Psalm 133

Easter 2 - Year B
Proper 7 (12) - Year B
Proper 15 (20) - Year A


Let's see - G*D's blessing is life forevermore.

It does seem helpful to live together in unity rather than strife for that amount of time.
Now come the difficult questions about how that occurs when we can influence others but only make decisions for ourself.

The Spiritual Formation Bible quotes Brother Roger of the Taize community, "A conversion takes place in the very depths of our being when, even though we are rejected or humiliated, we entrust to God, at once, those who have wounded us."

And how does this conversion take place for those who do the wounding? The wounded may actually have the easier time in evermore. And as we recognize we are the ones doing the wounding, there are a multitude of levels we have to get through before find our own woundedness that allows us to cease and desist. When we are the wounded we are at a basic level of trust.

May we use this image in our prophetic stances - life is too long to have to be the one in charge at all times and in all places. Images of community need to be brought to the forefront whether the setting is private or public.

http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2003/april2003.html

 


 

"For there the Lord ordained a blessing, life forevermore."

What is it that keeps life alive? "Humor is mankind's greatest blessing." [Mark Twain]

Blessings Revisited
from http://www.humorcolumnist.com/blessing.htm

May the road rise to meet you, may the wind be always at your back, may the sun shine warmly upon your face, and the rain fall soft upon your fields, and until we meet again, may the Lord hold you in the hollow of His hand.

This is an old Gaelic blessing often quoted. Many such classic blessings are inspirational and reflect the qualities of the folk represented. However, we can think of a lot of other blessings that might be more representative of the sort of good wishes we would like to have. While the traditional blessing is nice enough, as far as it goes, it just doesn't go far enough. So we are going to add a few more blessings of our own. . . just to be sure that the actual needs are all covered.

May the wind at your back never mess up your hair,
May the icy road not slide out from under your car,
May your furnace be warm and your gas or electric bill low,
May the snow fall soft upon the fields, but not upon your driveway,
May your snow shovel not break and your salt supply be plentiful,
May your car start in the morning and your door locks not be frozen,
May the check out lines at the grocery store be short,
May your credit be good and your credit card never exceed the limit,
May your appliances never break down and your water pipes never freeze,
May your medical tests all be negative and your attitude positive,
May your zippers always zip and your buttons never fall off,
May your clothes never get tight around the waist and may you never need to diet or exercise,
May you always remember to let the dog outside for his potty time.
May you remember to floss when you brush and to squeeze the toothpaste from the bottom,
May you never run out of milk or bread in the middle of the week,
May your coffee pot never be empty and your coffee canister always be full,
May you always have clean underwear in the morning,
May your children and grandchildren remember to flush,
May you always be able to remember where you left the car keys,
May your purchases all fit and never need to be returned,
May you always be able to find a parking place at the mall,
May the drive thru bank window never be closed and the teller machine never run out of money,
May your hard drive never crash and your ISP never become disconnected,
May your advice be appreciated and never ignored,
May your feet never ache and your nose never run,
And until we meet again, may God hold you in his hand, and if he sneezes, may he remember to use a handkerchief.

http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2006/april2006.html

 


 

Psalm 133 or Psalm 67

How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity. Note, this is far, far different than living in uniformity.

When this is not only our intention, but our experience, we claim that G*D's graciousness and mercy are evidenced in our midst.

So, where have our intentions run awry and amok? Who is not in unity? The prophets would have us look first to the poor, the outcast, the weak, and the minority, in whatever forms those take.  Given the sweep and the specificity of their vision it is important to note both the big issues of poverty that affect everyone (including those currently rich) and the personal issues of those we have a particular affinity with.

Just as each of us have a different set of gifts to add to the common good, so each of us have a different set of sensitivities to a person or group who is left out of unity. The deal here is not to claim everyone needs a particular gift to belong or that everyone needs to be focused on the same brokenness of unity. These simply leads us back into more or less sophisticated forms of uniformity.

Interested in a good and pleasant life? It can't be done in isolation from the unity issue.

