The Way Things Work

The Way Things Work
(a brief Lectionary reflection by Steve Orr)

Maybe you've sat with your child or grandchild and thumbed through "The Way Things Work" by David Macaulay. Or maybe you, like me, only needed your inner child nearby to enjoy learning how stuff works :-)

If you've never spent any time with this wonderful book, let me encourage you to grab a copy and get ready to be dazzled. There are no dry, difficult to understand explanations here. Macaulay is a genius at making the complex seem simple, with the added bonus that most of it is visual. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then Macaulay has saved us millions.

Or perhaps you've read (viewed) some of his other, award-winning books: "Castle" (he assembles one for us), "City" (all about Rome), "Ship" (a sea-going visual treat), "Pyramid" (just what you think), or "The Way We Work" (human anatomy), etc. These are delightful attempts to make plain much of what inhabits our modern life or which we wonder about from our past.

But you may not know of my favorite work by Macaulay: "Motel of the Mysteries." In this funny, quirky book Macaulay does for the modern world what he has done for castles, cathedrals, and pyramids. But there's a twist.

The set up: 2000 years from now most of the American continent is covered in a thick layer of petrified material. It has become one giant archeological site; people from across the globe trying to piece together what life was like in "Usa" before the not-fully-understood catastrophe made it uninhabitable.

In what has some pretty humorous parallels to Howard Carter's excavation of Tutankhamen's tomb, Macaulay shows us how easy it is, despite best intentions, to get it all wrong. Every time something is discovered about life in "Usa," it is assumed to have religious significance. And that's what happens when the ground gives way beneath amateur archeologist Howard Carson. He drops several feet into a shaft that, fortuitously for him (and us), reveals a previously undisturbed "burial" chamber in one of the former civilization's mysterious "motels."

A great part of the fun in reading through "Motel of the Mysteries" is that, due to Mr. Macaulay's remarkable drawings, we readers recognize everything and KNOW it is not what they think it is. We know it's just a motel room and that each discovered item is not something of religious significance. Some of my favorites are the Sacred Urn (commode), the Sacred Point (foil seal on the toilet paper), the Internal Component Enclosure used to symbolically store major organs of the deceased (ICE bucket), and the "Plant That Would Not Die."

If you have any interest in archeology---whether you read Michener's "The Source" cover to cover or are just a fan of Indiana Jones---you should find this makes for an entertaining afternoon. Snickers abound :-)

And that brings us to this week's Lectionary passages. Somewhat like Macaulay's future archeologists, we tend to see what we expect to see. And all the more so when we are treading familiar territory. We get so caught up in the part of the story we know, we often miss some very significant gems.

We read Esther expecting to come to the thrilling conclusion where the evil villain gets his just reward. But it's worth a revisit to Esther 9:22 where the details of the subsequent celebration are told, including the many "days for sending gifts of food to one another and presents to the poor." Wait. What? They celebrated by giving gifts to the poor? Now there's a thought; gifts to the poor. That one has me scratching my head trying to remember the last time I gave a gift (not a loan or a necessity) to the poor.

We read the Numbers passage unsurprised to find that, once again, the people are whining to Moses about something. This time they miss the foods they had for "free" while being slaves in Egypt; they want meat (miraculous manna is just not enough). Moses then whines to God about it (Yes, he really did). In response, God, just before dumping two feet of quail on the campo, gets Moses to convene the tribal elders at the Tent of the Meeting. God then drops a load of spirit on them that is so strong they all start prophesying, even two of them that stayed behind in the camp!

Joshua, Moses' assistant and eventual successor, is so horrified to learn of these two "outlier" prophets, he calls for Moses to stop them. But, in Numbers 11:29 Moses replied, "Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord's people were prophets, and that the LORD would put his spirit on them!" It's a cautionary note to those in spiritual authority; a leader's desire should be that God blesses the people and leaders equally, particularly in matters of the Spirit.

In all the talk about who should or should not be casting out demons in the name of Jesus, who's for us and who's against us, and whether we're salty enough, you could easily miss this admonition to those who mislead the young. Mark 9:42 quotes Jesus saying, "If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones [children] who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea."

Gulp.

And finally there is all that talk in James about praising and praying; praying for the sick and the sad, and about how Elijah is just like us. You might miss this comment in James 5:20 which says "you should know that whoever brings back a sinner from wandering will save the sinner's soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins."

Covered. Gone. For good.

