From Good to Great to Gone (a Steve Orr scripture reflection)

“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”

Nothing beside remains.

Round the decay of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.”

—Percy Bysshe Shelley (a selection from his poem, Ozymandias)

We all know this ... but it helps to be reminded from time to time: nothing in this life lasts forever. Even the mighty fall. Whether it’s a corporation, a political leader, or a superstar, there comes a day when they are no longer on the top of the heap.

Jim Collins and partners started tracking the life cycles of corporations with their groundbreaking bestseller, "Built to Last." There they investigated why some companies (e.g. Disney or Procter & Gamble) continued at the top of their respective fields decade after decade, while comparable others came and went. They followed this with a second bestseller, "Good to Great." That sought to know why some companies (e.g. Gillette or Walgreens) made that leap from OK to greatness while others did not. Finally, it seemed only appropriate they should turn their searchlight on "How the Mighty Fall."

Apparently, like mountain climbing, there are only a few ways to the top, but you can fall all sorts of ways. Their central discovery? A "company can indeed look like the picture of health on the outside yet already be in decline, dangerously on the cusp of a huge fall..."

In other words, the seeds of our destruction are usually sown long before the harvest. If only there were some way to see that fall coming ...

Collins and crew found there are some usual stages through which the mighty descend on their way to the bottom; stages that, if brought to their attention, might allow them to reverse course before they are too far gone. The first three are particularly instructive:

Stage 1: Hubris Born of Success
Stage 2: Undisciplined Pursuit of More
Stage 3: Denial of Risk and Peril

These three and others are all present in the nations that surrounded Israel in the Old Testament years, constantly conspiring to bring about its downfall. But, God sent them warnings. Through the Psalmist and others, God showed them their hubris, their unbridled appetite, and the risks they were incurring by conspiring against His will.

This week's scriptures, especially Psalm 2, tell of God's sovereignty and the authority He has conferred on His Anointed One (Jesus). God makes it clear, to the nations and to us: He is the authority and that He has anointed His chosen.

Kings, rulers, judges, and everyone else must recognize both His sovereignty and His anointed. Collins and crew also discovered how corporations can avoid an early decline. There are ways to bring wisdom into the equation. Likewise, everyone, both mighty and otherwise, must be wise in recognizing God’s sovereignty over our lives.

The alternative is to discover, most personally, how the mighty fall.

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Click for PHOTO (plus all the words to Ozymandias and a funny take by humorist Ogden Nash). Or, Copy and Paste: https://muddlet.wordpress.com/2018/01/07/ozymandias-ogdeniasis/

A different version of this reflection, How the Mighty Fall, appeared in 2014.

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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Transfiguration Sunday (February 23, 2020)
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu//texts.php?id=22

Exodus 24:12-18
Psalm 2 or Psalm 99
2 Peter 1:16-21
Matthew 17:1-9

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Join us Friday morning, if you can. As usual, we will meet at Our Breakfast Place (the Waco "Egg and I") at 8:00 to chew on and digest some scripture while chowing down on some great food.

Enjoy the week!
Steve

Another Rocket, Man (a Steve Orr scripture reflection)

He knew what he wanted to be ... and it wasn’t this.

At the beginning of Robert Heinlein’s science fiction novel, Starman Jones, young Max lived on a small farm in the Ozarks with his stepmother. Once a week, after finishing his chores, he made his way down the hill a bit where he lay back and waited. Soon, he heard the roar and saw the bright flame that lifted the weekly Moon Shuttle off the Earth and on its way to space. The light of that rocket flame was a beacon to Max Jones; the roar, a siren’s song. They called to something deep within him, a great desire unfulfilled by his daily life.

But wanting something is not the same as achieving it.

