How We Spend Our Days (a Steve Orr Bible reflection)

How’s life going? Do you sometimes feel like Wile E. Coyote in the Road Runner cartoons? No matter what approach he takes, no matter how sophisticated, he never succeeds in capturing that pesky bird! His nemesis is faster and smarter. He just can’t win.

 

The problem: Mr. Coyote is stuck inside a paradox, a Catch-22.

 

Mark Twain describes a coyote as “a living, breathing allegory of Want. He is always hungry.” If Twain is right, there is no way Wile E. Coyote can win. His hunger leaves him no choice but to continue chasing the Road Runner. He cannot do otherwise. Those are the “rules” he is forced to live by. That’s a Catch-22. 

 

We, of course, are not cartoon characters.

 

We have a choice. We always have a choice. We are not enslaved to our natures. Still, it may seem that we, too, are sometimes stuck in a Catch-22. Each day, we apply ourselves to the often crazy and crippling “rules” of this life—only to find that, even when we win, there can be a serious downside. And when we lose? It can feel like we have no worth at all.

 

But there is a way out.

 

In this week’s Exodus passage, we meet two extraordinary people: Shiphrah and Puah. Despite being commanded by Pharaoh to kill all the male Hebrew babies, these two midwives risked their lives to do the exact opposite. Day in and day out, they helped deliver all the babies. Each delivery was a single event. But when aggregated, they became a legacy. Today, these two are heralded as heroes, people who stood in the gap to protect the defenseless.

 

This week’s Romans passage exhorts us: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God.” Shiphrah and Puah refused to be conformed to their world. Though mired in an impossible situation, they found a way to serve God.

 

It is often a shock to recognize that our day-in-day-out activity is our life. It might not seem like it in the moment, but what we do with each day builds up into our entire life. When all is said and done, it is what we actually do, not what we long for, that becomes our life. 

 

After all, at its most basic, a tapestry is simply a collection of threads.

 

We don’t have to be stuck in a Catch-22. We actually can make our lives have meaning well beyond what this world would have us believe. Take some time each day to spend with God: Renew your mind. It is the way to ensure you no longer conform to the Catch-22 rules of this world. 

What we do each day becomes our life. 

 

How we live each day becomes our legacy.

 

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“How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives. What we do with this hour, and that one, is what we are doing."  —Annie Dillard, Pulitzer Prize winning author of Pilgrim at Tinker Creek.

 

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PHOTO: Weaver at Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala  (by Steve Orr)

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Join us Friday morning at DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast. We meet on Zoom* and in Waco at Our Breakfast Place. At 8:00 we start an hour of good food and good folk learning to serve God one day at a time. 

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=p&d=70

 

Print them from here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/wp-content/uploads/pdfs/Ax_Proper16.pdf

 

Exodus 1:8-2:10

Psalm 124

Isaiah 51:1-6

Psalm 138

Romans 12:1-8

Matthew 16:13-20

Proper 16 (21) (August 23, 2026)

 

The Little Dog Marathon (a Steve Orr Bible Reflection)

Many people want to be the people other people think about. 

 

There’s a preoccupation with being the topic of every conversation, the focus of every moment, the Main Character. Part and parcel: certain phrases we toss about on social media posts, in self-help books, and in our real world conversations. 

Likely you’ve heard them:

"If you can't run with the big dogs, stay on the porch!" 

"Go big or go home!" 

"Cookies are for closers!" 

There are many, rendered all sorts of ways, but their messaging boils down to one thing: You should really want to be one of those people—a closer, a winner, a big dog. 

 

But there's another, darker, side to that message: If you’re not a winner, you are, somehow, lesser. There’s a not-so-subtle subtext that you're either among the elite, or . . . you're not worth our consideration.

 

It's not really a new thing. We've been caught up with being exceptional for quite some time. Decades. Centuries. Millennia.

 

In Matthew this week, Jesus is confronted by a non-Jewish woman. She is seeking His intervention on behalf of her daughter who is besieged by demons. 

 

Jesus ignores her. (Wait. What?!)

 

But she keeps following Him, calling after Him, never letting up, really advocating on behalf of her suffering child. Even His disciples beg Jesus to address her—specifically, to send her away. Eventually, Jesus does engage with her, but the reader gets another shock. 

 

Jesus does not give her what she's asked for. 

 

He tells her that He was sent to the "lost sheep" of Israel. In other words: "Not you." Then, when she persists, Jesus adding insult to injury, calls her a dog. He tells her it would not be right for the "little dogs" (house pets—as opposed to the big, feral dogs that ran in packs in those days) to have the food intended by the master for His children. He is telling her she is one of the "little dogs," and, therefore, not due anything from Him

 

Jesus is astonished by her response: "Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the master's table."

