Getting Down to the Heart of the Matter (a Steve Orr scripture reflection)

If you thought the song was about a person pining for their lost love, you weren’t alone. 

 

But it wasn’t. 

 

The more I know, the less I understand.

All the things I thought I knew, 

I'm learning again.

I've been tryin' to get down to the Heart of the Matter,

But my will gets weak

And my thoughts seem to scatter.

But I think it's about forgiveness,

Forgiveness,

Even if, even if you don't love me anymore.

 

Eagles singer Don Henley and friends wrote “The Heart of the Matter” in 1989. It reveals the singer has learned that an old love has found someone new. How many similar songs have you heard? A hundred? A thousand? And, if that were all there was to it, it would still be a hit because of Henley's voice and the fact it is so singable. 

 

But there's quite a bit more to it.  

 

What may not be apparent is that the song includes themes of love, grace, and trust. When we listen closely, we discover the song is not really about someone pining for a lost love. It’s an exploration of what should come after that. Henley, of course, pours his soul into each verse, making it easy to get lost in his singing—and miss the song. Paying attention, we soon realize that the singer's search for that next step—the heart of the matter—leads to just one place: forgiveness. 

 

You don't find that in just any old song about lost love. This is a transcendence over the love that was lost, an elevation to a higher love, a love that forgives "even if" his old love doesn't love him anymore. 

 

Listen to The Heart of the Matter (with printed lyrics): 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRNxw61Q-Qk

 

The word for this kind of love is agape. It’s an unconditional love, a love without self-benefit, often referred to as "love, in spite of." It's that challenging kind of love we have to employ to love our enemies. 

 

Agape is also the kind of love the apostle Peter writes about in this week's passage from 1 Peter. He calls for his readers to love one another “from the heart”—deeply, warmly, earnestly. He urges believers to truly live out the new commandment Jesus gave them. “Love one another” is more than a little challenging, but it is essential to life together as His disciples.

 

In the song, we discover: "All the things I thought I figured out, I have to learn again." Now is the perfect time to start learning, again, how to release all the negatives: bitterness, envy, anger, revenge, malice, hatred. We must continually revisit this, keep returning to it—deeply and earnestly from the heart—as a fundamental building block of our growing faith.

 

Forgiveness: That's how we "get down to the Heart of the Matter."

 

 

_________________________

PHOTO (and several quotes for forgiveness):

https://quotement.com/i-forgive-you-for-hurting-me-quotes/

 

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Join us Friday morning at Our Breakfast Place or on Zoom** to read the scriptures, discuss their meaning, and learn how better to love one another.  DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast starts at 8:00 and officially ends at 9:00 (but some stay around and visit).

 

There are currently no plans to require anyone to sing.

 

Blessing,

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=41

 

Print them here:

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

 

Acts 2:14a, 36-41

Psalm 116:1-4, 12-19

1 Peter 1:17-23

Luke 24:13-35

Third Sunday of Easter (April 23, 2023)

Wildfire in the Secret City (a Steve Orr scripture reflection)

In late summer 1942, the US government force-purchased more than 60,000 Tennessee acres in the Appalachian foothills. Many of those acres had been farms. Earth was leveled, streets were laid, foundations were poured, and buildings began to rise.

 

No one was told why.

 

The "whatever it is" needed people who could cook, run laundries, be janitors, collect trash, type, file, do carpentry, be lifeguards, teach school. They needed plumbers, nurses, doctors, librarians, pastors, musicians, coaches—the kinds of people needed to run and occupy a city. 

 

No one was told why.

 

Many specialists were brought in. More than 75,000 people, though not told what they would be doing, or even where it was located, agreed to work in a place without a name. Everything was done in secret. Only after they were hired and on site were they told the details of their specific jobs. They were forbidden to discuss even that small part with anyone, even with each other. 

No one was told why.

