Groundhog Day and the Semicolon Tattoo (a Steve Orr scripture reflection)

“If you’re going through hell ... keep going.”

12,395 ... In the movie, Groundhog Day, that’s how many times Weatherman Phil Connors woke up to find it was ... still Groundhog Day. That’s how many times Bill Murray's character opened his eyes and discovered he was still in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, forced to repeat the same day over and over.

At least, that’s one person’s attempt to calculate just how long Phil was locked up in that same circumstance. Others have suggest other lengths of time. Harold Ramis, the film’s Director, once opined he believed Phil was looping for about 10 years (about 3,650 days). But later, he adjusted the timeframe to “more like 30 or 40 years.”

However you calculate it, that’s a really long time to be trapped in a repetitive nightmare.

Weatherman Phil works his way though various stages in his endless holiday repeat. For the first few repeats, he’s just confused. Eventually, though, he steals, acts maliciously, exploits those around him, indulges every whim and vice. He even kidnaps Punxsutawney Phil (the groundhog) and leads the authorities on a high speed chase. And then, not surprisingly, Phil becomes depressed, so depressed at his inability to break free from the shackles of this seemingly endless redundancy ... he (unsuccessfully) attempts suicide.

Over and over and over.

That’s where the semicolon comes in. When writers decide it’s time to pause, but aren’t ready to end the sentence, they use a semicolon. It’s a way of letting the reader know there’s more to come.

Recently, it has also become a symbol for something positive. Some who have attempted suicide are getting a semicolon tattoo inked onto their skin, often at the site of their last unsuccessful attempt. They wear that tattoo as a way to send a message that this is not the end, to declare they have chosen to continue on; to make it clear to everyone, especially themselves: there’s more to come.

When Jesus encountered the invalid in John chapter five, that man could have used a semicolon in his life. He was living on the edge ... literally, on the edge. He was near the Pool of Bethesda, but not right by the pool. That distance, short as it may have been, meant he could never make it to the water in time to be healed. He had been suffering like that for 38 years. That means he woke up every day for 13,880 days (or more) facing the same horrible existence. And he faced all this, alone. He had no one to help him get to the pool ... 13,880 chances of never being healed.

That’s a very long time to be stuck in what surely seems like an endless loop. A person could easily, would likely in time (which day, I wonder?), become depressed. Surely anyone in his situation would “want to be made well.” This man had been living this way for something like 14,000 days, relief just a few feet away. And yet, it might as well had been miles away for all the good it did him. He could not break out of his endless loop.

Is it any wonder he couldn’t answer Jesus, directly?

That’s what happens to a lot of people. They have lived so long in their struggle, they can no longer recognize hope when it appears before them. After so many days, weeks, and years of no relief, their faith has worn thin.

For this man, though, Jesus inserted a semicolon.

Jesus did not just heal the man. He sent him on his way. The message was clear. The man was not to linger at that location any longer. His situation had changed. He was to continue on. After 38 years of endless days, suddenly there was more to come.

A lot has been written about this passage. Many have weighed in on its meaning and its purpose for our lives. For me, the message is simple: regardless of our circumstance, Jesus brings a semicolon to our lives. We are to continue on.

There’s more to come.

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PHOTO: Steve Orr

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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Sixth Sunday of Easter (May 26, 2019)
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu//

Acts 16:9-15
Psalm 67
Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5
John 14:23-29 or John 5:1-9

Mel Brooks and the Eleventh Commandment (a Steve Orr Scripture reflection)

One of my favorite film moments comes from Mel Brooks’ “History of the World, Part One.” Moses (played by Brooks) comes down from the mountain cradling three stone tablets, spies the golden calf when he is about half way down and becomes apoplectic. He yells down to the Israelites, chastising them for their faithlessness. It goes something like this: “How could you do this?! Why couldn’t you wait until I came back? God has written down for us some of His thoughts to make our lives better, happier. He sent me back to you with 15 (one tablet falls and shatters. Brooks looks down, then quickly holds up the remaining two tablets) . . . 10! . . . 10 commandments to improve our lives!”

The scene is funny, but also gets at something that has been on our minds ever since Moses came down the mountain: was that it, just the ten? Are you one of the folks who wishes there were more than 10 Commandments? Do you believe we humans would benefit from just a bit more guidance from God? There have been many attempts over the millennia to add that extra layer of direction. The Talmud (literally “study”) contains another 613 “commandments” generated by Jewish Rabbis our the centuries to attempt to provide the everyday guidance many crave.

The Bible books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy are packed with extra detail on how to live. “Love you neighbor as yourself” wasn’t in the original ten (through some say it’s implied), but it does show up in Leviticus. Jesus said that loving God and loving our neighbor sums up all the law and the prophets. Those are not new commandments, but rather two that include all the others. Jesus also told everyone to love their enemies. Again, not so much a new commandment as a widening of the tent, so to speak.

