Cold Turkey (a Lectionary reflection by Steve Orr)

I remember the first time my Dad quit smoking. He quit "cold turkey."

He finished a pack and declared he was finished with smoking. Dad was medically trained and believed the reports that were starting to circulate: smoking was a danger to health. Even though many in the medical field disagreed with the results of those early studies, Dad thought they had validity. So he quit.

He lasted about a month.

I also remember the second time Dad quit smoking. He learned lessons the first time, lessons about how a person needs a new habit to replace an old one. Previously, Dad had quit "cold turkey," but this time, he had a plan. Each time he found himself wanting a cigarette, Dad worked on the house. He scraped old paint off. He swiped new paint on. He sealed widows against the cold (and the loss of air conditioning). He crawled under the house to check the plumbing and electrical connections, and he re-wrapped all of it, appropriately. When the house was as good as it was going to get, he moved on to the houses of our elderly relatives. He replaced roof tiles, re-hung screen doors, poured concrete where needed, scraped, painted, sealed. Next up: the car.

Each new urge to smoke was met with a new project. It was fast and furious for a time. But then one day, Dad's home-care activities began to slow down. Oh, he still did whatever repairs were called for, but he no longer needed to replace smoking with a new habit. He had beaten it.

Dad never smoked, again.

It's this kind of "replacement" therapy God requires of us in the way we treat (or mistreat) each other. He never asked us to just stop "cold turkey." Rather, as it says in this week's selection from Isaiah "Cease to do evil, learn to do good." (Isaiah 1:16d-17a NRSV). See how that works? It's not "stop doing evil and start doing good." It's "stop the bad and learn the good." Who knows us better than God? He knows we need new habits to replace our old, bad ones; so He directs us to start the process by learning how to do good.

This makes me think of what Jesus says in Matthew 9 after he is criticized for having dinner at the home of Matthew with Tax Collectors and sinners. Quoting the prophet Hosea, he says, "Go and learn what this means: I desire mercy, not sacrifice." Yes, He expects them to change, but He doesn't expect them to change "cold turkey."

Assuming we're all on board with the requirement to cease doing evil, what should we replace it with? It would be so great if God could provide us with a little "starter kit" of replacement activities, just a few things to help us get on the road to successfully replacing the bad in our lives with good. Luckily for us, God did just that in the Isaiah passage: "...seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow." (Isaiah 17b-e, NRSV).

In fact, if you want to start this process, the Bible is chock full of replacement activities, brand new habits we can practice until they are second nature to us. And we can keep on practicing them until we no longer feel that tug of the old, life-threatening habit.

No need to try too quit cold turkey. God is with us and wants us to succeed.

"Cease to do evil, learn to do good."
_________________________

READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Proper 26 (31) (October 30, 2016)
http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/

Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4
Psalm 119:137-144
Isaiah 1:10-18
Psalm 32:1-7
2 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12
Luke 19:1-10
_________________________

Can you be with us Friday morning for Lectionary Breakfast? We're learning to do good as we peruse God's word, discuss it among ourselves, and continue replacing bad habits with good ones. Join us at 8:00 at the Waco "Egg and I" restaurant for food, fellowship, and fun ... all squeezed into an hour like no other.

Blessings,
Steve

The God of Little White Lies (a Lectionary reflection by Steve Orr)

Sometimes I think that's the God most of us worship: the God of little white lies.

By that, I mean a God who can handle all the "little" badness we do: petty theft, the occasional negative comment about someone, near-miss coveting, driving less than 5 MPH over the speed limit, mild self-righteousness, shorting the tithe ("just a little bit, and just this once").

I could go on and on. I'm sure you can come up with a list of "small" sins. Most of us know which ones we think are the "big" ones. And most of us feel quite confident that we're not the folks who are committing those "big" sins.

The truth, though, is that sin is sin. All of us fall short (that's the meaning of the word, "sin"). We can all stand along the pier and argue about who missed the boat "more," but the fact is: we all missed the boat, and none of us can bridge that gap, alone.

Still.

There is a variance. No, it's not big or little sins. It's how we respond to the sins in our lives. Some folks live pretty good lives. I know some. You, too, I imagine. I have the suspicion that, even though they know their sins, those sins don't feel so heavy.

But, just as there are folks living pretty good lives, there are folks whose lives are overwhelmed with bad, weighed down by their load of sins.

Oh, you're one of those folks? Well let me share some good news with you. That crushing burden you feel? That sense that you will never get out from under the plaguing sin? God ---the real God--- is not just a God of little white lies. God is big enough, and, as hard as this may be to believe, loving enough, to forgive your transgressions.

"When deeds of iniquity overwhelm us, you forgive our transgressions" (Psalm 65:3 NRSV).

