Thunderously Loud, Blindingly Bright (a Steve Orr Bible reflection)

I clearly remember the first time I heard—and was shaken by—a rocket engine. The testing of them is a fairly common experience for those of us living near SpaceX. That deep-throated roar has been known to shake pictures off walls, objects off shelves, and nappers off couches. 

 

During that first test, there was one question on the mind of every person: What is happening?!  It kept happening, though. In time, our adrenaline levels eventually stopped shrieking "Emergency!" Soon, we downgraded to: "Oh, that again." It was still loud, and it still shook houses. But nothing bad followed all that noise; nothing momentous occurred. 

 

The excitement 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 previously presented as a giant pillar of fire or a great whirlwind (think: tornado or hurricane). Sometimes God appeared 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. 

 

They had moved past the excitement of following God's commandments for living. They quarreled and fought with each other. They let the hungry get even hungrier. 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 they were wondering where God had gotten to. 

 

Because they no longer did as God asked, God instructed Isaiah to "Shout out, do not hold back! Lift up your voice like a trumpet! Announce to my people their rebellion!" Nothing else was getting their attention. They could no longer hear the roar, no longer see the light.

 

What about us? Are we deaf to that roar, blind to that light? Where do we go to experience God’s presence? Where do we modern folk fit into this message?

 

Consider this week’s Matthew passage: Jesus “flips the script.” Instead of encouraging his listeners to change their ways so they can experience God’s bright light, He tells them they are the light of the world and that they must not hide their light. They must act in such a way that everyone can see their light. How? They are to do good works (see the Isaiah passage) in such a way that everyone will give the glory to God. 

 

God’s bright light isn’t gone. It’s just experienced differently. It’s up to us to ensure people see it. People need to be able to identify us, without having to turn over a bushel to check the strength and quality of our light. We need to be obvious. We need to be, unmistakably, the people of God. 

 

 

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PHOTO: Adobe Express filtered through Photoshop Express 

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Ears to hear…

 

Katy Perry’s Firework:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KSbwHzlcgs8&pp=ygUaa2F0eSBwZXJyeSBmaXJld29yayBseXJpY3M%3D

 

Colbie Caillat’s Brighter Than the Sun:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MYkudx096Pg&pp=ygUrY29sYmllIGNhaWxsYXQgYnJpZ2h0ZXIgdGhhbiB0aGUgc3VuIGx5cmljcw%3D%3D

 

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As we move through the season of Epiphany, 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 time to fellowship with us on Zoom* or at Our Breakfast Place. We start at 8:00 and finish 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. 

 

Rocket Scientists welcome.

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=17134&z=e&d=18

 

Print them here:

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

 

Isaiah 58:1-9a (9b-12)

Psalm 112:1-9 (10)

1 Corinthians 2:1-12 (13-16)

Matthew 5:13-20

Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany (February 8, 2026)

 

Just Three (a Steve Orr Bible reflection)

The first thing I was taught when learning to juggle: Start with “balls” that don’t bounce.

 

That's how real jugglers start out. Long before they juggle complicated things—like pins or chainsaws—they must first learn the craft. They start small, with two or three balls. Preferably, those “balls” are actually small stuffed bags that don't bounce away when they—inevitably—fall to the ground. 

 

Most people can learn to juggle three small, same-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. In short: Don't have too many balls in the air. The more complicated routines must wait until after mastering the beginner level.

In a way, this week's Micah selection is also about juggling. He asks the reader to consider how someone shows proper respect to God. Are special, increasingly difficult, sacrifices required to impress God? What kind of sacrifice would be big enough, dangerous enough, meaningful enough to cancel out a person's sin?

Micah already knows the surprisingly simple answer and quickly reveals it: Do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God.

See? Not complicated.

Sure, there are people—a very 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.

 

Do you have too many balls in the air?

 

For most of us, God is only asking this: Keep just those three in motion, all at the same time. To consistently: act justly, be merciful, and walk humbly in God's presence. 

 

You may find, as have I, that there's plenty of challenge in that.

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PHOTO: Adobe Express filtered through Photoshop Express 

 

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I hope you can join us Friday morning at DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast. We're on Zoom* and at Our Breakfast Place reading scripture, praying, eating, and laughing from 8:00 to 9:00.

No chainsaws will be juggled at this gathering. Seriously, just leave them at home.

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=17134&z=e&d=16

 

Print them here:

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

 

Micah 6:1-8

Psalm 15

1 Corinthians 1:18-31

Matthew 5:1-12

Fourth Sunday After the Epiphany (February 1, 2026)

Little Girl Lost (a Steve Orr Bible reflection)

"The world had teeth and it could bite you with them anytime it wanted."

 

The quote is from The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, one of my favorite novels. I highly recommend it to anyone who has children or who loves baseball, or anyone who loves Stand by Me or Shawshank Redemption (by the same author), or who loves an excellently written suspense tale.

 

Or who loves God.

 

Early in the novel, 9-year-old Trisha becomes lost. A wrong turn takes her into the wilderness along the Appalachian Trail near the Maine-New Hampshire border. Disoriented, she wanders farther and farther away from civilization—and into danger. Despite her best efforts, she is just not capable of making it on her own.

 

And that's where Tom Gordon enters the tale. A “closer” for the Boston Red Sox, Gordon was often brought to the pitcher’s mound near the end of a tight ballgame to ensure victory. Trisha loves Tom Gordon and the Red Sox. Faced with mosquitos, wasps, hunger, loneliness, fear, illness, hallucinations—and even grislier threats—Trisha depends on her love of Gordon to lift her spirits. Imagining what he would do is all that keeps her going.

 

Trisha is lost. But even though there seems no possibility of rescue, she is not abandoned. Someone is looking for her. 

Similarly, the people in this week's Isaiah and Matthew selections live in deepening darkness, the very shadow of death. Everything is bad. There seems no possibility of rescue. 

 

But then, they see a great light.  

 

Sometimes, we also get lost. We find ourselves in deep darkness. It could be darkness from the culture that surrounds us, or it could be a darkness we carry with us. But we don’t have to stay lost in that darkness. Instead, like the people in this week’s scriptures, we need to be looking for a light to lead us. 

 

We can rise from our deep darkness. We just need to follow that dawning light, the DaySpring—Jesus.

We are not abandoned. 

 

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PHOTO: Trisha getting lost (from the pop-up book version of The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon)

The Appalachian Trail Conservancy:

https://appalachiantrail.org/news-events/share-your-experience/follow-us/atc-newsletters/

 

Goodreads page for The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11564.The_Girl_Who_Loved_Tom_Gordon?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=4driZkZDdK&rank=1

 

 

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We will have a little rain Friday morning, but mid-50s temp! Join us at 8:00 for DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast. We meet on Zoom* and in person at Our Breakfast Place for some great food, scriptures, illumination, and the joy of each other’s company.

 

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=17134&z=e&d=15

 

Print them here:

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

 

Isaiah 9:1-4

Psalm 27:1, 4-9

1 Corinthians 1:10-18

Matthew 4:12-23

Third Sunday after the Epiphany (January 25, 2026)