Nicodemus and the Third Rule for Finding Things (a Steve Orr Lectionary reflection)

Harry Lorayne baffled audiences with his feats of prodigious memorization.

He could recite hundreds of audience members’ names, addresses, and phone numbers (having only had access to the information just a short time before beginning his performance). Harry was, without a doubt, the greatest memory expert to come our way. And, uncharacteristically of many in the entertainment field, he spent the bulk of his career sharing his "secrets." He wrote several best sellers (chief among them, "How to Develop a Super Power Memory), conducted classes, ran entire schools on memory improvement.

Something I heard Harry say one night, on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, significantly impacted my life: "The main reason that most people forget a name is because they never remember it in the first place!" That was a sea-change moment for me. Being slightly dyslexic (for lack of a better word) and somewhat of a wiggle worm, I spent a significant portion of my young life a little behind and a little confused.

Lorayne's revelation was the beginning of the end of that. I bought his book and began putting to use his easy-to-apply lessons. To attempt to describe all it led to would take a great deal more time and space than this reflection allows. One place it led was to a refining of something I had always had in my life, though in very rudimentary form: I am a finder. Most of the time, when others cannot find something, I can.

You may have already come across my first two rules for finding things (First Rule: Look under something. If that doesn’t work, try the Second Rule: Stop searching, just observe.). Harry’s tip about “remember in the first place” is directly responsible for the third rule of finding things: ask yourself, "What is the obvious location?" (Or ... "Is it really lost?")

Here’s the secret: people who lose things often “lose” them in the same place. If you know them well enough, you can almost always find where they have mislaid their keys (or whatever) because they are often in the same place or places. In other words: a probable (and thus, obvious) location.

Their memory problem? They forget to remember in the first place.

And that brings us to Nicodemus. In this week’s selection from the gospel of John, one of Israel's leaders sneaks out and meets with Jesus in the night. Why at night? Jesus was not popular with the leadership. Nicodemus was being cautious; possibly hedging his bets, but it might also have been that he wanted an uninterrupted conversation with Jesus, something unlikely with the crowds circling about in the daytime. We will likely never know for certain. But we do know his purpose: like almost everyone else in that country at that time, he wants to see the kingdom of God.

Nicodemus is disturbed and confused by the things Jesus tells him. But that was not because he could not have understood them. As Jesus makes quite plain, the leaders of Israel were expected to understand such things. The problem, in my opinion: along with the other leaders of Israel, Nicodemus failed to "remember in the first place."

It's not that these things were unknowable (scripture is filled with references and explanations about the spiritual aspect of God's relationship with his people), it's just that they had stopped really trying to know them. What should have been obvious, sounded obscure. Knowable, but so forgotten that Nicodemus had no idea how to process what Jesus was saying.

They had all failed to "remember them in the first place."

We are commanded to meditate on the scriptures. This "night visitor" episode is a great illustration of why we're to do so. The more time we spend reading and meditating on scripture, the more we are going to be able to understand what we read there. We have to be intentional about it, though.

We have to make the effort to "remember it in the first place."

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PHOTO: Steve Orr
Brief article on memory that I found interesting: https://andrewpegoda.com/2018/03/03/modern-life-and-the-problem-of-memory/
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A somewhat different version of this reflection appeared in March 2014.
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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Trinity Sunday (May 27, 2018)
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu//

Isaiah 6:1-8
Psalm 29
Romans 8:12-17
John 3:1-17
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I hope you can join us Friday morning for Lectionary Breakfast. As usual, we will gather at 8:00 at the Waco "Egg and I" for food, fellowship, and a time of Bible discussion.

Extra points to anyone who remembers everyone's name!

Enjoy the week!
Steve

Ants on the Volcano (a Steve Orr Lectionary reflection)

I was profoundly disappointed. Had I traveled all the way to Hawaii just to watch a line of ants march across a dusty spot?

The crossing was a good one; pretty smooth as ocean voyages go (for a hilarious description of a not smooth crossing of the Pacific, see Mark Twain’s Letters from Hawaii). We enjoyed our five days at sea, and that experience was its own separate pleasure. But, lets not pretend: the purpose of the cruise was to reach, and explore, Hawaii.

Our first day on the big island started out so well: our first tour stop was the Hilo Coffee Mill, a combination coffee plantation, cafe, and gift shop. Getting to tour their coffee growing, curing, and roasting operation —followed by drinking some of that fresh and delicious local brew— portended well for the remainder of the day.

