of creation as though mercy had already been experienced, rather than still to arrive? What will it take to stand for one's self and another because mercy is real?
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2008_11_01_archive.html
In Judges we hear of people calling out to G*D for help. We don’t hear a direct response. What we do hear immediately after the plea is, “At that time Deborah....”
This Psalm might be seen in parallel with the Judges pericope.
Hear it from The MessageWhat we now hear immediately after this plea is, “At that time Occupy Wall Street ... summoned Ketchup and a thousand more non-leading leaders....”
I look to you, heaven-dwelling God, look up to you for help.
Like servants, alert to their master's commands,
like a maiden attending her lady,
We're watching and waiting, holding our breath,
awaiting your word of mercy.
Mercy, God, mercy!
We've been kicked around long enough,
Kicked in the teeth by complacent rich men,
kicked when we're down by arrogant brutes.
Cries for mercy are important.
Showing mercy is important.
Claiming of mercy is important.
Being impatient for mercy is important.
Risking a justice that will reveal mercy is important.
So, been kicked around enough? Join G*D and N**ghb*r in releasing mercy from where it has been held in captivity. Yes, now.
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2011/11/psalm-123.html
When we are a bit literal about the wrath of G*D we find our worminess is contemptible by G*D. This is a bit strange for a creator, but we do sometimes find ourselves misunderstanding.
For a moment, consider that G*D created you and named you Beloved or Good. Now, should that change, are we able to still call out for mercy or is that category meaningless in a situation where we have either done nothing or done something regrettable—vis-à-vis G*D.
Will G*D have have mercy where G*D has judged? Is such mercy dependent upon our change or G*D's nature? If the latter, are we able to claim that image for ourselves and ease the fear in the room and world.
= = = = = =
Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us,
for we have had more than enough of contempt.
Our soul has had more than its fill of the scorn
of those who are at ease, of the contempt of the proud.
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2014/11/psalm-123.html