Who is Doug, and Why Would Anyone Want To Fry Him? (a Steve Orr Bible reflection)

I was so naive.

 

I might have expected language challenges if we had moved to, say, Scotland. But not from a move within the USA. I had supposed we would only have to factor in the New England accent.

 

From the very beginning of our time in the Boston area, we could not communicate. 

We had to learn all-new terminology. A shopping cart was a “carriage.” Sprinkles on ice cream? “Jimmies.” A milkshake was a “frappe,” and a water fountain was a “bubbler.” Those small cardboard cups of ice cream with the little wooden spoon? “Hoodsies.” And don’t get me started on the drama that followed ordering a “double dip” in an ice cream shop when we should have requested two scoops.

 

While trying to join a new culture, we were getting lost in a battle of words. Something had to change. Many people still approach change with an us-versus-them attitude. But here’s a long-known general truth: When change encounters culture, culture wins. Knowing that truth, we realized we weren’t going to change them. In many ways, we had to allow the culture to change us. And so it didn’t take long for us to fall into the habit of assuming we just didn’t understand—especially when a strange word appeared before us. 

 

We became conditioned. 

 

Hopefully, that explains my initial response when I saw the sign reading: FRIED DOUG. I admit thinking: Who is Doug, and why would anyone want to fry him? But by then, I no longer critically questioned the terms and practices of my new culture. Even if I didn’t understand the what and why, I assumed FRIED DOUG must mean, well, something. 

 

Or must it? My FRIED DOUG clarity came just moments later when the crowd moved aside. As it parted, I could then see all of the sign. There, immediately to the right of “DOUG,” was the letter “H.” 

 

Oh. 

FRIED DOUGH made a lot more sense than FRIED DOUG. In my defense, I had never even heard of fried dough. But the true root cause of my misunderstanding was much more subtle. My own habit—my conditioning—had tricked me into believing there was one meaning, when in fact, there was another. 

 

Something similar was happening with God’s people when Isaiah confronted them in this week’s scripture. God rejected their religious practices en masse. In fact, God told them those actions and observances had become a burden, and He had grown weary of bearing them! God rejected their prayers, their gatherings, their festivals—every part of what they did or said as worshippers. 

 

To a religious person, that’s got to sound harsh. 

 

Why would God reject their worship? What had they done to warrant such a reaction? I’m sure they attempted, much as we do, to properly perform each religious practice. Where had they gone wrong?

 

Answer: They fell into a habit.

 

Their culture required certain religious practices of them. They had been conditioned to do them, and so ... they did them. Over time, the behaviors that made those religious practices meaningful had fallen away. God said their hands were bloody from doing evil. They could only restore themselves by serving justice, rescuing the oppressed, defending the orphan, and pleading for the widow.

 

They needed the clarity the prophet Isaiah was providing. Like the “H” in my FRIED DOUG sign, they were missing something essential. Without that missing piece, their worship was worse than meaningless. The object of their worship no longer wanted to hear from them. If they wanted their religion to be acceptable to God, they had to actually do good. 

 

They were going to have to make some serious adjustments. The question is: Do we?

 

 

 

________________________

 

“Forty Boston Slang Words and Expressions You Should Know”:  

https://www.timeout.com/boston/news/40-boston-slang-words-and-expressions-you-should-know-090121

 

PHOTOS of Daddy’s Fried Dough: 

http://www.daddysfrieddough.com/about-us.html

________________________

 

DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast will meet Friday morning on Zoom** and at Our Breakfast Place. We start at 8:00 and enjoy a wonderful time of scripture, prayer, food, and fellowship.

 

Meet us by the bubbler with Jimmie’s on your frappe. 

Blessings,

Steve

 

**Zoom link (Zoom allows you to mute the camera and the microphone if you don’t wish to be seen or heard.)

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89947678414

 

 

SCRIPTURES FOR SUNDAY AND THE COMING WEEK 

Find them here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts/?y=384&z=p&d=68

 

Print them here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/wp-content/uploads/pdfs/Cx_Proper14.pdf

 

Isaiah 1:1, 10-20

Psalm 50:1-8, 22-23

Genesis 15:1-6

Psalm 33:12-22

Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16

Luke 12:32-40

Proper 14 (19) (August 10, 2025)

Hobbits and the Problem With Desire (a Steve Orr Bible reflection)

In J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy, several characters fight over a magical ring that doesn’t belong to them. These include hobbits, elves, wizards, humans, and a very creepy being named Gollum. The ring was forged to give its possessor power over several other magical rings. 