Over the next three years, the folks who worked and lived there began calling this nameless place “Oak Ridge.” In late summer 1945, everything changed. On August 6, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Japan. The news was stunning to the people of Oak Ridge, and it spread like wildfire.

 

What they had been doing at Oak Ridge those three years was supporting the Manhattan Project. Oak Ridge was, in fact, the headquarters of the Manhattan Project. They were producing plutonium and enriching uranium—making "the blowing up parts" of the atomic bomb. Despite the fact they were not allowed to know, and even though they had no idea of the implications of their work, each came and did their part day after day. 

 

The "big picture" was knowable only in retrospect. Now they knew their why. 

 

The three years of Jesus' earthly ministry were somewhat like the Oak Ridge experience: men and women drawn into an enterprise that was not really understood. The reality—and its implications(!)—far too enormous for them to truly grasp.

 

It was only in the past tense that even the inner circle came to understand more fully what had come before. We read of it in this week's passage from Acts. Peter draws together the facts—known, but not previously understood—and lays out the full picture for everyone at Pentecost.

 

As prophesied, God came down, allowed himself to be crucified as a sacrifice, and did not stay dead. What sealed it was the witness of Peter and the other apostles. Everyone could now know how it all fit together to make the greatest spiritual explosion of all time. 

 

It was good news, and it spread like wildfire. 

 

_________________________

PHOTO:

https://tnmuseum.org/junior-curators/posts/the-secret-city?locale=en_us

For more on the Secret City, there is a little bit on Google, but I recommend these excellent reads:

 

The Last Reunion: The Class of 1952 Comes Home to the Secret City by Jay Searcy: https://www.amazon.com/Last-Reunion-Class-comes-Secret-ebook/dp/B007M4593U

 

The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II by Denise Kiernan: https://www.amazon.com/Girls-Atomic-City-Untold-Helped/dp/1451617534

 

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Hope to see you Friday morning as we gather for DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast at Our Breakfast Place and on Zoom.** Join us at 8:00 for some tasty treats, plus an excellent breakfast.

 

We have nothing to hide.

 

Blessings,

Steve

 

 **Contact me for the Zoom link

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=40

 

 

Print them here:

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

 

Acts 2:14a, 22-32

Psalm 16

1 Peter 1:3-9

John 20:19-31

Second Sunday of Easter (April 16, 2023)

Gravy, Gusto, and a Rose (a Steve Orr scripture reflection)

I think I can be forgiven for thinking they were singing about a rose and some gravy. I was a kid, and that's the best my little mind could do with what I heard. 

 

All about me, folks were singing their hearts out. It was obvious this hymn meant a lot to them. The word to describe this forceful and heartfelt kind of singing, I would later learn, is "gusto." They were singing with gusto.

 

Listening to the hymn’s chorus, all I could picture was a rose rising up out of a bowl filled with gravy. In my childish imagination, it just sort of hovered there over the gravy bowl, looking blood-red beautiful.

 

Fast forward about 10 years. I am paging through a hymnal and come across a song. Something about the lyrics seems familiar to me. As I read through the verses, I come to the chorus. For a few seconds, I just sit there.

 

Then, I burst out laughing!

 

Like many children before me, I had heard the lyrics in a way that my childish mind could handle, but not as they actually were. There are lots of stories about kids mot understanding hymnal lyrics. Perhaps the best known: "Gladly the Cross-Eyed Bear."

 

In my case, what I thought I heard as a small child was "Up from the gravy: a rose!" The actual lyrics are: "Up from the grave He arose!"

 

It's a song celebrating what is at the very heart of Christian belief: that Jesus rose from the grave on the third day following his crucifixion. This Easter, when you are taking a moment to reflect on what, to many, is the part of the story that actually makes the Gospels the good news, I hope you will recall my experience with a smile.

 

And when you do, share that smile with a child, knowing that even though they may not quite understand things right now, it will come in time.

 

Happy Easter!

 

_________________________

Listen to the old hymn here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BYMCZNHPmg

 

LYRICS

Low in the grave he lay, Jesus my Savior, 
waiting the coming day, Jesus my Lord! 

