When Dad Was a Brickie (a Steve Orr scripture reflection)

Dad only worked at the brothel for about a week. 

There was in my hometown what was called “a house of ill repute.” There’s a lot I could write about that place and the fact that even children knew about it. But not this time. This is about my Dad and the work he did there. After 10 years as a medical professional, some business reversals forced Dad to give up his dream of serving others that way. To bring in some needed income, he went to work for his cousin, Norman, as a “brick and tile man” or “Brickie.” 

This is how Dad came to work at our everybody-knows-about-it brothel. Norman, a General Contractor, had agreed to make some repairs and updates to the building. Included was a new patio across the back of the house and a brick walkway to the back gate. Sure, what they were doing was far from building a cathedral. But no one on Norman’s crew could afford to turn down the job, Dad included. So, every day, for about a week, he worked on that patio and walkway ... brick ... by brick ... by brick. 

There is nothing to say that we must always be happy about our job, whistle while we work, or sing out "Hi ho, hi ho; it's off to work we go." Sometimes, we just aren't in the mood for all that. Sometimes, the job is just a thing you need to do. It’s not always about building cathedrals. The real question, at the end of the day, is: did we do our work correctly and completely? If yes, then we did what we could.  

Most of us know 1st Corinthians 13 as The Love Chapter. With this week's scripture from Romans, we get what some call the other Love chapter. It is, if you will, the brickies version as opposed to the cathedral version in 1st Corinthians. While the Corinthians version gives us the broad strokes about love, Romans is definitely the day-to-day, nuts and bolts, brick by brick approach to love. 

Perhaps you've wondered exactly how love is patient, kind, not envious, not boastful, not proud, not dishonoring others, not self-seeking, not easily angered, keeping no record of wrongs, not delighting in evil, rejoicing in the truth, always trusting, always hoping, and always persevering.  

It can seem pretty daunting when you see it all compact like that. 

Sometimes all the lofty goals and wishes aren’t enough to get you where you need to be; not enough to ensure the actual work gets done. Even when the objective is loving. Sometimes, like Dad, you need to do the nuts and bolts version; you need to be practical. 

The next time it crosses your mind to wonder about the practice of loving, the how of all those lofty goals in 1st Corinthians 13, turn back to Romans 12:9-21 and read the very practical actions listed there. 

Then, just do those ... brick ... by brick ... by brick. 

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PHOTO: Steve Orr

Quite different versions of this reflection appeared in September 2017 as Brick by Brick by Brick and in August 2014 as The Bricklayer.

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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK

Proper 17 (22) (August 30, 2020)

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu//texts.php?id=157

Exodus 3:1-15

Psalm 105:1-6, 23-26, 45b

Jeremiah 15:15-21

Psalm 26:1-8

Romans 12:9-21

Matthew 16:21-28

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Countdown to Lectionary Breakfast! DaySpring is aiming to resume LB on September 11th ... via Zoom. We’ve successfully conducted weekly Bible studies via Zoom and feel confident we can do the same with LB. 

Keep us in your prayers, 

Steve

Wile E. Coyote and Catch-22 (a Steve Orr scripture reflection)

“How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives."  —Annie Dillard, The Writing Life

How’s your life going? Does it sometimes feel like you’re Wile E. Coyote in the Road Runner cartoons? The poor guy just can’t win. No matter what approach he takes, no matter how sophisticated the apparatus he employs, he never succeeds in his desire to capture and eat that pesky bird!

The problem is Catch-22.

Mr. Coyote is stuck inside a paradox. His avian nemesis is much faster than he, and —because that’s not difficult enough by itself— smarter than he looks. In Roughing It, Mark Twain describes a coyote as “a living, breathing allegory of Want, He is always hungry.” In other words, there is no way Wile E. can win; he has no choice but to continue chasing the Road Runner. He cannot do otherwise. Those are the “rules” he is forced to live by ... a Catch-22 situation. So, in an attempt to overcome his obvious limitations, Mr. Coyote applies an assortment of tools. But, as we well know, those only end up hurting him, not the bird.

We, however, are not cartoon characters.

We have a choice. We always have a choice. Unlike the coyote and the road runner, we are not enslaved to our natures. Still, it may seem that we, too, are stuck in a Catch-22 situation. Each day, we apply ourselves to the often crazy and crippling “rules” of this life; only to find that, even when we win, there is 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 what was right. Day in and day out, they helped deliver babies, regardless of gender. Each delivery, by itself was an event. But when you aggregate them, they become a legacy. Today, they are recognized 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.” That’s what Shiphrah and Puah did. They refused to be conformed to their world, finding a way to serve God in the midst of a seeming impossible situation.

It often comes as a shock to people that their day-in-day-out activity is their life. It might not seem like it in the moment, but what you do with each day accumulates into your entire life. All of us long for things that are not part of our every day lives  —that's why many of us have bucket lists—  but when all is totaled up, it is what we actually do, not what we long for, that becomes our life. 

