Author: lakewooducc

“Live long and prosper.” This familiar Vulcan salute rings in our ears spoken in the deep and sonorous voice of Mr. Spock [aka Leonard Nimoy] of Star Trek. Some of us grew up with this benediction blessing our days. Spock had much to teach us. He conveyed a message about living as a mixed blood individual and about being different. Lessons we are still trying to learn.

Perhaps the most significant thing that Spock showed us was the importance of reason, logic, and intellect. He showed us how to use our heads. He made it cool to be smart, principled, and logical. We could use that lesson again. Scientists give us verifiable data about the environment. It is for the most part ignored. We have access to facts about food and diet. Yet unhealthy, even dangerous habits continue. Economists give us data and analyses related to the economy. Greed speaks louder. The doctor tells us to quit smoking or we’re going to die and we light up. Alcohol causes incalculable costs to society and drinking to excess continues. Educators give data driven information about educational methods yet they are virtually ignored by school boards, legislatures, and parents. We could go on and on. Humans have extensive intellectual abilities. We have the capacity to reason. And yet we so often choose to act on habit or on personal short term interest ignoring the evidence at hand. Just take the easy way out.

The trouble is, that won’t result in the blessing we seek: Live long and prosper.

Lectionary readings for today:

Genesis 17:1-7, 15-16
Psalm 22:23-31
Romans 4:13-25
Mark 8:31-38 or Mark 9:2-9

Prayer: May we use appreciate our capacity for reason and logic. May we use our brains to serve the dreams of God for a world that is truly home to all. Amen.

At a gathering of colleagues this week, one person brought up a series of changes he felt needed be made in another religion. It was a very carefully thought out analysis. I couldn’t help thinking that rather than prescribing a reformation of someone else’s religion, he should be thinking about a reformation of our own religion which certainly could use plenty of work on many fronts. How about a carefully thought out analysis of Christianity and a prescribed series of changes needed there?

When I think of the story of Jesus sent off into the wilderness, or the stories of Jesus going off to pray, what do I imagine? Do I imagine him praying, “God, please change the Romans? Give me a plan for reforming the Empire?” No. Do I imagine him praying, “God, turn the hearts of the pagans, the heathen, to Judaism?” No. I imagine Jesus praying to God to change him. To help him. Maybe he prayed for God to take away his anger toward the people who were threatened by him. Maybe he prayed for patience when he wanted to lash out at people. Maybe he prayed to be more loving and forgiving and understanding. Maybe he prayed for God to soften his heart. Maybe he prayed, “Here I am, Lord. It is I, Lord. I am tired of you calling in the night” to adapt a popular hymn. Maybe Jesus simply offered himself in submission and humility and meekness.

Lent is a time to think about how we need to change. It is a time to concentrate on the transformation that is needed within us. It is a time to consider how we need to be re-formed in the image of God. As Gandhi put it, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”

So often if someone annoys me, I want that other person to change. But what about my need to change? Maybe I need to become more understanding. Or I need to be more patient. Or I need to be less judgmental. Or I need to be more accepting. Our prayer can be for ourselves to change and be more loving and for the other person’s highest good and well-being.

Lectionary readings for today:

Psalm 22:23-31
Genesis 16:7-15
Mark 8:27-30

Prayer: May we have the honesty and vulnerability to be open to our need for transformation and change. May we grow in our capacity to love even our enemies. Amen.

There are probably as many images for God as there are people if not more! But one of the ways that we often image God is as Creator. We associate God with Creation: With being responsible for the fact that there is something and not nothing. Most of us image God in some way associated with Creation.

The Bible is full of references to God as Creator. God is not only the initiator of Creation in the Bible but God is evidenced throughout Creation. Creation is God’s self-disclosure. God is the imagination behind all that is and God is in it all. While there may be many differences and divergences in our ways of thinking of God, there is common ground is associating God with Creation.

When we think of God and Creation, we are thinking of all of Creation. We don’t think God is maker of the sea but not the land. We don’t think about God self disclosing in insects but not in any other life form. We connect God with all of Creation. As the children’s hymn reminds us, “All things bright and beautiful; all creatures great and small; all things wise and wonderful, our dear God made them all.” All. All. All. All. Not some.