There were other interesting sights to see and places to visit ... and we took them all in. However, my goal for that day was to experience Mount Kilauea, the long smoldering volcano that originally formed the island.

It seemed to take forever for us to get to this point in the tour. But ... eventually ... we arrived. We queued up with everyone else, waiting (as patiently as possible) for our turn to peer into the heart of the volcano. There was no one setting time limits; so each person, couple, or group, took as long as they wished. For me, it seemed like forever! Still, even a watched pot will, finally, boil. And our time did finally come.

As we stepped forward to take our place at the front of the line, I was keyed up. Before that day, I had never actually seen a volcano, even at a distance. And while I had viewed this one, just minutes earlier as we drove toward it, what I saw was just a big hill. Now was the moment of truth. Now I would stare down into the heart of the Earth. Now I would see, with my own eyes, the stuff that came before.

What I saw below: a roughly circular patch of dirt crisscrossed by lines of ants marching one behind the other.

After all of the emotional build up, I was profoundly disappointed. Had I traveled half the Pacific Ocean just to watch a line of ants march across a dusty spot? I looked to one side and caught the expressions of the folks just turning to leave the lookout point. Clearly, they were in awe. I turned to the other side where I saw a similar expression on my wife’s face.

What was I missing here? I looked back at the view, seeking to understand.

And then, as sometimes happens to me, everything before my eyes rearranged itself. Suddenly, I was not looking at ants crossing a patch of dirt. Suddenly, those ants became humans, people so far away from me that they appeared as small as ants. And that dusty spot became an enormous volcanic caldera, plugged up with cooled magma.

Humans were walking across the space where, in years past, lava had flowed. They were, in fact, walking on lava (cooled to the point that it would hold the weight of humans and, not insignificantly, not burn them to a cinder). That sent a shiver up my spine.

Perspective. It changes everything.

Before I fully perceived what I was experiencing, my understanding was wrong. Oh, it felt right. In fact, I was certain of what I was seeing: ants on a patch of dirt. But the facts were different than my perception of them. It was only after I saw what was actually before me that I had a full understanding.

And that’s the situation alluded to in this week’s selection from the gospel of John. The perception of ... well, almost everyone ... was wrong. It was wrong about sin, wrong about righteousness, and wrong about judgement. People felt that the sin in their life could not be overcome, that the standard of God’s righteousness was just too high fo a human to achieve ... felt that God had judged them, found them wanting, and had abandoned them to a hell on Earth.

And maybe you’ve felt it, too ... felt as hopeless as ants crawling across a rumbling, threatening volcano?

But maybe that’s too personal. Let’s take a step back and just say that these conditions still exist for some. They can’t understand the new relationship we have with sin because they do not believe that Jesus is really who He claimed to be. They can’t understand the truth about how someone achieves righteousness because they do not accept that Jesus is now with God, acting on our behalf. And they do not understand judgment because they do not acknowledge that “the ruler of this world” has already been condemned.

Jesus taught his disciples that when He sent the “Spirit of Truth” to them, they would be able to understand the truth about these things. It can be difficult to grasp these lessons. Jesus said that, without the Advocate (the Spirit), some of what we need to know would be too much to bear. We need to be gently guided into understanding these contra-intuitive things.

We are not ants on a volcano, as some might want us to believe. We are not distant, little beings to God. We are loved by God and by His son. Our journey has been provided for. We need only allow the Spirit to equip us properly.

Perspective. It changes everything.


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PHOTO (and info about Mount Kīlauea Volcano. Please support Wikipedia.): https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kīlauea

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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Day of Pentecost (May 20, 2018
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu//

Acts 2:1-21 or Ezekiel 37:1-14
Psalm 104:24-34, 35b
Romans 8:22-27 or Acts 2:1-21
John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15
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Pentecost marks the celebration of the moment when God began to share His Spirit with all of us who believe. Join us Friday morning as we allow the Advocate to guide us and instruct us. Meet us at 8:00 at the Waco “Egg and I” restaurant (in the function room, around the back). It’s an hour like no other.

Grave Robber! (a Steve Orr Lectionary reflection)

Staring at your own tombstone can be a sobering experience.