A parallel is found in the American pursuit of happiness.  If we don't care for the unity issues inherent in a common defense of all and the general welfare of all, we will miss the the mark of happiness.

- - -

To follow the unity/uniformity discussion from the Psalm comments, you may find this article by Joan Chittister to be helpful.

http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2005/august2005.html

 


 

Psalm 133 or Psalm 9:9-20 or Psalm 107:1-3, 23-32

Individual or nations can get caught in storms. At first they seem lifted to the heavens with the rush of excitement and then it becomes apparent that the blowback of their presuppositions catches up with them and they are headed to Davy Jones' Locker.

Think about storms for a moment and our theories of pressure fronts. Storms are generated at the edges of highs and lows. If this were to stand for the wars between individuals and nations it might be posited that Psalm 133 is what stands between the other two. Psalm 133 is about living in unity. Note that this is not uniformity, but unity between the differences without having to fight.

And then it must be noted that storms do bring the rain that brings the flowers. Aargh! If only one image would stand still long enough to hold all the meaning in the world. Well, until then, do what you can to live in a creative unity that allows enough rain to nourish without escalating into a storm that devastates.

http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2006/june2006.html

 


 

Psalm 133
Acts 4:32-35
1 John 1:1-2:2
John 20:19-31

"Now the whole group" - "when kindred live together" - "that you also will have fellowship with us". These phrases set a tone of what it means to be joined in joy.

A test comes someone is not part of our gathering when a very specific and important event happens. Regardless of the reason they are not present, they are not present. In their absence comes a revelation that could very well drive a wedge between the true experiencers and those without that experience. And so Thomas' story is an important witness of continued openness. Thomas was still welcome even without a corroborating experience. Fortunately he received one. That helps a lot in binding a community together. But, and this is significant, unanimity is not foundational to community.

The downside is that there are expectations set up that folks will be required to come to believe in the same dramatic way as did those who experienced a risen Christ Jesus in this cell. We, to this day, separate folks out according to their experience of faith and their differences from the majority or the powerful. If they measure up, they're welcome. So Thomas' story is used to convince people that they cannot be different (doubt) because that would bar them from fellowship in an already together group.

Thomas is laughed at rather than revealing how laughable are our restrictive standards.

Remember that Thomas was with those who had already experienced a resurrection. Use this as an inclusive evangelistic witness for inviting "others" to be present. This will offset the temptation to have the un-experienced set aside until they measure up. If a community is not focused on key words in the opening phrases: "whole", "live", and "also" it has learned the smaller lesson and missed the larger.

- - -

revelation is not theory
it is experience-able
with eye and hand
with kindred and enemies
with ancestors and descendants
with light and dark
with male and female
with all orientations
with slave and free
with all economies
with self and others

revelation is not unique
revelation is not eternal
revelation is not owned

revelation is invitational
revelation is expansive
revelation is prophetic

http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2007_04_01_archive.html


 

Psalm 133 or Psalm 67
Genesis 45:1-15 or Isaiah 56:1, 6-8
Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32
Matthew 15:(10-20), 21-28

Unity as "good and pleasant" is quite an understatement. Given our starting points, to arrive at some semblance of unity (an outcome of justice) is so remarkable that it calls for a more enthusiastic response.

To arrive at some given understanding that rejection is not the last word about the meaning of life (though it is often one of the first words we encode), a sense of relief in the face of such mercy needs a conversion miracle response.

Jesus' response to the woman responding to being called a dog, after pleading for her daughter, is too sterile. It is not as though some word-game had been played out that had no real consequence. It is not as though Jesus doesn't have an epiphany here - faith comes from every angle, not just the preauthorized.

- - -

gifts and calling
irrevocable
deniable

our life
is our gift
our calling

journeying
toward wholeness
finds our denial

beyond journeying
at a stopping point
we find irrevocability

whether rued
or rejoiced
life calls

gifts once dead
remain ours
to do

http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2007_08_01_archive.html


 

How beautiful it is when relatives don't argue (negatively put) or live together in unity (put positively).