Up from the grave he arose; 
with a mighty triumph o'er his foes; 
he arose a victor from the dark domain, 
and he lives forever, with his saints to reign. 

He arose! 

He arose! 

Hallelujah! Christ arose!

Text: Robert Lowry, 1826-1899 

Music: Robert Lowry, 1826-1899

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PHOTO (and proof I wasn’t the only one who heard “gravy”):

http://www.central-christian-church.com/2021/04/20/up-from-the-gravy-a-rose/

 BONUS LISTENING

“You Saved the Day” by Phillips, Craig and Dean:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5a4Gk-y56F4

“GraveRobber” by Petra:

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

 

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Friday mornings are a special time for us. It's at DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast that we celebrate the Word. We read and discuss the scriptures, pray for ourselves and our community, and there is a lot of laughter to complement the meal. Join us on Zoom** or in person at Our Breakfast Place. 

 

It is not necessary to bring a rose. 

But you could…

 

Blessings,

Steve

 

 **Contact me for the Zoom link

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=38

 

Print them here:

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

 

Jeremiah 31:1-6

Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24

Colossians 3:1-4 OR Acts 10:34-43

John 20:1-18 OR Matthew 28:1-10

Resurrection of the Lord (April 9, 2023)

 

_________________________

 

Table of Easter Lectionary Readings

http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/lections.php?year=A&season=Easter

 

“Are There Any Nominations From the Floor?” (a Steve Orr reflection for Palm Sunday)

I was watching it all slip away—and I hated it. 

In the fall of the 7th grade, I ran for my homeroom’s student council representative. I lost. I lost again in the 8th. And the 9th. And the 10th. The 11th grade, though, was a very special year for me. Oh, I still lost my run for representative, and to the same guy who  always won: Bobby King (not his real name).  

 

Still, something new happened that school year. That spring, I became a viable candidate for Student Council president because Bobby King was not allowed to run. The faculty and the principal decided he was over-committed. Since he was unwilling to give up anything, they denied his request to run for president. Finally, I felt, I was going to get mine. I had scoped the only other person allowed to run and, even though it would be challenging, I felt I could beat him. I was finally going to get elected, and not only that, elected to the highest office. I felt excited, happy—assured.

 

Election Day finally came. The polls would open immediately following the candidate speeches in the auditorium. If I had had any concern, it vanished after we finished our speeches to the student body. The other candidate spoke first. I spoke second. Based on the applause, I clearly had the upper hand. 

 

Then, the principal asked if there were any nominations from the floor. 

 

For the first time anyone could remember, someone was nominated from the floor. A guy popped out from the side stage, stepped to the podium, and uttered the very words I feared: “I nominate Bobby King!” For his part, Bobby was seated in the very last row, the very highest point on the floor of the auditorium. He stood and slowly walked down the sloping aisle toward the stage. As he passed each row of students, they rose to their feet, wildly cheering and applauding. By the time he mounted the stage, it was obvious to everyone that he would be the winner.

 

I was crushed—and I was angry. Everything I had worked for had been stolen from me, and not just for that election, but for all the years I had been trying. With each rising row of students, shouting their accolades and praise for their chosen leader, my envy and jealousy rose. And rose. And rose. His triumphal procession to the front infuriated me. I was forced to just watch as it all fell apart before my eyes. More than anything else in the world, I wished him gone.

 

That right there? That is what the religious and political leaders of Israel felt when they watched Jesus descend from the Mount of Olives in a triumphal procession toward Jerusalem. They felt it all belonged to them, and they could not abide the thought someone else would take their place, that someone else would have all that power. They wanted Jesus gone, and they set in motion a plan to make that happen. 

 

We see it all in this week's Matthew passage. Not pretty then, not pretty when I was in high school, and not pretty now. Do we, like the leaders of Israel, want to keep hold of the power? Are we trying, even now, to push Jesus from the lordship of our lives?