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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt
Proper 21 (26) (September 30, 2012)

Esther 7:1-6, 9-10; 9:20-22
Psalm 124
Numbers 11:4-6, 10-16, 24-29
Psalm 19:7-14
James 5:13-20
Mark 9:38-50

Join us Friday at 8:00 a.m. at Cafe Cappuccino to imbibe food for thought and body. This "Cafe of the Mysteries" is located in downtown Waco on 6th, near the Courthouse, and there are many excellent items to be discovered therein. Food and libation is available for all in the inner chamber ;-)

Enjoy the week!
Steve

Not Exactly A Role Model (a Lectionary reflection by Steve Orr)

There are many who would question any attempt to hold up my mother as a role model. And I must confess, for many years I could have been found standing among them.

She was not the kind of woman the stay-at-home moms would have invited over for coffee . . . had she been at home to be invited. Mama worked, full time, at the phone company; back when AT&T was something of a monopoly. In the early years her hours were erratic; she started as an Operator and had to work when scheduled. So, she wasn't always available when I thought we needed her. In those days, when she was at work, my slightly younger sister and I were cared for either by relatives or by hired help. Once I reached Junior High School, we became latchkey kids, with me being responsible for my sister.

In the pseudo-wisdom of my youth, like many people, I found my parents lacking. I often compared them, unfavorably, to other adults for what I considered deficiencies in their parenting, our home, our possessions, their work, etc., etc. It seemed to me that my parents had missed the boat on several fronts.

At one point in my life I had a very long laundry list of complaints, mostly charged to my mother, that started with my room (no heat, no air-conditioning) and ran on to include my lack of a wardrobe (mostly hand-me-downs), paltry allowances, not being driven to school (which was across town), unfair treatment, yadda, yadda, yadda.

Then life happened.

As absolutely none of you will be surprised to learn, my view of my parents changed significantly when I became a parent. And it has continued to change over the years. Oh, my mother still had her problems. I'm not looking back through rose-colored glasses, forgetting the problems. No. What HAS happened is that I have begun to value things which I either had previously discounted, down to zero in some cases, or which I had failed to perceive at all.

My mother was not the ideal woman. But, seriously, who is? The worthy woman described in Proverbs 31 has many commendable qualities. She keeps her home in good shape. She conducts business profitably. She truly is a worthy woman.

And she is an ideal.

I see some of my mother in that passage. And I see some things there that would never have applied to her. Mama could be petty, and could hold a grudge like nobody's business. She also was an unflagging champion of the underdog, rescued people others had given up on, and was steadfast to those she befriended. I could keep delivering these, seeming, incompatible contrasts for several pages.

In short, she was a human being, with all the flaws and foibles attendant to that. But, she is also the one who taught me to regard all people equally, regardless of race, gender, etc. She is the one who modeled for me how to make and keep commitments, how to provide for family both monetarily and by keeping a clean, safe place for us to live; taught me to love reading, taught me how to drive a car, inculcated me with many of the philosophies that form the ribs of my life.

So, yes, Mama was no angel; she possessed many negative qualities that branded her as certifiably human. And, no, Mama was not exactly a role model.

She was just like all of us; not wholly ideal. But there were some truly fine parts. And that is the little secret of this week's Proverbs passage.

It is sometimes referred to as "The Worthy Woman." But if you read it with the right eyes, you'll realize it could just as easily be called "The Worthy Human." Think about it. Is there anyone, any person, regardless of gender, who wouldn't like to have such wonderful things said of them?

The key to understanding the passage is in the opening phrase: "Who can find a worthy...?" If one must search, then it can't be the standard; can't be the everyday baseline for acceptable behavior in this life. Who could fully live up to that?

"Not exactly a role model" could describe any of us. In that light, the Proverbs 31 passage constitutes a worthy goal for us all.


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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt
Proper 20 (25) (September 23, 2012)

Proverbs 31:10-31
Psalm 1
Jeremiah 11:18-20
Psalm 54
James 3:13 - 4:3, 7-8a
Mark 9:30-37

Who can find a worthy human? If you are one of those who, like me, believes the search for ideals is a good use of your time, then join us Friday morning at Cafe Cappuccino (downtown Waco on 6th, near the Courthouse) at 8:00.

The food is good and the company is better.

Enjoy the week!
Steve

In the School of Life

In the School of Life
(a brief Lectionary reflection by Steve Orr)

While life may, indeed, be like a box of chocolates, I think it's also a lot like high school. I recall a little piece of wisdom from those early years that still seems to have relevance, today:


The Freshman knows not and knows not he knows not.
The Sophomore knows not, but knows he knows not.
The Junior knows, but knows not he knows.
The Senior knows and knows he knows.