Each year in May, we make the trek into Hood County, Texas to attend some very important board meetings ... for a couple of cemeteries.

We have become involved with the governing boards of two historic Texas cemeteries: one with the graves of our earliest Texas ancestors. The other cemetery holds the graves of folks a lot closer to us in time ... as well as our own.

And it’s the latter of these two where I annually face my mortality in a most graphic way. There, carved into granite, is my full name —all three names, like it would be reported if I was arrested for some crime— along with my date of birth. Of course, there is no second date ... yet. Perhaps you’ve heard someone say, right after shivering, “Someone must be walking across my grave!” Well, I’ve actually seen people walk on mine!

Someday, a second date will fill the remaining blank space on my tombstone. Until then, I will continue my journey, here, doing the best I can. Please don’t think I’m being maudlin or macabre. It’s just on my mind this time of year because our service to the community intersects some of our future plans. Plus ... it fits perfectly with the message of this week’s 1st John passage.

John keeps circling back to a few key points because he wants his correspondents to be crystal clear about what is important. And, perhaps the most important of them all is this: “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.”

We need never become too disturbed about that transit point we call the grave. That is not the end of our journey. There is much more to go ...

and our final destination isn’t final, at all.

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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Seventh Sunday of Easter (May 13, 2018)
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=93

Acts 1:15-17, 21-26
Psalm 1
1 John 5:9-13
John 17:6-19
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Join us Friday morning at 8:00 for DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast. It’s an unusual blend of scripture, laughter, prayer, and spirited discussion among friends. If that sounds good to you, then meet us at the Waco “Egg and I” restaurant. We’ve been meeting in their function room, around the back.

Blessings,
Steve

The Magic in the Magic Lamp (a Steve Orr Lectionary reflection)

Whether it’s djinni, genie, or “I Dream of Jeannie,” what’s the deal with the magic lamp?

In the old legends, Aladdin stole a magic lamp. Whenever he rubbed it, a Djinni would appear to grant his wish. Others wanted it, so he hid the magic lamp at home ... with other, similar looking lamps.

Posing as a merchant, an evil man schemes to possess it. He walks down the street calling out "New lamps for old! New lamps for old!" At Aladdin's house, he makes his offer to the housekeeper who, thinking it a great bargain, swaps the old lamps for shiny new ones. And just like that, the magic lamp moves into the possession of the evil man.

The housekeeper was tricked by an analytical fallacy: like many people, she concluded new was better than old. But she failed to consider the key element: the lamps themselves. For her, "New versus old" was enough of a basis to make her choice. Like most of us, she believed, all things being equal, new was better.

But make no mistake, quite a few people believe exactly the opposite. If you doubt that, go to an antiques auction, sometime. Watch the passion folks bring to the battle to own something old. The fallacy remains, though, if the item, itself, is ignored in the decision-making.

When Peter travels to the home of the Roman Centurion Cornelius in this week’s Acts 10 selection, his traveling companions are all of the "old is better" school. They are expecting something to happen, but are completely unprepared for what God decides to do: "The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles," (NRSV Acts 10:45).

According to the old ways —at least, as they understood the old ways— only the descendants of Jacob were granted a portion of God's spirit. Yet, here God went a new direction. The mistake those early believers made was to view Jesus and His teachings through the lens of their religion, their culture, and their history (that is, assuming the old way was the only way).

Two millennia later, we must also guard against this kind of fallacious thinking. Everything —especially our culture and our religion— must be viewed and evaluated through the lens of Jesus and His teachings, not the other way round. In this case, we must go with the new.

What made Aladdin’s lamp magic was not the lamp. The djinni was the true power. Its container could be changed. The same can be said for the Holy Spirit. It has always fallen on God’s people. God just made a new way, with a new definition of what it means to be God’s people.

Welcome to the new.

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PHOTO: http://warehouse-13-artifact-database.wikia.com/wiki/Aladdin%27s_Lamp

For more on the blended tales of Aladdin and Ali Baba see: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aladdin

A different version of this reflection appeared in May 2015.
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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Sixth Sunday of Easter (May 6, 2018)
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu//

Acts 10:44-48
Psalm 98
1 John 5:1-6
John 15:9-17

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Once again, we gather at the Waco "Egg And I" restaurant Friday morning. Join us at 8:00 for something new and fresh, some news that is truly good.

Enjoy the week!
Steve