_________________________

READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Proper 25 (30) (October 23, 2016)
http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/

First reading and Psalm
Joel 2:23-32
Psalm 65
Alternate First reading and Psalm
Sirach 35:12-17 or Jeremiah 14:7-10, 19-22
Psalm 84:1-7
Second reading
2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18
Gospel
Luke 18:9-14
_________________________

Join us Friday morning at Lectionary Breakfast. Well start at 8:00 and spend an hour in God's word, sharing our true selves, and enjoying each other. (Waco "Egg and I" restaurant, Franklin and New Road)

Blessings,
Steve

Flashy Thingy: Forgetting on purpose (a Lectionary reflection by Steve Orr)

Remember the "flashy thingy" from the Men In Black movies, that cigar-shaped tech used by the agents to make people forget extraterrestrials are living on Earth? Well, the time has come when we may not need Will Smith or Tommy Lee Jones to flash away our memories.

Apparently, we can forget.

Oh, I don't mean accidental forgetting; we all know we can do that and most of us wish we could make it stop. Nor do I mean repressed memories associated with traumatic experiences (such as often exists in patients diagnosed with PTSD). It is quite common for people to repress bad memories.

What I mean is this: we can decide to forget ... and then do so.

Several promising studies over the past few years have shown that, instead of psychological repression, we can actually trigger memory suppression. I know those terms seem similar, but they are actually very different. The first one, repression, happens without conscious decision, and is almost always associated with having experienced a traumatic event. It's the second one, voluntary suppression, that is our focus.

Just as a person may use certain techniques to ensure the remembering of something, there are ways in which a person can intentionally forget. Most of the research in this area is aimed at helping people who have been crippled (for lack of a better term) by traumatic memories; people who have developed psychoses, neuroses, depression, etc., because they cannot forget.

All of this is still experimental. We humans are still a long way from having a "flashy thingy" we can wield with surgical precision to erase troubling memories. One big plus in all this, however, is that our brains tend to heavily lace the memory process with creativity; in fact, the two are almost welded together. As I wrote five years ago, we don't so much "Save" our memories as we "Save As." Even as we are making our memories, we tend to recast them in creative ways.

So, what would that mean for the Creator of all creation? Does God possess the ability to forget at will? Can God's creativity trump His memory? Can love really cover a multitude of sins?

Anyone reading this week's Lectionary passage from Jeremiah would have to wonder.
_________________________

READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Proper 24 (29) (October 16, 2016)
http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=284

First reading and Psalm
Jeremiah 31:27-34
Psalm 119:97-104
Alternate First reading and Psalm
Genesis 32:22-31
Psalm 121
Second reading
2 Timothy 3:14-4:5
Gospel
Luke 18:1-8
_________________________

Can you join us Friday morning for Lectionary Breakfast? We would love for you to meet us at the Waco "Egg and I" restaurant for food, fellowship, and, yes, fun. We start 8:00-ish and are gone by 9:00-ish. In between, we read scripture, eat whatever we order from the menu, discuss, and (I know I keep reporting this, but its true) there is an almost unbelievable amount of laughter.

Join us.

Enjoy the week!
Steve

Sassenachs and Outlanders (a Lectionary reflection by Steve Orr)

Exiled to a place from which she may never return.

That's what happens to Claire Randall, a WWII battlefield nurse. After she returns home from the war, having experienced all those horrors, she has an even more harrowing experience: she falls through time. That's the premise of Diana Gabaldon's runaway bestseller, Outlander. Claire is marooned in the highlands of 18th century Scotland, a place from which she may never return. That, alone, would be disturbing. Then, due to her British accent, she is immediately dubbed a sassenach, a term used by Highlanders to label outlanders, anyone who is from "away."

In other words, she's not one of them and they remind her of it every single day.

Are you an outlander? Do you ever feel like you've been exiled from all that brings you comfort? Do you sometimes find yourself surrounded by folks who seem to all know each other, to have established relationships ... to be a tribe, almost; but not one to which you can belong?

That's such an uncomfortable environment, so filled with rejection it becomes almost unbearable. All of us have had this kind experience, to some degree. At school or on the playground, at work, in the neighborhood, in our towns ... even at church. We don't seem to know the lingo, and, even if we want to assimilate, no one seems interested in helping us. We feel different, and truly, we are different; every aspect of our daily interactions and environment underscoring just how different we are.

What are we supposed to do? Just keep a stiff upper lip? Remain calm and carry on? Complain about it?

Claire Randall doesn't know if she will ever return to the modern world. Her long-game is to do just that; but until that's possible, she works at finding a way to fit in. As a way to be useful, Claire brings to bear her intelligence and her nursing experience (a "healer" in the parlance of that time). She doesn't ever truly fit in, but she finds ways to actively benefit those who surround her.