It seems like everything starts all over when you leave school. That supreme confidence you have dissipates almost overnight. Suddenly, at least in the school of life, you're a Freshman again. There is SO much to know, and you really have no idea just how huge is your ignorance. Those can be trying years. Just as in high school, you encounter people who seem to have some key pieces of information to which no one has allowed you access; information for which you don't even know how to frame the request.

But then a decade flies by and you enter the Sophomore season. You experience some of life; have relationships, pay for things, get married, have kids, gain and lose some jobs. Soon you find that, while you certainly don't know everything, you at least are aware of your ignorance. There is a certain comfort, at that point, in having achieved some orientation. Having come to an understanding of what you don't know, you find you can begin to focus on what you NEED to know.

In the blink of an eye a couple more decades disappear; welcome to the Junior season. You spend this period doing a lot of things: raising your kids to adulthood, paying off mortgages, being active in the community, maybe going back for some more education, maybe trying to glue together your work experiences into something resembling a career. But all through this period there is in the back reaches of your thoughts this small voice that keeps asking, "Is this the right thing to be doing? Should I be better in some way? Are the choices I am and have been making leading to a good result?" The questions don't stop you; you keep doing. But you're just not sure . . .

And then one day . . . you just know. You know what you did right and you know what you did wrong. It's not perfect; you're not all-wise and all-knowing. But there is a comfortable certainty that you do, finally, understand many things about life; at least among those life things that are important to you. And if you've achieved this Senior season of life, you can pause and luxuriate in that certainty for a bit. Yes, there is time for a semi-victory lap. Take it. Enjoy the moment. Soak in it for a little while. After so many decades, it is just nice to finally feel like a high school Senior again.

There is a constant among these seasons of our lives, though; the dynamic tension between what is urgent and what is important. In every season we are faced with choices of how we will allocate our time and resources; and more often than not we address the urgent over the important.

They say one of the most difficult things to do in this life is NOT answer a ringing telephone. Try that sometime. It illustrates something about urgency. When we perceive something as urgent (urging us to action), it is very difficult to choose a different, perhaps even more important, activity at that time.

Oh, to be sure, there are urgent matters that are also important; that's how many of them came to be urgent in the first place. But there are also important things that arrive without the flare and blare of urgency. We know we need to do them, but . . . well . . . there are all those other things that need doing first! ;-)

It doesn't really matter, though, what or how much we know, or with what degree of certainty, if at the conclusion we've missed something of great importance. And it is into this relatively quiet moment that I wish to step with a suggestion.

Your spiritual development, if you are like most of us, has not gotten quite the time and attention as have some matters, perhaps more urgent seeming matters, over the years. Make some time for it. You'll have to, you know---make time for it. Our lives are too busy for the time to just make itself available for this very important thing.

There is a reason high school graduations are called "Commencement." But you don't have to wait for some official moment.

Start now. Whatever season of life you're in.

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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt
September 14, 2012

Numbers 21:4b-9
Psalm 98:1-5 or Psalm 78:1-2, 34-38
1 Corinthians 1:18-24
John 3:13-17

Join us Friday if you can. We're still meeting at Cafe Cappuccino (downtown Waco on 6th, near the Courthouse) at 8:00 every Friday morning, eating a delicious breakfast and kicking around thoughts on this week's scriptures.

They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Who knows? This one may be one of the most important of your life :-)

Enjoy the week!

The Atheist and Me

The Atheist and Me
(a brief Lectionary reflection by Steve Orr)

Scientist and renowned atheist Richard Dawkins has said and written quite a bit about religion, especially christianity. For example, in his book, The God Delusion, he wrote "One of the truly bad effects of religion is that it teaches us that it is a virtue to be satisfied with not understanding.”  The amazing thing about that statement is that I can, ALMOST, agree with him. If only I could switch a few of those words around. 

A statement I COULD agree with would read like this: "One of the effects of truly bad religion is that it teaches us that it is a virtue to be satisfied with not understanding.” See what I did there? 

But, to be clear, Richard Dawkins and I do NOT really agree on this point---or, for that matter, on almost all points---because he lumps all religions together. He has no use for any religion. Whereas I most certainly have a use for a particular religion.

But, I find that I am sometimes at odds with others over what is meant by the term "christianity." Quite often people claiming the label of "christian" seem to start on the wrong end of the continuum, elevating process over people, caring more about the "rules" than about relationships, being quick to judge and slow to forgive. Sometimes it seems as if the very LAST thing on their minds is loving their neighbor; when---if we are in fact following the teachings of Jesus---loving our neighbors as ourselves (that "royal law" Jesus quotes from Leviticus) should be way, way out near the front, right next to loving God.