 

How often do you think Jesus is astonished by something we say or do? I can’t imagine it’s often. Here, Jesus is so affected by her perspective, He praises her faith. Hers is a faith that existed despite the absolute absence of any reason to believe it would produce a benefit for her or her daughter. In His astonishment, He grants her request. 

 

We need to be like this woman—one of the "little dogs” in this world. We should seek Jesus even if we are convinced that we are in no position to demand His attention, much less His action on our part.

 

Life is not about whether we're winners or losers, whether we're closers, or even if we can run with the big dogs. Desiring excellence can be a good thing. But it raises the question: With whom do we associate when we pursue that desire?

 

Maybe we should have been running with the little dogs all along. 

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"The task is, not so much to see what no one has yet seen; but to think what nobody has yet thought, about that which everybody sees." 

—Erwin Schrödinger

PHOTO: Adobe Express filtered through Photoshop Express 

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Join us Friday morning for DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast. We meet at 8:00 on Zoom* and in Waco in the back function room at Our Breakfast Place. Good food, good folk, spending an hour with a good God. 

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=p&d=69

 

Print them from here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/wp-content/uploads/pdfs/Ax_Proper15.pdf

 

Genesis 45:1-15

Psalm 133

Isaiah 56:1, 6-8

Psalm 67

Romans 11:1-2a, 29-32

Matthew 15: (10-20), 21-28

Proper 15 (20) (August 16, 2026)

 

Never Surrender? (a Steve Orr Bible reflection)

World War II in the Pacific officially ended when Japan surrendered in August 1945.

 

But that didn’t end the war for everyone.

 

Lieutenant Hiro Onoda was one of several specially trained Japanese soldiers assigned to occupy small Pacific islands. They had been ordered to disrupt and sabotage enemy efforts—and never surrender or take their own lives.

Lieutenant Onoda was a man who followed orders.

Despite several attempts by Japan’s post-war government to convince him to surrender, he refused to accept the good news that the war was over. His commanding officer had not issued him any new orders. Until that occurred, he would follow the orders he had.

Rather than believe the sound of human footfalls meant good news, Lieutenant Onoda assumed just the opposite: Every sound could be the enemy. In his view, he had to defend himself against any encroachment. Shots were fired. Lives ended. It was only when, in 1974, his former commanding officer was flown to the island and formally delivered new orders to him that Lieutenant Onoda surrendered. 

 

He had been at war for 30 years.

 

In this week's Romans passage, the apostle Paul quotes Isaiah 52 when he writes, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!" But, Isaiah also raises (and Paul repeats) the question: "Who has believed our message?" People will be sent, proclamations voiced, and the Lord will be made known throughout the world. But what happens if those who are on the receiving end do not believe what they hear? They may, like Lieutenant Onoda, refuse to come in from the cold.

The prophet Elijah in the 1 Kings passage needed new orders—and he got them. As with Lieutenant Onoda, they were life-changing. The rest of both men’s lives were significantly different from the previous decades. But it took new orders to make that happen. When we humans "dig in" to a belief, it’s very difficult for us to change. Only when the message comes coupled with what we recognize as a higher power are we willing to set aside our "old way" and become something entirely new.

 

Paul was exactly that way before his encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus. He, too, was waging a war. He wouldn't surrender without new orders—and he got them.

 

Our takeaway: If, when we deliver our good news, it is rejected, we should not be discouraged. People often reject change that seems to conflict with their existing structure—especially if it sounds like they may have to "surrender." Instead of giving up, we should reach out to God and pray on their behalf. 

 

New orders may be needed.

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Photo: White Flag from Adobe Express filtered through Photoshop Express 

Link to photos of retired Japanese Major Yoshimi Taniguchi, the person who issued the original orders to Lieutenant Hiro Onoda, delivering new orders in 1974 instructing the Lieutenant to surrender after 30 years in the Philippine jungle. 

https://www.cnn.com/2014/01/17/world/gallery/hiroo-onoda?cid=ios_app&openWithFirefox=true

The full story of Lieutenant Onoda:

https://www.historyhit.com/hiroo-onoda-the-japanese-soldier-who-refused-to-surrender/

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DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast is truly a "stand down" experience. We leave our concerns for a while and just enjoy some time together. Join us Friday morning for food, fellowship, and some time in God's word. We meet on Zoom* and in Waco at Our Breakfast Place. We start at 8:00. Visiting and laughter are both on the menu.

 

All feet welcome, even ugly ones.

Blessings,

Steve

 

SCRIPTURES FOR SUNDAY AND THE COMING WEEK

 

Find them here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts/?y=17134&z=p&d=68

 

Print them from here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/wp-content/uploads/pdfs/Ax_Proper14.pdf

 

Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28

Psalm 105: 1-6, 16-22, 45b

1 Kings 19:9-18

Psalm 85:8-13

Romans 10:5-21

Matthew 14:22-33

Proper 14 (19) (August 9, 2026)