Legend has it that NASA scientists considered two different methods of moving a rocket from the Earth to outer space:
Method 1 - "constant acceleration" meant a slow launch, increasing the speed a little more each second until breakthrough velocity was achieved. It would be easy on the Astronauts, but lacked the certainty of the other method. Plus, and this is key, constant acceleration was much slower to achieve Earth orbit.
Method 2 - “quick thrust" or “intense acceleration” meant a faster launch. This would be harder on the Astronauts. They would be subjected to several gravities of force "pressing" on them. This high “g-force” could, if endured too long, injure or kill them.

NASA chose Method 2. That excessive G-force the Astronauts would have to endure during takeoff was one of the reasons our astronauts needed to possess the "right stuff," a collection of physical and mental attributes essential to their success. This exclusivity was necessary. Almost anyone could handle the takeoff using the gentler "constant acceleration" method. Only a few could handle the intensity of the other.

And that brings us to this week’s 1st Corinthians passage. The more influential Corinthians who were part of that church had the idea that their way was the only way to be a follower of Jesus; that only those with the "right stuff" (like them) could do it. Paul's letter to the church confronts them with the truth: they’re not the spiritually gifted Pneumatikoi ("Spirit People") they imagined themselves to be, far from it.

They were so far from maturity, they were more like babies, only able to stomach the "milk" of Paul’s teachings. Their superiority complex and exclusivity were tearing apart the church at Corinth. Paul needed to remind them: God is the one who "gives the growth."

Spiritual maturity comes about when we submit to the shaping of our creator; not just because we say it’s so. Max Jones didn’t become Starman Jones just by desiring it. The transformation from farmer to Starman took time. He went through a process, experienced several life challenges. These, eventually, shaped him for the job.

We must have faith that God has invested each of us with sufficient "right stuff" for our respective spiritual journeys. God will honor our constancy with a spiritual growth pace and trajectory that is right.

God knows which launch method is best for each of us.

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PHOTO: https://www.amazon.com/Starman-Jones/dp/B001EPO4XO

A different version of this reflection appeared in 2014 as Constant Acceleration.
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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany (February 16, 2020)
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu//texts.php?id=18

Deuteronomy 30:15-20
Psalm 119:1-8
1 Corinthians 3:1-9
Matthew 5:21-37

Join us Friday morning for DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast. We continue to meet at 8:00 at Our Breakfast Place (same location as the Waco Egg and I restaurant). The scriptures and the fellowship are great. We eat the same kinds of stuff as the astronauts ... just not as paste in tubes.

No excessive G-force will be applied.

Enjoy the week!
Steve

SpaceX Rockets and Worshipping God (a Steve Orr scripture reflection)

I clearly remember the first time I heard —and vibrated to— a SpaceX rocket engine test. Loud understates the experience.

Those rocket engine tests are fairly common for those of us living near the small, central Texas town of McGregor. SpaceX has a very active operation there. The deep-throated roar of those engines has been known to shake pictures off walls, objects off shelves, and nappers off couches.

The first time it happened, there was one question on the mind of every person: What is happening?! But, after learning the answer, people began to relax a bit. Oh, the roar continued off and on, but nothing actually seemed to be happening. After a bit, we stopped thinking of it as "emergency!" Soon, we downgraded it to "just a lot of noise." Oh, it was still loud, and it still had everybody's house shaking. But nothing bad followed all that noise; nothing momentous occurred.

The excitement had waned.

We settled down.

We got used to it.

That's the situation confronted by the Prophet Isaiah in this week's scriptures. God had been active in the lives of the Jewish people for centuries. God had sometimes presented as a giant pillar of fire, sometimes as a great whirlwind (think: tornado or hurricane), sometimes appearing with such a roar that ordinary people were afraid to approach.

God could be blindingly bright, thunderously loud.

Eventually, though, people came to take God for granted. Oh, they still did the religious things. They fasted, made sacrifices, participated in worship. And, in their minds, that was enough.

But, in truth, they had moved past the excitement of following God's commandments for living. They quarreled and fought with each other. They let the hungry go hungry. They denied justice to those who were falsely imprisoned. They were supposed to bring the homeless into their own homes, to free the oppressed, and to be caring for their relatives ... but, no. No time for any of that stuff; too busy being busy.

