A Tree Grows In Brooklyn (a Steve Orr scripture reflection)

Aunt Sissy had a dark side. 

Francie Nolan is 11 years old when A Tree Grows in Brooklyn opens in 1912. Betty Smith's novel follows Francie and her family as they strive to rise above their poverty. 

 

A lot was happening in the world as this novel unfolds. The Titanic sank, the Panama Canal opened, U.S. Congress approved Prohibition, Houdini dazzled at the Hippodrome, the Bolshevik Revolution transformed Russia, World War I, Ford created the automobile assembly line, women worked for—and finally got—the vote. This is a picture of Francie’s world. 

 

And that brings us back to Francie’s Aunt Sissy. 

 

In all her world, Sissy was Francie's favorite: vivacious, playful, fun-loving. She wore colorful clothing, loved to dance and sing. Sissy was the polar opposite of Francie’s mother. So much so that Francie often wondered how the two women could be sisters. 

 

People said Sissy was wild, a "bad" girl. There was truth in that. Sissy was a sexually aggressive party girl. She used a very liberal definition of the term "married" so she could be with the men of her choosing—one after another. Francie was not unaware of Sissy’s dark side. But Francie also knew why Sissy was that way. 

 

Sissy wanted a baby.

 

She moved from one man to another because she was looking for one able to give her a baby—who would live. Ten headstones in the nearby cemetery marked where her babies lay, mutely accusing her each time she passed.  

 

It’s heartbreaking. What she does in her desire for a living child is beyond what most of us can comprehend. But not all of us. Some of us understand completely. 

 

I think Hannah—in this week’s 1st Samuel passage—would empathize with Sissy. We find her suffering from childlessness. Like Sissy, she desperately wants a living child. At one point, she becomes so worked up while pouring out her broken heart to God, the priest thinks she is drunk! When she does finally give birth to Samuel, her prayer of thanksgiving is almost electrical in its praise of God.

 

There is a difference between Sissy and Hannah, however. Neither can accept her barren state, but Hannah pours out her heart to God on both sides of the matter. 

 

We, too, must seek God as we struggle with our deepest desires and needs. Like Hannah, we need to avail ourselves of prayer and petition while we are yearning. Then, we need to offer praise and joy when God answers.

 

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PHOTO: Steve Orr

Cat Stevens singing Wild World (with lyrics): 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69kTbYNZvtY

 

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We meet Friday mornings for DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast on Zoom** and at Our Breakfast Place. We would love for you to join us at 8:00 for an hour like no other. We delve into God's word, enjoy each other's company, and have our choice of delicious breakfasts from the menu. And laughter; it may not be on the menu, but it’s definitely in the room.

 

What a great way to start the weekend!

 

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=382&z=p&d=85

 

Print them here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/wp-content/uploads/pdfs/Bx_Proper28.pdf

 

1 Samuel 1:4-20

1 Samuel 2:1-10

Daniel 12:1-3

Psalm 16

Hebrews 10:11-14, (15-18), 19-25

Mark 13:1-8

Proper 28 (33) (November 17, 2024)

 

 

Robbers, Cons, and Thieves (a Steve Orr scripture reflection)

What is it with Hollywood making folk heroes out of very real bad guys?

 

In Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, the two were handsome, swashbuckling cowboys (portrayed by Paul Newman and Robert Redford). In real life, Butch and Sundance were actually Robert Leroy Parker and Harry Alonzo Longabaugh. They were thieves. They robbed trains and banks. They were bad people who stole real money from ordinary working people.

 

In The Sting, Newman and Redford return as two handsome Depression Era rogues named Henry Gondorf and Johnny Hooker. They con a fortune out of a murdering gang boss. We find ourselves cheering them on. After all, didn’t “the mark” deserve his comeuppance? But that fictional story is based on the true story of brothers Fred and Charley Gondorf, a couple of real-life grifters. They swindled anyone and everyone out of whatever money they could get. They were bad people who stole real money from ordinary working people.

 

No matter how you dress them up—no matter how you work to make them seem like good people—bad people are bad. The things they do hurt real people. Contrary to the movies, most con artists are heartless criminals with no concern for anyone but themselves. Most will stoop to anything, including murder, to get what they want. 

 

And that brings us to this week's Gospel of Mark selection where Jesus identifies a surprising con artist scam.

 

As students of God’s Law, scribes dressed themselves in respectability. People trusted them to explain how to live a life approved by God. There were likely some good scribes. But Jesus charged the group of them with something worse than criminal behavior: using their understanding of God's Law to swindle people. And not just any people. They were guilty of fleecing widows and their families out of the little they had, even to the point of making them homeless. They were truly wolves in sheep’s clothing.

 

I know. It's hard to believe someone could stoop so low. To borrow a phrase Jesus used to describe another group of predators, they were truly “wolves in sheep’s clothing.”

 

Sad as it is to contemplate, there are people among us who will swindle us out of our money. They will use God, Jesus, the Bible—whatever works—to move our property from our control to theirs. And they absolutely do not care if their "marks" are already impoverished or hurting from the loss of a loved one. All they care about is whether they can scam the mark.