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

You don’t have to be stuck in a Catch-22. You actually can make your life have meaning well beyond what this world would have you 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. Remember, what we do each day becomes our life. How we live each day becomes our legacy.

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PHOTO: Steve Orr with Adobe Sparkpost 

Different versions of this reflection appeared as "How We Spend our Days” in August 2014 and as “Two Childless Women Defeat A King” in August 2017.

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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK

Proper 16 (21) (August 23, 2020)

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu//texts.php?id=156

Exodus 1:8-2:10

Psalm 124

Isaiah 51:1-6

Psalm 138

Romans 12:1-8

Matthew 16:13-20

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Save the date! We are tentatively planning to restart DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast, via Zoom, on Friday September 11th. Please keep us in prayer as we explore this new approach to our gathering. 

Many blessings,

Steve 

The Famous Cat That Never Was ... Or Was It? (a Steve Orr scripture reflection)

Inside the box: (a) one vial of poison, (b) one mechanism for spilling it, and (c) one cat. 

The set up: if the mechanism activates, the poison will spill and kill the cat. 

The outcome: We can’t know whether the cat is dead or alive until we open the box.

Does that sound cruel to you? It would be ... if it had ever actually happened. 

If you paid attention in science class, you likely heard of Schrödinger's Cat. This is the famous experiment set up by physicist Erwin Schrödinger. It is purely theoretical, just a mental exercise. No actual cats were harmed. From a physics standpoint, as long as the box remains closed, nothing has actually occurred ... yet. The cat is constantly either alive or dead until we open the box. Schrödinger went a step further, insisting the cat was both alive and dead until it could be observed.

The cat in the experiment was in a continuous state of possibility. 

What it boils down to is this: we cannot know what we cannot know ... anything is possible. And that is the key to the story of Joseph in this week’s Genesis scripture. There are many treasures to be mined from the story of Joseph  —the limits of prophecy, fractured families, the power of forgiveness, even agronomics—  but it's the "not knowing" part that keeps me coming back to Joseph. In this particular sense, Joseph is just like us. Despite the cryptic dreams he received as a young man, Joseph could never have known he would become "a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt." 

Joseph is a great model for us. At each challenge point, Joseph, not knowing his future, could have chosen either way, good or bad. Just like us. We now know that, each time, he chose to behave in a way that was pleasing to God. He did this even though the Law had yet to be handed down from God: there were no Ten Commandments for Joseph to use as a guide. 

Anyone can know right from wrong.

We, like Joseph, remain in a continuous state of possibility. That only changes when we "open the box," so to speak. Similar to Schrödinger's Cat, until we choose a course of action  —in that nanosecond before our thoughts settle into our choice—  we can go either way. And like Joseph, none of us can actually know our future.  

But God can.  

God sees all our possibilities. God can see into the "box," if you will. And, if we will allow it  —if we can trust God as Joseph did—  God will guide us into the best path ... and even to undreamed of achievements.

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Portions of this reflection are drawn from a different one that appeared in August 2014 as Schrodinger’s Cat and in 2019 as No Cats Were Harmed in the Making ...

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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK

Proper 15 (20) (August 16, 2020)

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

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We’re still working behind the scenes to decide if we can meet DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast on Zoom. Please keep us in your prayers. For now, here are this coming week’s scriptures and a reflection. 

Blessings,

Steve

Oprah and the Whisper of God (a Steve Orr scripture reflection)

A joke about a man in a flood:

As floodwaters began to rise, a person in a canoe came by a man’s house and offered him rescue. He refused, saying, "I've prayed about this. God will save me." So, the canoe moved on.

As the rising waters forced him up to the second story, people in a rowboat came by and implored him to join them. Again, he refused, repeating, "I've prayed about this. God will save me." So, the rowboat moved on. 

Eventually, he was forced out onto his roof. While he clung to the chimney, people in a motorboat came and begged him to climb aboard. Again, he said, “I’ve prayed about this. God will save me.” So, the motorboat moved on.

Soon the flood overtook him and swept him to his death.

Upon arriving in Heaven, he insisted on an immediate audience with God. At the meeting, he recounted how he had placed his faith in God to save him. He demanded to know why God allowed him to drown. In response, God said, "I sent you a canoe, a rowboat, and a motorboat. What more did you expect?"

                             -=*=-  -=*=-  -=*=-  -=*=-  -=*=- 

To be fair, any of us, weighed down with real problems, can lose the ability to recognize when actual help has arrived. It's almost endemic to the human condition. 

So, what should we do?