The being wearing the One Ring could control those who wore the other rings. Very tempting—whether desired for good or for ill.

But it comes with a price—a stiff one.

Gollum is the only one who calls the ring "my precious," but all of the others act as if that is true for them, as well. They so badly want to possess it that few of them can see the danger lurking beneath that shiny surface.

I thought of that while reading this week's selection from Luke 12. Someone in the crowd shouts out to Jesus, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” You're left to decide for yourself about the "shouter." Has he been cheated out of what is rightfully his? Is it that he believes it only "fair" that his brother share with him? Or does he know full well he is due nothing—and wants it anyway? 

There are a lot of problems with the man having demanded that Jesus intervene. The first is that he may see Jesus as just another scribe (lawyer) who should adjudicate disputes about property. Makes you wonder if he had listened to what Jesus had just been saying in the first 12 verses of the chapter. The best scenario—and it's not pretty—is that he recognizes the true power and authority of Jesus, and that he wants to use Jesus as a wedge or leverage in a family dispute. 

Think about that one for a while.

In his response to the man, Jesus elevates the issue to what really matters—and it's not who owns what in this life. In the parable that follows, Jesus makes it clear that our focus in this short life should be on our relationship with God, not on the level of abundance or scarcity we are experiencing at any given moment.

Why we desire what we desire is definitely worth taking time to consider. Luke Burgis, author of Wanting (The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life), reports strong evidence that imitating the desires of people we admire is a prime reason for our own desires. But that’s a longer discussion for another time. Regardless, it does leave the question: Is it okay to want things? The answer? Sure. It’s even okay to have things. Just don't let them rule you. As Jesus says later on in Chapter 12: “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

What then is the action we can take now? Scripture makes it clear: Store up your treasures in God. Nothing and no one is more precious.

______________

PHOTO (also, some thoughts on God, evil, and the One Ring of Middle Earth):

https://lorehaven.com/speculativefaith/evil-and-the-one-ring-to-rule-them-all/

Luke Burgis on why spirituality should have a much greater role in determining our desires:

https://pathlesspath.com/luke-burgis/

_________________________

We're getting together Friday morning at 8:00 for DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast. Join us on Zoom** or in person at Our Breakfast Place. Great food, great Bible discussions, and great fellowship. Plus, a surprising amount of laughter. 

Hobbits welcome (Bring my precious the Ring)

Blessings,

Steve

 

**Zoom link (Zoom allows you to mute the camera and the microphone if you don’t wish to be seen or heard.)

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89947678414

SCRIPTURES FOR SUNDAY AND THE COMING WEEK

Find them here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts/?y=384&z=p&d=67

Print them here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/wp-content/uploads/pdfs/Cx_Proper13.pdf

Hosea 11:1-11

Psalm 107:1-9, 43

Ecclesiastes 1:2, 12-14; 2:18-23

Psalm 49:1-12

Colossians 3:1-11

Luke 12:13-21 (Best to read 12:1-34)

Proper 13 (18) (August 3, 2025)

In the Clearing Stands a Boxer (a Steve Orr Bible reflection)

I wasn’t supposed to read it. 

I was 11 years old and exploring under the eaves in our attic when I found A Stone for Danny Fisher by Harold Robbins. To say it was inappropriate for an 11-year-old would be an understatement. It’s definitely an adult novel. 

The story: A poor Jewish boy in the 1930s Great Depression learns he can use fighting (his one “skill”) to bring in some money for his family. While pursuing elevating levels of competition and increasing rewards in the boxing ring, he falls in love with a beautiful Catholic girl. But his boxing prowess also brings him to the attention of organized crime. Jewish boy. Catholic girl. Covetous criminals. I'll let your imagination take over from here. Suffice to say: Danny Fisher lives a life filled with troubles.