And all the time wondering where God had gotten to.

Because they no longer did as God asked, God told Isaiah to "Shout out, do not hold back! Lift up your voice like a trumpet! Announce to my people their rebellion...." Apparently, nothing else was going to get their attention.

They could no longer hear the roar, no longer see the light.

What about us?
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A version of this reflection appeared in February 2017 as God and SpaceX.

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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany (February 9, 2019)
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu//texts.php?id=17

Isaiah 58:1-9a (9b-12)
Psalm 112:1-9 (10)
1 Corinthians 2:1-12 (13-16)
Matthew 5:13-20
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As we continue to move through the Epiphany season, I hope you can join us Friday morning at DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast. Fat Tuesday will be upon us before you know it, and then Ash Wednesday and Lent. Next thing you know, we'll be celebrating Easter.

Take some time to fellowship with us at Our Breakfast Place (formerly called the "Egg and I" restaurant). We start at 8:00 and mosey along around 9:00. We eat, we laugh, we pray, and we spend some quality time in God's word ... hearing the roar ... seeing the light.

Blessings,
Steve

Too Many Balls in the Air? (a Steve Orr scripture reflection)

It just looked too complicated. That’s why I put off learning to juggle.

It seems I always saw someone tossing several differently-shaped objects into the air, possibly while riding a unicycle, possibly exchanging those objects with another person riding a unicycle.

But that's not how real jugglers start out. They must first learn the craft; starting small, with two or three balls. Or better yet, with small bags that don't bounce away when they, inevitably, fall to the ground. Turns out, most people can learn to juggle three small, equally-sized objects. Of course, success is not automatic: it takes practice.

But it's not complicated.

The complicated stuff comes later ... much later. Jugglers must first become really good at getting those three, relatively small things to do as they should. They quickly realize: only after they master the beginner level should they consider taking on more complicated routines.

In this week's scriptures, the prophet Micah asks how someone shows proper respect to God. He asks if special, and increasingly difficult, sacrifices would be required to impress God. At stake? What kind of sacrifice would be big enough, dangerous enough, meaningful enough to cancel out a person's sin?

Micah already knows the answer, though, and it is surprisingly simple: "God has told you what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?"

Sure, there are people —a few— who are called to do more complicated things in life. But that's not most of us. The challenge before most of us God-followers is this: to begin with a few, relatively simple actions, and to not skip the beginner level. That all-important beginner stage? To consistently act justly, to consistently be merciful, and to consistently walk humbly in God's presence, all at the same time.

Do you have too many balls in the air?

For most of us, God is only asking this: keep just those three balls circling. You may find, as have I, that there's plenty of challenge in that.

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PHOTO (Juggling for the Complete Klutz): https://www.amazon.com/Juggling-for-the-Complete-Klutz/dp/1591744482

A different version of this reflection appeared in January 2017 as Juggling for Dummies.

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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Fourth Sunday After the Epiphany (February 2, 2020)
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu//texts.php?id=16

Micah 6:1-8
Psalm 15
1 Corinthians 1:18-31
Matthew 5:1-12

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I hope you can join us Friday morning at DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast. We're still at Our Breakfast Place (formerly named the Waco "Egg and I") reading scripture, praying, eating, and laughing from 8:00 to 9:00. Usually we're in a room at the back of the building. If you're not sure, ask.

Jugglers welcome (but juggling not required).

Blessings,
Steve

Lost and Found (a Steve Orr scripture reflection)

"The world had teeth and it could bite you with them anytime it wanted." —Stephen King, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon

The quote is from one of my favorite novels. I recommend it to anyone who has children, or who loves baseball, or who loves Stand By Me or Shawshank Redemption (same author) ... or who just loves a well written suspense tale.

Or who loves God.