Or, do we embrace “the stone that the builders rejected” as the cornerstone of our lives? 

_________________________

PHOTO: The author, circa 1968

BONUS: For the full story of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem, first read the prophecy in Zechariah 9:9-17. Then read all three of the Gospels that report it: Matthew 21:5ff, Luke 19:28ff, and John 12:12ff.

 

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Join us at 8:00 Friday on Zoom** and at Our Breakfast Place for DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast. We'll be feasting, getting our hearts and minds prepared for Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and all that leads up to Easter. There’s a great breakfast menu, and the spiritual food is the very best.

 

There will be NO nominations from the floor.

 

Blessings,

Steve

 

 

 **Contact me for the Zoom link

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=29

 

Print them here:

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

 

Liturgy of the Palms (April 2, 2023)

Psalm 118:1-2, 19-29

Matthew 21:1-11

The Biggest Monster of All (a Steve Orr scripture reflection)

When I was a pre-teen, kids my age often assembled plastic models from kits: model cars, ships, airplanes, jets—even the occasional model rocket. As for me, I saved my few dollars for something truly special: I built models of monsters. 

 

The Aurora Plastics Company had signed a deal with Universal Studios to create model kits of some of Universal’s most famous movie monsters. My first model was the Wolf Man. By the end of my tween years, I had also painted and assembled the Phantom of the Opera, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, Dracula, the Mummy, and, of course, the one that started it all: Frankenstein. 

 

I can’t imagine Mary Shelley envisioning such a future for her fictional creation. When she conceived Dr. Frankenstein’s monster, it was on a dare: a competition among soon-to-be famous writers to see who could dream up the scariest tale. The results were all quite interesting. It was Mary’s tale of science gone wrong, though, that galvanized the public and created the most famous monster of all. 

 

The re-animation of the dead has been on people's minds ever since people started dying—but the power to do so has never been ours. When Shelley suggested that electricity was the way to do it, she was just reflecting the cutting-edge science of her day—an idea that led to today’s heart defibrillators. 

Still, in the nonfiction world, electricity can only do so much. There remains a point beyond which people do not return. That point was long past when Jesus finally came to Bethany. In this week's John passage, Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Not even modern medicine could have brought him back. 

But Jesus could—and did. 

Shelley’s monster was a complete fabrication, just like my plastic ones. But not all monsters are made of words or plastic. Some are quite real. Take death, for example. We fear it. For most of us, it’s the biggest monster of all. There is one, though, for whom a monster, even death, holds no fear. He lives to inhabit both the means and the ultimate method of our escape from all monsters, famous or otherwise. 

This week’s scriptures all address resurrection and redemption. The two are inextricably tied together. Every redemption story is a Jesus story and every resurrection is a Jesus resurrection. Jesus is redemption and resurrection; neither exists outside of His person. 

 

Like Ezekiel’s valley of bones and four-days-dead Lazarus, only the power of God can infuse us with the “breath of life.” Jesus is not just alive: Jesus is life.  

 

No monster can prevail. 

 

_________________________

PHOTO:

https://basementofthebizarre.com/2021/11/01/the-basement-toy-box-the-aurora-monster-model-kits-gone-but-certainly-not-forgotten/

Info about the documentary “The Aurora Monsters: The Model Craze that Gripped the World”

https://m.imdb.com/title/tt1773715/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0

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Life moves pretty fast. Pause for an hour: Join us Friday morning for DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast. We've been meeting in the back room at Our Breakfast Place and on Zoom.** The fun starts at 8:00 and is supposed to stop at 9:00 ... and sometimes it does. 

 

Food, fun, fellowship, prayer, scripture, and the free flow of ideas. What an hour!

 

Full of life. 