The one mystery that had eluded me is the meaning of the title. There is nothing in the novel about stones. Nobody gives one to Danny. Reading this week’s Luke passage led me to an answer. There, Jesus poses the question: What loving father would give his child a snake instead of fish, a scorpion instead of an egg? A quick cross check of Matthew’s gospel finds Jesus posing a similar question in Chapter 7: What father would give his child a stone instead of bread? 

I believe Robbins thought someone, likely God, had given Danny a raw deal, a "stone" of a life rather than one filled with good.

In the Luke and Matthew passages, Jesus makes the opposite argument as Robbins. We tend to divide these into separate groups: Lord’s Prayer, loving fathers, asking, seeking, and knocking. But Luke delivers them all linked together so we can understand the real point: God loves us and will meet our needs.

Our lives are not about what we want or need. Sure, those things are important. But at the heart of it, we have a loving Father who desires good for us. God is a father who, in His answers to our prayers, far surpasses the loving intent of any earthly father.

Maybe Danny did receive a stone instead of bread, but I reject that it came from God. Tough times come to everyone. We, too, experience just such tough times. But we measure our lives by our relationship with God, not by our circumstances. 

Our father gives us the bread.

_________________________

PHOTO: Adobe Express and Photoshop Express

There is no direct connection between “The Boxer” by Simon & Garfunkel and A Stone for Danny Fisher. Yet, it perfectly captures the kind of hard life Danny lived. Here it is with lyrics on the screen:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MYPJOCxSUFc&pp=ygUVdGhlIGJveGVyIHdpdGggbHlyaWNz

How A Stone for Danny Fisher became the Elvis Presley movie, King Creole:

https://themysterytrainblog.com/2013/06/08/king-creole-a-stone-for-danny-fisher/

_________________________

I hope you can join us Friday morning for DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast. We gather at 8:00 on Zoom** and at Our Breakfast Place. It’s a very nourishing hour of scripture, fellowship, and laughter. 

The bread's good, too.

Blessings,

Steve

 

**Zoom link (Zoom allows you to mute the camera and the microphone if you don’t wish to be seen or heard.)

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89947678414

SCRIPTURES FOR SUNDAY AND THE COMING WEEK

Read them here: 

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts/?y=384&z=p&d=66

Print them here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/wp-content/uploads/pdfs/Cx_Proper12.pdf

Hosea 1:2-10

Psalm 85

Genesis 18:20-32

Psalm 138

Colossians 2:6-15, (16-19)

Luke 11:1-13

Proper 12 (17) (July 27, 2025) 

_________________________

Deep Inside Your Armor (a Steve Orr Bible reflection)

In a fictional story I’ve considered writing, the three Bethany siblings—Jesus’ friends Mary, Martha, and Lazarus—would be the children of well-off olive oil merchants. Lazarus would become the prodigal son from the parable. Mary would become the woman caught in adultery, as well as the sinful woman who anoints the feet of Jesus. My fictionalized Lazarus and Mary would, at some point, be restored and saved by Jesus. 

But what about Martha?

In my story, Martha is the good one, the responsible one. Martha remains true to her family’s beliefs. She stays and keeps the home, nurses her parents in their old age. Martha watches her siblings waste their inheritance and their lives. After her parents’ deaths, Martha becomes the family matriarch.

That is the Martha I would like us to encounter in this week’s Luke passage: the one who stayed, the one who held it all together. But also the one who Jesus described as “worried and distracted by many things.” 

It is not, and never was: Mary good, Martha bad. His words about worry and distraction were not an indictment of Martha, nor of her desire to maintain order and decorum in her home. Jesus knows the depths of the people He encounters. Martha needed Jesus just as much as her siblings—just not for the same reasons. When He spoke those words to Martha in real life, He knew that she, like Mary, needed to be sitting in His presence. 

His words to her were an invitation. 

It’s the same one He offers us: You can set down your heavy load of excessive worries and numerous distractions, the “armor” you use to cover the real you. You’re safe with Jesus. You can take the risk of allowing Him to gently remove that armor. 

You can rest in Him. 

__________________________

PHOTO: “A Knight in Malta” by Pattie Orr

BONUS MATERIAL 

Pause and listen to Twila Paris sing about the armor we wear: “The Warrior Is a Child” (with lyrics on the screen)

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uRNFf3ykQvM

__________________________

Friday morning at 8:00 we will gather on Zoom** and at Our Breakfast Place for DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast. We share an hour of food, fellowship, Bible discussion, and—surprising to some—laughter and joy. Together, we encounter God. 