As nine-year-old Trisha McFarland followed her brother and mother on a hike along a stretch of the Appalachian Trail on the Maine-New Hampshire border, she quickly tired of their bickering. Pausing only long enough to allow them to pull ahead so she could no longer hear them, she took a wrong turn.

She quickly became lost in the surrounding wilderness.

Disoriented, she wandered farther and farther away from civilization ... and into danger. Over the next days and nights, she moved deeper and deeper into those dark woods. The circumstances were overwhelming for a nine-year old child. Despite her best efforts, she was just not capable of making it on her own.

And that's where Tom Gordon comes into the novel.

Gordon was, once upon a time, a special kind of relief pitcher for the Boston Red Sox: a Closer. They are brought in near the end of the game to ensure victory, especially when the other team seems about to win.

Faced with mosquitos, loneliness, wasps, hunger, fear, illness, hallucinations —and even grizzlier threats— Trisha depended on her love of Red Sox baseball and Tom Gordon to lift her spirits. Imagining what Tom Gordon would do was, often, all that kept her going. As long as she could tune in to those baseball games on her portable radio and listen to the amazing work of Tom Gordon, Trisha never lost hope. He truly became her beacon in the night.

Like Trisha, the people in this week’s Isaiah and Matthew scriptures lived in deepening darkness, the very shadow of death. Everything was bad, and there seemed no possibility of rescue.

But then, those people saw a great light.

Like them, we, too, can find ourselves lost in a wilderness of deep darkness. It could be the culture that surrounds us or it could be an internal darkness we carry with us. Like them, we need to be looking for a light to lead us.

And like Trisha, we need a beacon of hope. So we, too, can rise from our deep darkness and follow the dawning light, the DaySpring, Jesus.

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PHOTO: Steve Orr

A different version of this reflection, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, appeared in January 2014.

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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Third Sunday after the Epiphany (January 26, 2014)
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu//

Isaiah 9:1-4
Psalm 27:1, 4-9
1 Corinthians 1:10-18
Matthew 4:12-23

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Will you be in Waco Friday morning? DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast group meets at 8:00 at Our Breakfast Place (formerly named the Egg and I). We would love for you to join us for some illumination as we enjoy great food, tasty scriptures, and each other.

No compass needed ☺️

Enjoy the week!
Steve

Am I the Spy You’re Looking For? (a Steve Orr scripture reflection)

It started innocuously enough.

I perused a one-page graphic on the internet depicting, in eight steps, HOW TO PROPERLY TIE A BOWTIE. I know there are reasons why someone might need to know this, but not in my day-to-day. I chuckled and thought, Yeah, right. I'm never going to need to know that! ...well, maybe when I become a spy. Ha ha.

And that was that. Or so I thought at the time.

But the idea, becoming a spy, kept popping up from time to time throughout that day and the next. My brain would not let it go. Eventually, I gave in and did what millions of people around the globe do when an idea just won't leave them alone.

I started a Pinterest board.

And suddenly, I was pinning pictures of tuxedos, trench coats, decoder rings, "TOP SECRET" rubber stamps, hot cars, and, of course, fedoras. I pinned to my board anything I could think of that represented, at least in my mind, spy accoutrement. Now that it’s going, there’s no telling where or when it will all end.

So. Am I going to become a spy?

I don't really know. At this point, it seems unlikely. I'm ready, though, should the occasion arise. I've seen all the James Bond movies. I've read all the Mrs. Pollifax novels. And I have my Pinterest board to guide my equipment purchases. If someone were to search for a spy, I am findable. 😎

And that brings me to Psalm 40 in this week's scriptures.

If someone were searching for a person who loved The Lord, would you be findable? How would someone know if you are the real deal? I haven’t seen a Pinterest Board on this, so let’s check the psalm for the criteria.

Do you love to do God's will? Do you keep His teachings in your heart? Could you speak about God's salvation, loyalty, mercy, and love to be with others of His people? It would be a lot easier if, like spies in the movies, all we had to do was wear certain kinds of clothing or surround ourselves with cool gadgets. But it doesn't work that way in real life. We're going to have to spend some time getting to know The Lord through prayer and reading scripture.