So. Are there any new commandments? Is there an eleventh? Maybe. I guess it depends on how you number things. Ten? 613? Count all those in Leviticus and Deuteronomy? I do think there is one ... but not one for everyone.

I think this may be a big part of what Peter smacked up against in this week’s selection from the Book of Acts. After baptizing some Gentiles (non-Jews), effectively including them as followers of Jesus, Peter is ”called on the carpet” by the other Apostles and leaders of the early church. In explaining his actions, Peter reports “the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as it had upon us at the beginning.” While it may seem like there is only one message, here, in actuality, there are two.

Peter, on one level, is telling them, I didn’t choose these people, God did. Essentially, that’s the defense for his breaking all kinds of Jewish “laws” by being in the home of these Gentiles, eating with them, touching them. But he is also signaling something of a more lasting importance. In this week’s passage from John, Jesus actually says, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."

Well, there’s your Eleventh Commandment.

It’s only given to followers of Jesus. And, differently from loving our neighbors and loving our enemies (each with its own challenges), this one is just concerning how believers are to treat each other. Jesus already knew that the “tent” of believers was going to not only get a lot bigger, but also a lot stranger than any of His earliest followers could imagine. He knew they (we) were going to need that extra commandment.

It will come as no surprise to you, I think, for me to say that we tend to love our neighbors and our enemies ... at a certain distance. Oh, it’s not supposed to be that way, but it is the way most of us approach the matter. It’s pretty difficult, though, for us to hold other believers at a distance. We’re all scrunched up in here, together. We need that commandment.

And here’s the reason why:

If we believers can learn to really love each other, we can start to learn how to love our neighbors. And if we can get to where we really love our neighbors, up close and personal, we can start the process of learning how to love our enemies. And if we can actively love our enemies ... well, there is no end to that kind of love.

No more commandments needed.

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Portions of this reflection were borrowed from two previous reflections from the Easter seasons of 2016 (“The Eleventh Commandment”) and 2013 (“The Project Manager”).
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PHOTO: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082517/?ref_=nv_sr_3?ref_=nv_sr_3
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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Fifth Sunday of Easter (May 19, 2019)
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu//texts.php?id=137

Acts 11:1-18
Psalm 148
Revelation 21:1-6
John 13:31-35
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Another Friday morning gathering of DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast ... can you join us? It’s a quick hour from 8:00 to 9:00. Somehow, we cram in tasty food, interesting discussions, a prayer, and some Bible reading. Oh, and we tend to get tickled a lot (not sure what it says about us that we find some of this is funny, but there you go.)

Blessings,
Steve

Daniel and the Mean Girls (a Steve Orr scripture reflection)

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He had no tribe of his own. 

The first time I saw Daniel, he was in our high school Cafeteria ... sitting all alone at a table with seven empty chairs. He had lank blond hair that hung over his eyes, wore a wrinkled army jacket, and sat hunched over his food tray. His knife was clinched in his right fist and his fork in his left; both pointed down. The body language was unmistakable: he expected an attack on his food and was prepared to defend it.

School cafeterias have tribes.

In the movie, Mean Girls, each tribe is somewhat exclusive of the others (“Where you sit is crucial....”). These are explained to Cady, the new girl in school. She is then warned: “Beware of The Plastics” (i.e., the mean girls).

What was it like in your high school? Did you have a “mean girls” clique? Were there groups that intentionally excluded people? I’m not talking about associational groups like drama, athletes, or band. There are always such “comfort” groups in schools; groups of people who share an affinity for something. It wasn’t uncommon for people in my high school to be in such groups and to sit together at lunch.

What I’m talking about are groups that make exclusion a central part of their structure. We didn’t have a lot of that in my high school. Junior high? Sure. But most of that seemed to have fallen away by the time we all showed up at the high school. So, I had to wonder: why was Daniel sitting all alone, poised to injure the next person who reached toward his food?

Daniel had enemies.

Lest I leave you with the wrong impression: our high school was far from perfect. Like most high schools, we had problems, and one of those was bullying. That was the problem with The Plastics in Mean Girls; not that they were a clique, but that the alpha Plastic was a sociopath who used her alpha status to bully everyone else (“On Wednesdays, we wear pink.”).

Daniel had been bullied ... a lot. I don’t know if bullies choose their targets —using some sort of victim radar— or if they just bully everyone and then re-target those who knuckle under. Did Daniel always look like a victim? Or did his look result from continuous bullying? I don’t know. By the time we met, Daniel was already a frightened, combative person. It was Daniel against the world, at that point. He was so traumatized, he could no longer tell friend from foe; so victimized that anyone who came near him was suspect.

For many, this would be the “darkest valley” referenced in the 23rd Psalm (“the valley of the shadow of death”); a horrible, hellish existence of hyper-vigilance, never broken by a moment’s peace.

Take a minute and re-read the 23rd Psalm.