In this week's Lectionary, we find God has sent the Israelites into exile. They had been conquered and dragged off to Babylon, a people not their own. They were outlanders in every sense; language, culture, societal position. They desperately needed some help ... and God sent help, in the form of a message through the prophet Jeremiah. Partly, it was to make sure they knew that the exile would not be permanent, that a day would eventually arrive on which Israelites living in Babylon would "return" to the country God had given their ancestors.

But perhaps more importantly, it was about letting them know how to act while their exile remained in place. What a treasure! At last they knew what God expected of them while they were being outlanders, true strangers in a strange land.

"Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare." (Jeremiah 29:4-7 NRSV)

And there's the guidance for us, as well. When circumstance (or other people) make us sassenachs and outlanders, we must not let that immobilize us. We are to continue our lives as best we can, to keep on living, to grow and flourish.

And just as importantly, we must seek the best for those among whom we are the sassenachs, the outlanders. Even going so far as to pray to God for their well-being.

Their welfare is our welfare. That is loving your neighbor as yourself.
_________________________

READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Proper 23 (28) (October 9, 2016)
http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/

First reading and Psalm
Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7
Psalm 66:1-12
Alternate First reading and Psalm
2 Kings 5:1-3, 7-15c
Psalm 111
Second reading
2 Timothy 2:8-15
Gospel
Luke 17:11-19
_________________________

This Friday morning would be a great time for you to join us at Lectionary Breakfast. We start at 8:00, sharing our mealtime at the Waco "Egg and I" restaurant. We continue with scripture, discussion, and some of the best fellowship anywhere. We're supposed to leave at 9:00, and some do, but some stay longer.

It's that good.

Blessings,
Steve

Would You Like to Travel to the Past? (a Lectionary reflection by Steve Orr)

Time is like a river.

Or so Einstein thought. He believed it flowed; sped up and slowed down. Some contemporaries theorized that time might have banks like a river, and that the past was back there, just out of sight around a bend.

They believed that if we could find the right mechanism, we could travel back the way the "river" had come, back around the bend, so to speak, to the past.

That's the premise of TIME AND AGAIN by Jack Finney. The "mechanism" proposed is that commercial artist Simon ("Si") Morley could think his way to the past. Oh, it involves immersing one's self is an environment as identical as possible to the period one wishes to visit, and one has to be able to perform some self-hypnosis. There's more to it than that, of course, but those are the big pieces.

The key, and essential, part of Si successfully visiting the past is this: he must really want to go. He must have a great desire to go backwards, to "return" to a place and time to which he may never have even been before; likely a place/time only his ancestors had known.

Would you like to travel to the past?

As strange as it may sound, this is the theme tying together several of this week's Old Testament scriptures. Oh, not time-travel, per se, but the overwhelming desire to return to the past. This is particularly true of Psalm 137 where the Psalmist captures the laments of the Israelites, enslaved by Babylon and exiled far from home (Don't read this one to young children; the ending is very harsh). It is also reflected in the first passage from Lamentations. To fully appreciate the overwhelming sadness of their situation, the longing to return, listen to this song ("Babylon") from the TV show, Mad Men: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=n1B7xBQMAJA [You may need to copy and paste. I can't seem to make links active on this blog site.]

The real problem, of course, is not the years, and it's not the miles, but rather the distance one has traveled from God. The Israelites mourned for Israel, not fully grasping that Israel was nothing without its relationship to God. That's why they were in exile in the first place: they had drifted away from God and needed time and circumstance to teach them that lesson.

Do you sometimes feel that almost overwhelming sense of melancholy for a time and place in the past? Could it be that you really desire a closer relationship with God? The selections from Lamentations 3, Habakkuk, and Psalm 37 provide us some relief and point us toward some true solutions to our longing.

As believers, we have a different situation than did those exiled Israelites. As we find underscored in the Second Timothy passage, we have the Holy Spirit flowing within us, connecting us to God in ways we cannot even fully understand. Like a river, it brings life and nourishment to us. And when we feel ourselves drifting from God, we can pray in that Spirit for whatever is needed to fully reconnect us.

No time-travel needed.
_________________________

READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Proper 22 (27) (October 2, 2016)
http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/

First reading and Psalm
Lamentations 1:1-6
Lamentations 3:19-26 or Psalm 137
Alternate First reading and Psalm
Habakkuk 1:1-4; 2:1-4
Psalm 37:1-9
Second reading
2 Timothy 1:1-14
Gospel
Luke 17:5-10

_________________________

Join us if you can, Friday morning, at Lectionary Breakfast. We still gather at the Waco "Egg and I" restaurant. We start at 8:00 and wrap things up about an hour later. The food is good, but the scripture, discussion, fellowship, and laughter are better.

Enjoy the week!
Steve