Ants Versus the Volcano (a Steve Orr scripture reflection)

It’s okay to expect a lot from a visit to the Hawaiian Islands. It’s that kind of place. Beauty and grandeur are just about every where on every island. That also makes it difficult to decide just what to do and where to go on any given day. Happily, I had that figured out for our first day. My goal for that day was to experience Mount Kilauea, the long-smoldering volcano that originally formed the big island of Hawaii. 

 

When the moment arrived, we queued up with everyone else, awaiting our turn to peer into the heart of the volcano. No one set time limits, so each person, couple, or group took as long as they wished. For me, it seemed we waited forever! Still, even a watched pot will, eventually, boil. And our time did finally come. 

 

As we stepped forward to take our place at the front of the line, I was keyed up. Before that day, I had never actually seen a volcano, even at a distance. Sure, I had viewed this one, just minutes earlier as we drove toward it. But what I saw was just a big hill. Now was the moment of truth. Now I would stare down into the heart of the Earth. Now I would see, with my own eyes, the stuff that came before. 

 

What I saw: a roughly circular patch of dirt crisscrossed by lines of ants marching one behind the other. 

 

After all the emotional buildup, I was profoundly disappointed. Had I traveled half the Pacific Ocean just to watch a line of ants march across a dusty spot? I looked to one side and caught the expressions of the folks just turning to leave the lookout point. Clearly, they were in awe. I turned to the other side where I saw a similar expression on my wife’s face.

 

What was I missing here? I looked back at the view, seeking to understand.

 

And then, everything before my eyes rearranged itself. Suddenly, I was not looking at ants crossing a patch of dirt. Suddenly, those ants became humans, people so far away from me that they appeared as small as ants. And that dusty spot became an enormous volcanic caldera, plugged up with cooled magma.

 

Perspective changes everything.

 

Before I fully perceived what I was experiencing, my understanding was wrong. It felt right. But it was only after I saw what was actually before me that I had a true understanding.

 

And that’s the situation alluded to in this week’s selections from Acts and the gospel of John. The perception of...well…almost everyone, was wrong. It was wrong about sin, wrong about righteousness, and wrong about judgement. Jesus taught his disciples that when He sent the “Spirit of Truth” to them, they would all, finally, be able to understand the truth about these things. 

 

That condition still exists for some. They can’t understand sin because they do not believe in Jesus. They can’t understand the truth about righteousness because they do not accept that Jesus is with God. They do not understand judgment because they do not acknowledge that “the ruler of this world” has already been condemned. Jesus said that, without the Advocate (the Holy Spirit), some of what we need to know would be too much to bear. We need to be gently guided into understanding these sometimes counterintuitive things. 

 

Some would have us believe that God is so far away we must look like ants crawling across a dusty patch of dirt. That is not true. God sees us as we truly are, and loves us. The Holy Spirit was sent to help us reciprocate.  

 

Perspective changes everything.

 

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PHOTO: US Geological Service, the caldera of Mt. Kilauea, Island of Hawaii 

https://www.usgs.gov/media/images/may-1-2024-maintenance-kilauea-summit-livestream-camera-0

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Pentecost marks the celebration of the moment when God began to share His Spirit with all of us who believe. Join us Friday morning as we allow the Advocate to guide us and instruct us. Meet us at 8:00 on Zoom** or at Our Breakfast Place for good food, scripture, discussion, and laughter. It’s an hour like no other. 

 

Blessings,

Steve

 

 **Here’s the Zoom link:

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

NOTE: Zoom allows you to mute the camera and the microphone if you don’t wish to be seen or heard.

 

SCRIPTURES FOR SUNDAY AND THE COMING WEEK

 

Find them here: 

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=94

 

Print them here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/pdf//Bx_DayofPentecost.pdf

 

Acts 2:1-21 or Ezekiel 37:1-14

Psalm 104:24-34, 35b

Romans 8:22-27 or Acts 2:1-21

John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15

Day of Pentecost (May 19, 2024)

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The Trainer (a Steve Orr scripture reflection)

I was never an athlete. The closest I came to team sports was one brief summer in Little League. That was a disaster: couldn't hit, couldn't run, couldn't pay attention. Best to draw the curtain on that right now. 

 

That left PE class—the dreaded Phys-Ed. Starting with the 7th Grade, my fellow students and I spent a portion of three school days each week in a 40-minute version of whatever sport was in season. We played football in the fall, basketball in the winter, track & field in the spring, and dodgeball whenever it rained. I was bad at all of it.  

 

All through this we were subjected to a form of torture called "conditioning." That is the part I hated the most: sit-ups, chin-ups, rope climbs, push-ups, and running the bleachers. Imitating sports wasn't so bad: you got knocked down, you got up, you got knocked down again—simple. Exercising just to exercise?! Madness.