If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, what is it that strikes us about this? Might it be how unusual it is for us to so live? Would it be a wonder if it were usual? Is its beauty enhanced by its lack of being what is expected? Would we wonder about this if the standard behavior was for folks to get along?

May you be beautiful this week.

If not for the whole week, perhaps for a day? an hour? Wherever you can start being a wonder to your compatriots and foes will be OK. Then the challenge begins to lengthen and lengthen – like more stably holding a yogic pose over time. Again a chart will be helpful to note your progress and solidify your ability to not argue (nor to get even) and deepen your compassion (unity re-spelled).

http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2008_08_01_archive.html

 


 

Though but a small song, one that can be hummed all life long.

!! How very good !! and pleasant it is !! when kindred live together !! in unity !!

It is an anointing to bring one closer to G*D and G*D closer to G*D and G*D closer to another.

It is a refreshment from the very edge of our reach, and beyond, that comes to our center as a blessing beyond any expected.

Unity here is not uniform, but that of pressing boundary and center, present and mystery, self and other together well enough to have them keep their identities and yet be inextricably partnered.

http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2009_04_01_archive.html

 


 

How wonderful, beautiful, pleasant, when sisters and brothers get along. Ps 133

By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. Jn 13:35

How would you put it in today’s environment of conflictual politics?

= = = = = = =

Remember the Stockholm Syndrome. Kidnapped victims start identifying, getting along with, and even loving their captors.

So, to borrow a phrase from WW2 when we were also fighting fascism, this is how I would put it: "Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition."

It is NOT wonderful, beautiful, or pleasant to tolerate intolerance. It is not OK to love dysfunction. It is not OK to get along with ideologues.

And I am not taking any one of the sides represented in the current conflictual politics: this is a death rattle of the way things have happened up to now. The whole two-parties-at-war metaphor has to go. The idea of "winning" elections has to go. We need a whole new emergent stage that incorporates and transcends the hell we are currently living through.

Tom

http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2011/08/psalm-133.html

 


 

How good and pleasant it is when we live together. It is an anointing of the whole community, in addition to a series of individuals.

It is this living together that reveals an original blessing - a tree of life not forgotten in the midst of all that we come to know.

Have you gotten the message yet? - resurrection is a communal event!

http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2012/04/psalm-133.html

 


 

It is good when we have a spot of unity in the midst of our many differences. A question is whether that unity is large enough to hold us together. Our track record is that our differences are stronger than our unity. As a result separation is always adversarial.

Sometimes we claim that we are after an amicable separation so the differences might each be able to thrive in a way not currently possible as they tussle with each other for power and control of some magic 51% to impose their difference on another. This is particularly hypocritical when one of the differences is that of being able to hurt through discrimination another person or group of persons.

Unity is a good goal but mostly we have ways of trying to adjust to our differences by claiming we have a lock on the unity mechanism. If only those others would see things our way we would be unified.

The United Methodist Church is currently facing an “amicable separation” fiasco where every plan put forward by the religious right to separate has one fatal flaw. Whenever the concept of harm to another enters the conversation all their fine rhetoric and imagined processes fall apart. The separation then is seen for the issue of power and privilege that it is. This is evidence that the church is not unified regarding the presence of G*D in Jesus’ teachings. Without the keys of “this is how others will know you are my disciples: how you love one another” and “have you not learned G*D wants mercy for neighbors, not sacrifice”. As long as every other spot of agreement falls when these are not present, unity is not really on the agenda.

It is not hard to identify that the hard spot of unity is love and mercy in a world where people are hard to love and our desire to be justified is more satisfying than the work of mercy.

In parallel to Sweet Honey in the Rock's song about Greed, I’ve been wondering how I can talk about mercy, sing about mercy, live within mercy. Do you have any report from your own experience about living mercifully in a context where there are people who will never love you and who desire your destruction?

Manditory Listening:
http://youtu.be/RLQ_KvYDpRA

http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2014/08/psalm-133.html