And we're probably going to have to say something to someone.

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PHOTO: https://pin.it/rs6rf7wxdxf7vd

A different version of this reflection appeared in January 2014.
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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Second Sunday After the Epiphany (January 19, 2020)
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu//texts.php?id=14

Isaiah 49:1-7
Psalm 40:1-11
1 Corinthians 1:1-9
John 1:29-42
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Greetings from the Caribbean! This message is coming to you on “Island Time.”

I hope you can join our group for DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast. We meet Friday morning at Our Breakfast Place in Waco (formerly named the Egg and I). Gather with us at 8:00 to peruse the menu, eat, pray, read the Bible, and kick around what we discover there. Find us in the back function room.

No code words needed.

Enjoy the week!
Steve

Revisiting a Bruised Reed (a Steve Orr scripture reflection)

My friend was "very disappointed" with me.

He had observed me offering what he termed "a soft response” to some comments made by a declared atheist. My friend explained, in a pretty condescending way, that he just could not believe I had failed to enumerate the "steps of salvation" when I had the opportunity to "witness" to the atheist.

My friend’s comments to me were considerably longer, and pretty brutal, but that's the gist of it.

What I wanted to do was lash out at him, cut him down to size for daring to think (and worse, put it into words) that I somehow shirked my responsibility as a Christian to spread the Gospel at every opportunity.

But, I was saved from that mistake by that "still small voice" from deep within reminding me: when I am angry, my most successful communications usually follow a period of prayer. In listening to that thought, I was led to the Isaiah passage in this week's scriptures, a prophecy about Jesus.

Here are four quick takes on the same passage:

"Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice." (Isaiah 42:1-3)

“He won’t call attention to what he does with loud speeches or gaudy parades. He won’t brush aside the bruised and the hurt and he won’t disregard the small and insignificant, but he’ll steadily and firmly set things right.” (Isaiah 42:2-3 MSG)

“He will not break a crushed blade of grass or put out even a weak flame. He will truly bring justice." (Isaiah 42:3 NCV)

“He will not crush the weakest reed or put out a flickering candle. He will bring justice to all who have been wronged." (Isaiah 42:1-3 NLT)

Do you see what I, eventually, came to see?

Jesus tailored his speech to his audience.

When dealing with the leaders, the scribes, the learned, Jesus could be harsh, and with good reason. These were the people who had volunteered to lead and teach God's people, and they were doing so as if God did not actually exist.

But when Jesus interacted with the weak, the lost, the needy, the meek, his words were gentle. He led them gently, as only a good shepherd would.

And so, I did not back down from my "soft response" to the atheist; a man I have known for over four decades. He struggled, not so much with God as with his idea of God; an idea based on what he had gleaned from inaccurate things he had heard people say —and terrible things he had seen them do— in the name of God.

But I also did not respond harshly to my friend. Upon reflection, I knew he did not possess all the facts. He did not know of the years of discussion between the atheist and myself that had gone before. He was unaware of the gentle ministrations of a Pastor who had helped this atheist, this bruised reed, move, in tiny steps, in the direction of the true God.

"What Would Jesus Do?" has become a cliched question to many. But I encourage you to ask WWJD, often. You never know when you will encounter a bruised reed that needs a gentle touch or a weak flame that needs the softest of sighs to encourage it.

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A version of this reflection appeared in January 2014 as The Bruised Reed and the Weak Flame.
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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Baptism of the Lord (January 12, 2020)
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu//texts.php?id=13

Isaiah 42:1-9
Psalm 29
Acts 10:34-43
Matthew 3:13-17

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I hope you can join us Friday morning at 8:00 at Our Breakfast Place (formerly named the "Egg and I") for DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast. We have a great time discussing scripture and eating a delicious breakfast.

Flames are brightened; no reeds are bruised.

Enjoy the week!
Steve