Blessings,

Steve

 

**Zoom link (Zoom allows you to mute the camera and the microphone if you don’t wish to be seen or heard.)

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89947678414

SCRIPTURES FOR SUNDAY AND THE COMING WEEK

Read them here: 

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts/?y=384&z=p&d=65

Print them here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/wp-content/uploads/pdfs/Cx_Proper11.pdf

Amos 8:1-12

Psalm 52

Genesis 18:1-10a

Psalm 15

Colossians 1:15-28

Luke 10:38-42

Proper 11 (16) (July 20, 2025)

_________________________

We Can’t Run on Empty (a Steve Orr Bible reflection)

For a while, I was a bank examiner. It was a hard job. We worked day and night. Days, we were in banks examining them. Nights and weekends, we were analyzing data and writing reports. I saw little of my wife and baby. My chief memory from that period? Being exhausted. There never seemed to be even a moment to recharge.  

Sometimes, I would go over to a colleague’s apartment to collaborate on number-crunching and report prep. On those nights, he played a Jackson Browne album over and over. About once each hour, we would hear Jackson sing "Running on Empty." After a while, I knew all the lyrics and could sing along. Those lyrics perfectly matched my situation:

(Running on) RUNNING ON EMPTY!

(Running on) RUNNING BLIND!

(Running on) running into the sun

But I'm running behind

No vehicle runs on empty. Doesn’t matter whether it’s gasoline, diesel, electricity, or any other fuel. There’s got to be something in “the tank” for it to work as intended. I guess we could get out and push. But how long could we keep that up?

I recalled this season of my life as I read this week's Luke passage. I've known so many people who became exhausted trying to fulfill their desire to “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Spiritually speaking, these followers of Jesus are running on empty. I'm not sure where we got the idea that we can perform the so-called “second greatest commandment” on our own. Maybe from some misapplication of the concept of "sacrificial love." Definitely from some misunderstanding of scripture. 

Wherever we got that idea, it's wrong.

We are spiritual vessels. Unless we allow ourselves to be filled with the love, vitality, talents, and gifts of God, we are not going to be able to love our neighbors as ourselves. If we can accept God's filling of our vessel, we will have the resources to love our neighbor without bankrupting our spirits. In other words: God loves us, why can't we love ourselves? 

Seriously, dare we think less of ourselves than does God?

When I was a bank examiner, I soon came to the understanding that the people above me were also running on empty. I exited that career path in less than a year. I found a job that let me spend my evenings and weekends with my family, meeting my vital needs, and recharging my batteries for the next workday. 

Granted, we cannot always arrange our work for the optimum rest and recreation needed. But that is no reason to approach our spiritual journey the wrong way. We can (and must) set aside time with God, allow ourselves to accept that God loves us, to rest in that love, and to love ourselves as God loves us.

Something must be in the vessel or there will be nothing to pour out. Then, and only then, can we successfully love our neighbors as ourselves. Only then can we truly live the second greatest commandment.

_________________________

PHOTO: Steve Orr

Jackson Browne singing “Running On Empty (with lyrics): 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vq25ZJwZJzU

Devotions for people running on empty): 

https://www.faithfoxvalley.org/running-on-empty

_________________________

Join us Friday for a great hour of fellowship at DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast. We meet at 8:00 on Zoom** and at Our Breakfast Place. It is a time of scripture reading, discussion, and laughter—part of the way God fills our vessels for the week ahead.

Blessings,

Steve

 

**Zoom link (Zoom allows you to mute the camera and the microphone if you don’t wish to be seen or heard.)

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89947678414

SCRIPTURES FOR SUNDAY AND THE COMING WEEK

Read them here: 

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts/?y=384&z=p&d=64

Print them here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/wp-content/uploads/pdfs/Cx_Proper10.pdf

Amos 7:7-17

Psalm 82

Deuteronomy 30:9-14

Psalm 25:1-10

Colossians 1:1-14

Luke 10:25-37

Proper 10 (15) (July 13, 2025)