 

Blessings,

Steve 

 

 **Contact me for the Zoom link

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=28

 

Print them here:

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

 

Ezekiel 37:1-14

Psalm 130

Romans 8:6-11

John 11:1-45

Fifth Sunday in Lent (March 26, 2023)

Y’all Go Ahead On (a Steve Orr scripture reflection)

Let me start by saying: It all came from a place of love. 

 

There we were, all standing around the dining table, ready to eat. Before us was a table laden with all manner of aromatic foods. There was roast beef with potatoes and carrots, fried chicken, baked ham, chicken-fried steak, black-eyed peas, macaroni and cheese, green beans with salt pork, mashed potatoes, creamed corn, fruit salad, Aunt Erma’s chocolate sheet cake (half with nuts, half without), chocolate cream pie, fresh blackberries, lemon bars, snickerdoodles, cherry cheese pie, banana bread, and peanut butter Rice Crispy bars. 

 

And we couldn’t eat any of it. 

 

No, it wasn’t Thanksgiving or Easter or Christmas or any other holiday. It was just Sunday lunch at Ma’s. As the family matriarch, she would, from time to time, invite all of her grandchildren over. It made for a very crowded table at Sunday lunch. 

 

That didn’t matter to Ma. This was her opportunity to do the thing she loved most: make each of her grandchildren feel loved and special. And Ma’s love language was food. Whenever a grandchild came for a meal, Ma always made their favorite food. She never forgot what food each one loved and she always served it—even when all of them were gathered. 

 

As you might expect, preparing and cooking all of those different foods for the same meal could challenge even the most experienced chef. And getting it all to the table, hot, was its own kind of special miracle. But, for the most part, Ma pulled it off. Entree after entree, side dish after side dish, dessert after dessert, Ma got it all to the table in time for us to sit down together and enjoy ourselves. 

 

With one exception. 

 

After we were called in to lunch, and stood around the table staring at all that great variety of food, we would hear Ma call out from the kitchen, “Y’all go ahead on! I’m just going to wait for these rolls to come out of the oven.”

 

I thought of this oft-repeated scenario when I read this week’s scripture from 1 Samuel. It’s the story of Samuel’s visit to Bethlehem.

 

He was God’s chosen messenger and he had come to Bethlehem on a secret mission. Israel was to have a new king—a person to replace the current king. Samuel had come to anoint that future king, and he did so under the cover of making a sacrifice to God. Jesse and family were invited to join in. Only Samuel knew that God would choose one of Jesse’s sons to be that new king. 

Everyone remained standing as long as he remained standing, which Samuel did as Jesse brought each of his sons before him, one at a time. None of them were God’s choice for king. Then, upon learning that David, the seventh and youngest, was still in the field watching over the flock, Samuel said, “Send and bring him; for we will not sit down until he comes here.”

It was like our dilemma at Ma’s Sunday lunches. What to do? We were there because Ma invited us. She was due our respect because of who she was. We absolutely were not going to “go ahead on.” Even though someone allows you to be disrespectful, it doesn’t mean you should act that way. And so, nobody sat down until Ma joined us, fresh rolls in hand. 

No doubt, many wished Samuel had said something like “Y’all go ahead on.” But even if he had, I doubt many would have taken him up on the offer. As Israel’s prophet (and final Judge), Samuel was a man to be respected—and feared. Until he concluded the business for which he had come—God’s business—nobody sat down.

_________________________

PHOTO: Collection of Pattie Orr

_________________________

I hope you can join us Friday morning at DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast: food, fellowship, prayer, scripture, and "a robust exchange of ideas." Continuing at Our Breakfast Place (and on Zoom**), we usually get going around 8:00-ish and find it hard to leave by 9:00. It's the laughter. I blame the laughter. Otherwise, we would get out on time.

 

Oh, sure, someone's in charge, but only God is on the throne.

 

Blessings,

Steve

 

 **Contact me for the Zoom link

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=27

 

Print them here:

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

 

1 Samuel 16:1-13

Psalm 23

Ephesians 5:8-14

John 9:1-41

Fourth Sunday in Lent (March 19, 2023)