 

Many of my friends from those years—all of us back-of-the-pack runners—would be shocked to see me now. I start each day with stretching, walk 8,000 steps, and *gasp!* do conditioning! Odd as it seems, I have even paid someone to lead me through many of the very activities I hated when I was in PE class all those years ago. Why would I do this? Because there were things I wanted: improved health, weight loss, shaping up. I needed a trainer to ensure I reached those goals. 

In this week's passages from Luke and Acts, I immediately saw a parallel to my gym activities.

 

When I am working out, I am focused on the moment. When I used a trainer, however, he was thinking of my entire conditioning: where I've been, what I'm doing right then, and what's next. My trainer evaluated how those factors, in concert with others the trainer is planning, would move me toward the objectives. 

 

It's like that for the Apostles in the passages. They were told to expect someone who would serve as teacher and guide, someone who would help them achieve the goals set before them. They didn't know what was coming. But they believed the one who told them a helper would come. They acted from within that belief.

 

Even though it’s been a while since I was a gym rat working with a trainer, I still work out. And when I’m nearing the end of my treadmill time—and fading—I am encouraged by recalling the calm voices of my past trainers: "You can do this. Just a bit more. Almost there." They knew what I was capable of, knew how much more I could bring to the task, knew how much more would be required of me before I could rest.  

The Holy Spirit is like that with us on our spiritual journey. When the going gets hard, we need to listen for that voice deep inside: 

"You can do this. Just a bit more. Almost there."

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GRAPHIC: Adobe Express 

 

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We're getting together Friday morning at 8:00 on Zoom** and in person at Our Breakfast Place. Join us at either for breakfast, laughter, and discussions of the coming week's scriptures.  

 

No sit-ups required.

 

Blessings,

Steve

 

 **Here’s the Zoom link:

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

NOTE: Zoom allows you to mute the camera and the microphone if you don’t wish to be seen or heard.

 

SCRIPTURES FOR SUNDAY AND THE COMING WEEK

Ascension of the Lord (May 9, 2024)

Acts 1:1-11

Psalm 47 or Psalm 93

Ephesians 1:15-23

Luke 24:44-53

 

Find them here: 

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=92

 

Print them here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/pdf//Bx_AscensionoftheLord.pdf

 

Seventh Sunday of Easter (May 12, 2024)

Acts 1:15-17, 21-26

Psalm 1

1 John 5:9-13

John 17:6-19

Find them here: 

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=93

 

Print them here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/pdf//Bx_SeventhSundayofEaster.pdf

The Second Person in the Kingdom (a Steve Orr scripture reflection)

Quick: Name the second person to walk on the moon.

Most people can tell you Neil Armstrong was the first person to walk on the moon. After that, for most of us, it gets a bit fuzzy. We can Google the answer in a few seconds—but that’s not the point of this exercise.

 

Many leadership and management classes, sales seminars, and self-help recordings start with some version of: “Do you remember who was the second...?”

 

Participants may discuss it for a while, but rarely can anyone come up with the answer. It turns out that coming up with the right answer is not the point. Eventually, the secret is revealed: The answer doesn’t matter. No one cares who’s second. All that matters is who’s first. 

 

It’s a pernicious kind of thinking. It belongs to the same divisive, manipulative, deceptive motivational claptrap as the 110% lie. It’s the idea that whatever is first has more value and whatever is not first is somehow less than. 

 

Let’s be clear: People who excel are worthy of praise and reward. But someone is always going to be second...and third...and last. Are these people—who competed and tried their best—to be disdained just because they didn’t come in first?

 

This week’s scriptures, especially the 1st John passage, ask us to rest in the knowledge that God only asks us to love one another and follow the commandments. We must trust that God will ensure the victory. Our only “contributions” are our faith, love, and obedience.

 

We are not competing with one another to be the best Christian, to be “first” in faith, love, and obedience. Even if it were possible to give 110%, it wouldn’t ensure the victory. It’s not that God doesn’t ask us to do things in the Kingdom: It’s just not a competition. Loving, serving, obeying, and trusting in God are actions all of us can perform.

 

We don’t need to know who comes in second in God’s Kingdom because we don’t need to know who comes in first. In the Kingdom, none of that matters. 

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GRAPHIC: Adobe Express

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Will you be with us Friday morning for DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast? Join us at 8:00 on Zoom** or in person at Our Breakfast Place for a great hour of fellowship, scriptures, and discussion. 

 

Blessings,

Steve

 

 **Here’s the Zoom link:

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

NOTE: Zoom allows you to mute the camera and the microphone if you don’t wish to be seen or heard.

 

SCRIPTURES FOR SUNDAY AND THE COMING WEEK

Find them here: 

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=91

Print them here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/pdf//Bx_SixthSundayofEaster.pdf

 

Acts 10:44-48

Psalm 98
1 John 5:1-6
John 15:9-17

Sixth Sunday of Easter (May 5, 2024)