It sounds pretty pastoral ... at first. But then you realize some hard times must have preceded the “green pastures” and “still waters.” There are reasons David needed the Shepherd to restore his soul. Imagine why David wrote those words. Was it while fleeing for his life, King Saul’s soldiers dogging his trail? Or, back it up a few years when David was playing music and Saul hurled a spear at him. At what point did David finally admit to himself that Saul really was his enemy?

Today, we still have our mean girls and guys; still are excluded from certain tribes. We have enemies. We may not know it, but they’re there. Perhaps they’ve never revealed themselves. So, maybe you don’t feel under attack and in need of rescue. But for many people, the fear of someone causing harm to them or those they love is a reality.

I wish I knew whatever happened to Daniel. My attempts to befriend him failed. Sadly, my last impression of him was the same as my first; the exact opposite of the 23rd Psalm. I sometimes imagine what it would be like for Daniel if God showed up for lunch, one day, and saved him a place at the table. What if God made him the guest of honor at that meal, one at which he could eat without fear, one at which no bullies had power over him. A lunch so grand, and a peace so abiding, that inviting his enemies to join him would feel like the very right thing to do.

Imagine the relief of having the most powerful being in existence set a feast before you, right where your enemies can see you, right where they can see you and God, together. That’s a powerful image.

At that point, you would have options. Do you eat and run? After all, those onlookers are still your enemies. Do you eat and smirk? I mean, what can they do to you? Clearly, God is on you side.

Or do you invite them to the feast?

Well, God has set a table before us, and it is in the presence of our enemies.

Now, what do we do with that?

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PHOTO: Steve Orr & Adobe CC Express

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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Fourth Sunday of Easter (May 12, 2019)
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu//texts.php?id=136

Acts 9:36-43
Psalm 23
Revelation 7:9-17
John 10:22-30
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Friday morning are special at the Waco “Egg and I” restaurant. DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast meets at 8:00 in the function room around the back. Join us for some tasty food, some interesting Bible, and some exhilarating discussion.

And we have a few laughs along the way.

Blessings,
Steve

At that Lake by that Castle in Scotland (a Steve Orr Lectionary reflection)

They came to see the monster.

It is the rare person who visits Scotland who doesn’t want to see the Loch Ness Monster. Tourists arrange their schedules so they can spend at least part of a day at that lake. I don’t think most people expect to actually see the fabled beast.

But, still ...

Busloads of folk arrive hour after hour, day after day; their dollars & pounds (and many, many other currencies) are the life blood of the attraction. We, too, had come to see the monster. The idea that something big and monstrous might be at the end of our journey, that day ... well, that was kind of exciting.

There has been a lot of debate about the size of Nessie, she of the sinuous body and arched neck. Just how big was she? Really big, we all think ... and maybe still growing. That idea that something monstrous might be ahead of us ... the thought drew us on. A sighting; that was our goal and our intent.

As our tour bus wound its way around rolling hills carpeted with lush, green grasses, we were treated to tantalizing glimpses of Loch Ness; that green carpeting sweeping right down to the waterline.

Once we parked and alighted, though, we soon encountered a sign that assured us “100% guaranteed sighting of Nessie ... tomorrow.” —It was a permanent sign— Sigh ... stymied. We decided to go see the Loch, anyway ... maybe the sign was wrong.

On our way, though, we encountered the castle.

Most, I think, are not expecting to find a castle overlooking Loch Ness. It was surprising. Here was this fascinating castle, with all of its history so deeply tied to the history of the Scottish people. And it was right in our path. Instead of monster-hunting, we spent most of that stop exploring the castle and its history.

Encountering it changed our entire trajectory. Did we forget about Nessie? Well, no. But encountering the castle changed how we thought of Loch Ness. We went there to see the monster, but were privileged to experience the unanticipated, instead.

In this week’s scripture from the Book of Acts, the future Apostle Paul is on his way to Damascus. He is still named Saul and he is no friend to Christians. His objective is to capture and arrest any who are living in Damascus. He plans to drag them all back to Jerusalem for “judgment.”

All of his plans changed, though, when he encountered Jesus along the way. Yes, he eventually made it to Damascus, but his original plans no longer existed. Yes, he found the Christians, but his mid-journey encounter changed his focus. Instead of capturing and transporting them, he spent his time learning from them.

Meeting Jesus changed everything for Paul. He went to see the monster, but he got the castle, instead.

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PHOTO (and a great little blog about a cruise to Scotland): https://www.escape.com.au/experiences/cruises/ocean/kilts-castles-and-loch-ness-monsters-cruising-scotlands-northern-isle/news-story/dc69f8bb524218fb4370b5c97593974c

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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Third Sunday of Easter (May 5, 2019)
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu//texts.php?id=135

Acts 9:1-6, (7-20)
Psalm 30
Revelation 5:11-14
John 21:1-19

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We continue this Easter season Friday morning at DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast. Join us at 8:00 for an hour of fellowship and food. We still meet at the Waco “Egg and I” restaurant, usually around the back in the function room. Ask if you can’t find us.