 

We have to be alert to these wolves—still. We need wisdom to discern them from the real sheep. It's bad enough that these kinds of people walk our streets. It is far worse that they walk the aisles of our churches. They don't just "sting" their marks. They destroy them, wound their faith, and drive them away from God. 

 

For those who have fallen prey to these wolves, Jesus promised: “They will be punished most severely.” Until that day, we must be careful and discerning in our dealings with others. We must lean into the guidance Jesus gave His followers about wolves in sheep’s clothing: “Be wise as serpents, harmless as doves.”

 

 

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GRAPHIC (and a brief article about helping you avoid scammers and scams):

https://www.theconsumerlawgroup.com/blog/understanding-how-scams-work-and-how-to-avoid-them.cfm

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Breakfast, scripture, fellowship, and laughter. How do you beat that combination? Join us at 8:00 on Friday morning for DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast. We meet on Zoom** and in person at Our Breakfast Place restaurant.

 

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=382&z=p&d=84

 

Print them here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/wp-content/uploads/pdfs/Bx_Proper27.pdf

 

Ruth 3:1-5; 4:13-17

Psalm 127

1 Kings 17:8-16

Psalm 146

Hebrews 9:24-28

Mark 12:38-44

Proper 27 (32) (November 10, 2024)

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“Saints Along the Uragami” (a Steve Orr scripture reflection)

Japan banned Christianity from the mid-17th to late-19th century. Before that, a large Christian community thrived along the shores of the Uragami River. Their village rested against a horseshoe of mountains where the Uragami widens into a bay on the East China Sea. 

The ban brought persecutions. So, for more than 250 years, the saints along the Uragami hid their Christianity. But they never stopped worshipping.

 

In 1895, after the ban was lifted, this Christian community started building. It took 19 years to complete the main structure, 11 more to raise twin bell towers. The Urakami Cathedral, the largest in East Asia at that time, was where Christians living in the area of the Uragami River worshiped, studied, confessed; where they were baptized, prayed over, and eulogized. It served them for 20 years. 

 

Right up until 11:02 a.m. on August 9, 1945, when the atomic bomb known as “Fat Man” exploded 500 meters above their city, Nagasaki. 

 

Because it occurs above the earth, the location of such an explosion is not called “ground zero.” That would be the area below the explosion, often referred to as the “hypocenter.” That church building, the central location for Christians all along the Uragami Valley, was about five football fields south of the bomb’s hypocenter. 

 

The distance did little to protect it. The force of the atomic bomb destroyed most of the building instantly. The south bell tower and portions of the facade were the most identifiable sections to survive. There were also considerable military and industrial targets in Nagasaki, that day, and they were significantly impacted by the blast. As were almost all structures within half a mile of the hypocenter. Analysis indicates the bomb produced only 25 percent of its yield. It could have been much, much worse. But even at its diminished yield, many thousands of human lives were extinguished. It is believed 40,000 people died immediately, with another 60,000 people injured. By the following January, the death toll had climbed above 70,000 people and doubled that at the end of five years. 

 

Among the 15,000 Christians living in the area, more than 10,000 died from the bomb and its after-effects. 

 

November 1st is All Saints Day, the day from which Halloween draws its name (October 31st is All Hallows Eve). Traditionally, on the first Sunday in November, Christians everywhere pause to remember the followers of Jesus who have died. Usually we recall loved ones, friends, other Christians we have encountered along our spiritual journey. But we would not be amiss to recall Christians we’ve never met: those who died in war, from pestilence, at the hands of evil doers, from mishap, from hunger.

 

And the saints along the Uragami who lived, loved, raised families, and worshipped God in a beautiful valley by the sea. 

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PHOTO (Urakami Cathedral following atomic bomb exploding in Nagasaki, Japan):

https://nabmuseum.jp/

A very brief history of the Nagasaki bombing with “Fat Man”

https://nagasakipeace.jp/en/reference/materials/kids/commentary/toshi.html#:~:text=Among%20the%20possible%20reasons%20Nagasaki,shipyards,%20steelworks%20and%20armaments%20factories.

A fuller discussion of the Nagasaki bombing and the Urakami Cathedral:

https://artsandculture.google.com/story/atomic-bombing-in-nagasaki-and-the-urakami-cathedral-nagasaki-atomic-bomb-museum/uwXRRfqvSwUA8A?hl=en

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Will you be with us Friday for DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast? Join us at 8:00 am on Zoom** or in person at Our Breakfast Place. We have a great time exploring scripture, kicking around what it means, and laughing. See you there? 

 

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

 

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SCRIPTURES FOR ALL SAINTS DAY

Find them here: 

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts/?y=382&z=p&d=83

 

Print them here:

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

 

Isaiah 25:6-9

Psalm 24

Revelation 21:1-6a

John 11:32-44

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SCRIPTURES FOR SUNDAY & THE COMING WEEK

Find them here: 

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts/?y=382&z=p&d=82

 

Print them here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/wp-content/uploads/pdfs/Bx_Proper26.pdf

 

Ruth 1:1-18

Psalm 146

Deuteronomy 6:1-9

Psalm 119:1-8

Hebrews 9:11-14

Mark 12:28-34

Proper 26 (31) (November 3, 2024)

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