Some years ago, Oprah Winfrey was invited to give the Commencement address at Wellesley College. She described to them the experience of the Prophet Elijah in this week’s scriptures: At first, there is a wind so strong it breaks the rocks on the mountainside (think hurricane). But God is not in the mighty wind. Next, there is an devastating earthquake that shakes the mountain. But God is not in the earthquake. This is followed by a powerful fire that sweeps across the mountainside. But God is not in the fire. Finally, Elijah hears "a still, small voice," a whisper. And there, in the whisper, is God. 

Oprah went on to exhort the graduates to not wait for  —nor expect—  the grand spectacles; but rather, "to catch God on the whisper."

I thought it was a lovely way to launch those young women out onto the rest of their lives. And I think it's excellent advice for any of us. Why should we need the miraculous? Why not just tune our senses to perceive God's original, and simplest, approach? 

We don't need to skip the canoe, the rowboat, and the motorboat while awaiting something grander. There is no need to look beyond what may appear to be just ordinary circumstance. Consider what (and who) is right in front you.

Catch God on the whisper.

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PHOTO (1937 Flood, Paducah, Kentucky): 
https://kgs.uky.edu/kgsweb/download/misc/landuse/mccracken/mccrackenissues.htm

A different version of this reflection appeared in 2016 as Catch God on the Whisper.

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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK

Proper 14 (19) (August 8, 2020)

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu//texts.php?id=154

Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28

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

1 Kings 19:9-18

Psalm 85:8-13

Romans 10:5-15

Matthew 14:22-33

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There may be a change in our near future. We are discussing holding DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast via Zoom, this fall. Please keep this in prayer as we explore how this might work for us. In the meantime, I hope the scriptures and this reflection serve you. 

Blessings,

Steve

Stephen King’s Thin Places ... and Mine. (a Steve Orr scripture reflection)

Something slipped in from somewhere else ... and it changed things.

If you’ve read any of Stephen King’s writings, you’ve likely encountered something ... well ... unexpected. Often, that “unexpected” is from somewhere else. And it came over through thin places (or thinnies). King uses thin places to great effect. Those of us who have read a lot of King realize that most of the King-verse is connected by those thinnies.

Sometimes, King has people “walk in” from one of those elsewheres. Other times, what comes over is something ... other. Sometimes, it’s weather (really). And, surprising to many, what King moves into our reality through those thinnies isn’t always bad. Sometimes, it’s very, very good.

I encountered my own thin place one morning.

Everything about that morning was unexpected. First, it was cool-ish ... in the middle of a very hot summer. Also, I was early; much earlier than the commuter rail usually delivered me downtown. The morning was still dawning.

And, I was completely caught off guard by the birds.

Walking along, I suddenly found myself serenaded. On my right was a small pocket park, deep in the heart of the city, and its trees were packed full of singing birds. I stopped and just let their song wash over me. For several long minutes, I was fully wrapped in their voices.

God-seekers have been finding thin places for millennia; patches where the reality of Heaven crosses over into this physical realm for a time. When asked to identify a place where they feel closer to God, people will often describe high mountains, majestic waterfalls, peaceful stretches of ocean, or a moment of absolute silence in an ancient meeting place. But, these kinds of thin places are personal, so they could be anywhere.

And, yes, people often erect edifices to mark those places. In this week’s scriptures, we see that Jacob did just that. This was his second God encounter —The first time was on the west side of the Jordan River where he had a peek through to a stairway to heaven. (Genesis 28)— This time, Jacob wrestled with an angel (on the east side of the Jordan). Neither was planned by him. Neither was expected by him. They were arranged by God, on God's timetable.

In modern times, we tend to describe our thin place experiences as "feeling closer" to God (or, as one friend suggested, "not as far from God as I usually am.") However you want to describe it, that unexpected birdsong serenade was my thin place. I felt that God was there, in that moment, sharing a portion of His creation with me. I was moved to do something I rarely do; I wrote a poem.

Sun still coming;
Short-sleeve cool;
Birdsong peals;
Buildings ring.

I know there are many people who make long, sometimes arduous, journeys so they can visit some "thinny," a place where others have claimed an encounter with God. For me, though, I think there is great value in waiting for God to make the arrangements. I prefer to let God choose the place of encounter ... and the nature of the experience.

There is no stone to mark that spot of urban birdsong. It was transient, an unexpected moment in an unexpected place. All that remains are my memory of the experience ... and the poem.

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A different version of this reflection appeared in August 2014 as My Thin Place.

PHOTO by Steve Orr: Fountain Place, Dallas, Texas
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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Proper 13 (18) (August 3, 2014)
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu//texts.php?id=153

Genesis 32:22-31
Psalm 17:1-7, 15
Isaiah 55:1-5
Psalm 145:8-9, 14-21
Romans 9:1-5
Matthew 14:13-21
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I wish I was writing to announce we could meet for DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast. But, no. Let’s keep gathering in Spirit, reading the scriptures, and praying for one another until we can do so in person.

Blessings,
Steve