In the ministry of Jesus we see this same devotion to all. Jesus heals all. Jesus feeds all. Jesus forgives all. Jesus loves all. All people. All life. All. Not some.

This week, again, Janet Yellen, chair of the Federal Reserve, was harassed for her concern about income inequality. For one thing, as a person with a major responsibility for the economy, she should be concerned about all things economic. As a government employee, she should be concerned with the condition of the country. And historians and economists remind us that income inequality is an indicator of the overall health of a society. The greater the income inequality, the greater the instability. Since she is head of the Federal Reserve, this should concern Janet Yellen.

But perhaps even more importantly, Janet Yellen is a public servant. People who work in the government are public servants. Their job is to serve the public. All of the public. Yellen is paid to serve the entire population of the US in the best way that she can. She should be expected to be concerned about each and every billionaire and each and every homeless person and everyone in between because she is charged with serving the entire public of the vast USA. That’s what it means to be a public servant.

So often we restrict our views to our circumstances, our group, our concerns, our perspective, our needs. Yet we are created in the image of the Divine. Therefore, it is in our nature to be concerned about the whole: To care about all of Creation and all of life, not just our own small circle in interests.

Lent is reminiscent of Jesus’ 40 days in the wilderness. For him, that was a time of solidifying his devotion to the whole of creation. May this Lenten season be just such a time for us as well.

Lectionary Readings for the day:
Psalm 22: 23-31
Genesis 16:1-6
Romans 4:1-12

Prayer: This Lenten season, may we cultivate devotion to all of Creation. Amen.

There is a story shared by Anthony de Mello which talks about the relationship between God and each person in terms of a string. When we sin, that is when we are separated from God. It is as if the string were cut. When there is forgiveness, it is as though the string were tied back together. After forgiveness occurs and the knot is tied, the string is shorter. We are closer to God.

Forgiveness does bring us closer – to ourselves, to others, and to God. Forgiveness involves a process of self examination, taking responsibility for our wrongs, seeking the forgiveness needed, and offering the forgiveness needed. In this process, we are vulnerable. It requires honesty that can be difficult. Working something out with someone else, with ourselves, or with God can involve deep connection and understanding.

Forgiveness brings us together. We become more intimate with another because of the honesty and vulnerability that is needed when pursing forgiveness. Maybe what holds us back from pursuing forgiveness is our fear of intimacy. With true selves. With one another. And with God.

Lectionary readings for the day:

Genesis 15:1-6, 12-18
Psalm 22:23-31
Romans 3:21-31

Prayer: May we be willing to live more deeply pursuing forgiveness and the intimacy that comes with it. Amen.

Though I did not watch the Oscars on Sunday evening, I have certainly heard the repercussions of the remarks made by Legend about incarceration in the US and slavery. Apparently, it can be reasonably verified that the US is the most incarcerated country in the world. We may be topped by China but the numbers cannot be verified. So, Legend makes a creditable claim. In addition, he mentions that there are more black men in jail than there were black men in slavery in 1850. And, apparently, that, too, is verifiable. Racial injustice and inequities continue to persist. Some even think the situation is getting worse.

This is a difficult reality to come to terms with as Black History month draws to a close. We can send a person to the moon in a decade but after more than a century, we have not managed to create a prejudice-free society. We are still haunted by racism and other prejudices.

In the main, I don’t think people set out to be racist. They don’t wake up one morning and decide, “I’ll have it in for black/white/Asian/Jewish/gay people today.” It comes with culture. It can be subtle. It is institutional as well as individual and we know that it is hard to change people and even harder to change institutions. Racism can be like the cancerous tumor growing inside you that you don’t even realize is there until it produces dire consequences.

In this Lenten season, as we think about forgiveness and mercy, we are reminded that that is what is needed to heal racism and that we have been given the power to do so.

Lectionary readings for the day:

Psalm 77
Proverbs 30:1-9
Matthew 4:1-11

Prayer: May we embrace the grace and forgiveness within us to heal the evil of racism and oppression. Amen.