And in THAT sense, I find Richard Dawkins and I may be in agreement on one point: "Nothing is wrong with peace and love. It is all the more regrettable that so many of Christ's followers seem to disagree." It is sobering to find that an atheist sees us so clearly, sees us for how our human-ness has "over topped" what we have been taught concerning such fundamental spiritual matters.

But don't take my word for it. Get THE word on the matter. Read the "Sermon on the Mount" or the response Jesus gave to the question: "What is the greatest commandment?"

Or, check out this week's Lectionary selection from the letter of James:

"So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty.  For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.  What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works?  Can that faith save him?  If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and be filled," and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?  Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. But someone may well say, "You have faith and I have works."  Show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.  You believe that God is one.  You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.  But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless? (James 2:12-20)

One last comment. Instead of "you foolish fellow," the Orthodox Jewish Bible addresses these matters to "oh hollow man." 

Shudder, indeed.

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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt

Proper 18 (23) (September 9, 2012)
Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23
Psalm 125
Isaiah 35:4-7a
Psalm 146
James 2:1-10, (11-13), 14-17
Mark 7:24-37

I hope to see you all Friday, September 14th. In the meantime, join the group THIS WEEK at Cafe Cappuccino (downtown on 6th, near the Courthouse) at 8:00 for breakfast and Bible . . . and some big servings of love, grace, and mercy :-)

Enjoy the week!
Steve

An Instance of the Fingerpost

An Instance of the Fingerpost
(a brief Lectionary reflection by Steve Orr)

One of my all time favorite novels is "An Instance of the Fingerpost" by Ian Pears. It combines historical fiction, a compelling murder mystery, and fascinating characters. And, just to keep things interesting, the book is comprised of four different accounts of the "facts" as told by four different characters! Unlike many mysteries where the "reveal" comes at the end, skipping to the end of this book doesn't help; the only way to really understand what happened is to read each of the four accounts. I've never read a book quite like it. It's one of those handful that I re-read every few years.

But, an odd title; right? What, you may be wondering, is a Fingerpost? And to what "Instance" is the author referring? As to the latter, you will need to read the book. I could never explain it, here; and, frankly, I hate spoilers.

As to the Fingerpost: you know this. Really. If not from your own travels, then certainly from fairytales or Saturday morning cartoons. Picture it: the travelers arrive at an intersection of roads. There, at one side, or possibly right in the center, is a post. And on it are narrow boards on which are inscribed the names of towns or other locations. Those boards may just be pointed on one end or they may actually resemble the fingers of a hand with three curled under and one pointing. In any case, these FINGERPOSTS are oriented so that they actually point toward the location inscribed on them.

These Fingerposts are very useful, especially if you are attempting to navigate in an area with which you are not all that familiar. And if they're so useful in the physical world, just think how something like that might help us on our spiritual journey. Well, I believe there ARE spiritual Fingerposts, clear signs placed by God for us to follow.

And this week's Lectionary passages are crammed full of Fingerposts!

Do you want to know what God wants? Well here are only a very few of the many "instances of the Fingerpost" to help you know:

--> In Psalm 15: do what is right, and speak the truth from your heart; do not slander (cast no slur on anyone), do no evil to friends or neighbors; honor those who fear the LORD; do not take a bribe against the innocent.

In The Message, the same passage says: "Walk straight, act right, tell the truth. Don't hurt your friend, don't blame your neighbor. Keep your word even when it costs you, make an honest living, never take a bribe."

-->The James passage clarifies the path we are to take on our spiritual journey: "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress."

-->And, finally, from the Deuteronomy passage: be careful to always remember what God has done in your life, even if it was way in the past; and TELL YOUR CHILDREN and THEIR CHILDREN about God in your life.

Some useful signage to think about this week.

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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Proper 17 (22) (September 2, 2012)

Song of Solomon 2:8-13
Psalm 45:1-2, 6-9
Deuteronomy 4:1-2, b6-9
Psalm 15
James 1:17-27
Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23


Join us if you can on Friday morning. As is our practice, we will be at Cafe Cappuccino (downtown Waco, on 6th near the Courthouse) at 8:00 to discuss this week's scripture passages and to scarf down some great food.

Um, we don't have a sign, but look for the raucous group at a horseshoe-shaped table. We'll be at the table right next to them ;-)

Enjoy the week!
Steve