Friday, September 24, 2021

Y: The Last Man & the End of Christianity (a Steve Orr scripture reflection)

Y: The Last Man (coming soon to a streaming device near you) is the fictional story of what happens after the men on Earth mysteriously drop dead all at the same moment. Chaos ensues. Planes fall from the sky. Vehicles careen out of control. Governments collapse all across the globe. 


But, not every plane; some were piloted by women. Not every vehicle; many were being driven by women at that moment. In the United States, our succession plan quickly moves women into the leadership jobs no longer filled by men. For the first time, we have a woman President. In short order, the women take over … well, everything. 

The book is a tour de force of “what if” storytelling. As author Brian K. Vaughn explores this brave new world, there are mysteries to solve. What caused all the men to die? How will life change? In what ways will life go on as before? And, what about that persistent rumor that one man survived?

Day to day living does go on, of course. Across the globe, governments form and reform. The U.S. Congress is still a contentious place filled with people of differing political views. Right wing extremist groups are taken over by right wing extremist women. Cultures and political views are not limited to people with Y chromosomes. 

And therein lies the problem. 

The author makes us readers stumble in Y: The Last Man when he addresses religion. His mistake? The Christian church just stops when all the men die. 

It’s a jarring moment. 

Clearly, he thinks women are only Christians because men force them. How anyone could see our world as it is and then reach that conclusion is a puzzle. Far more women are Christians than men. Many Christian churches have women in their leadership roles, including Pastors, Priests, Bishops, Elders, and Deacons.

This week’s passage from Esther has me thinking about the many women of God in the Bible: Ruth, Esther, Deborah, Mary, Mary Magdalene, Lydia, Priscilla, to list a few. These women led nations, established Christian congregations; we’re prophets, evangelists, apostles, and deacons. What connects them is this: each chose to cast her lot with God … and not because any man forced her to. 

The women who love God have done, and continue to do, amazing things in this world. As long as humans walk the Earth, women will continue to worship God … whether men are there or not. 

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GRAPHIC CREDIT (Before there was the new TV series, Y: The Last Man was a massive, award-winning, 60-issue graphic novel. Here is a brief article about the story.): 



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Join us at 8:00 Friday morning for DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast. We meet on Zoom** and in person at Our Breakfast Place. It’s a fun hour of scripture, discussion, and, of course, laughter. 

Blessings,
Steve 

Contact me for the Zoom link

NOTE: Zoom allows you to mute the camera if you don’t wish to be seen and to mute the microphone if you don’t wish to speak.

SCRIPTURES FOR SUNDAY & THE COMING WEEK
Find them here: 

Print them here:

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
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Wednesday, September 15, 2021

My Errors Have Been My Tutors (a Steve Orr scripture reflection)

I was a clumsy kid.


How clumsy? My parents always said I could trip over the flowers in the rug. Quite often, my shoulders clipped our corners and door-frames. I was always knocking over some cup of liquid. And, I could always count on, somehow, knocking my fork off the table.  

To be clear, these things didn’t last a lifetime. After a while, I learned how to pick up the front of my shoes when I walked, seriously limiting sprawling before my peers. I did eventually figure out that I could swing a bit wider than my eyes told me to when coming near these corners and portals. Result? All but eliminated that painful shoulder bruising (plus, you know, the whole embarrassment in front of my peers. 

Solving the problem of knocking over liquids presented more of a challenge. I couldn’t seem to cure that one. So, to compensate, I developed the ability to quickly grab the container as it was still tilting over. I’m really good at this mid-spill save and you can witness my ability at almost any meal. The fork thing? Well … it’s still a thing. But I think I’ve narrowed down the culprit to long sleeves. Some things are probably always going to be a work in progress.

I am what someone —a kind person, anyway— might call an “experiential learner” ... I make a lot of mistakes. 

But, my errors are my tutors. I learn from my mistakes. 

That’s a subtlety that may be overlooked in this week’s James passage. James says: We don’t have because we don’t ask God for what we want. And, even when we do ask God, we don’t receive because we ask for selfish reasons.

James is talking about the problems that keep popping up when we want what already belongs to others; bitter envy, selfish ambition, contentiousness … murder, even. He wants believers to understand we have gone about these things backwards. Instead of coveting and then fighting to get what we desire, we, instead, need to go to God with our requests. 

Plus, we can apply the correct process (ask God), but still not receive it because we are only asking for selfish reasons. James is implying we need to follow the Golden Rule.

We need to realize that asking God to give us something that already belongs to someone else is never going to work. 

Turns out: there is a right way and a wrong way to ask. And we can learn that right way. 

We are to ask while in the presence of God. That means we are to be praying and listening, being still before God. And, if we ask while living the Golden Rule  —i.e., seeking for others what we wish for ourselves ... just another way of saying, "Love your neighbor as yourself."—  we will receive ... as promised.

Finally, it’s OK if we struggle with this a bit. We’re probably not going to excel at this when we first begin. Seriously, it’s OK. Our errors can be our tutors.

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PHOTO CREDIT: Steve Orr archives

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What are you doing Friday morning? Can you join us at DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast? We meet at 8:00 on ZOOM** and in the function room at Our Breakfast Place. It’s an hour like no other. We come away refreshed and fortified. 

Enjoy the week!
Steve

**Contact me for the Zoom link

NOTE: Zoom allows you to mute the camera if you don’t wish to be seen and to mute the microphone if you don’t wish to speak.

SCRIPTURES FOR SUNDAY & THE COMING WEEK
Find them here: 

Print them here:

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


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Saturday, September 11, 2021

Them or Me: Surviving Boston Drivers (a Steve Orr scripture reflection)

Having transferred to the Northeast for work, I spent the first several weeks absolutely terrified by Boston drivers.


Not so much by their bad driving  —though it was truly bad—  but more by their unpredictability. I had no idea what they would do next. And yet, I had to enter that fray at least twice every working day.


When I voiced my concern to a friend at church, he touched my arm and said, gently, “I can help.” He shared with me an essential bit of wisdom that, in time, gave me some much needed confidence. Soon, I was driving all over the Boston area without undue fear (a little fear was still good).


What he shared was this: in the mind of every Boston driver is one thought: “Can ‘I’ make it?”


Suddenly, it all made a kind of crazy sense. What I soon learned to do was watch, not the cars, but the faces of those nearby drivers. Directional signals? Forget it. Lane location? Meaningless. Where were they looking? That told me everything I needed to know.


I learned (1) those Boston drivers were not going to change (no matter how much I wanted them to change, and no matter how much they needed to change), and (2) I learned a lesson about people and imparted wisdom. Sometimes the wisdom is for them ... and sometimes the wisdom is for me. 


With regard to Boston drivers, I was the one who must change, and my friend’s wisdom helped me do it.


It’s an important lesson to keep in mind while reading this week’s scriptures (all related to wisdom). It is easy to conclude that the wisdom of the scriptures is for them ... that is, someone other than me.


Well, of course, not me. None of us wants to think of ourselves as unwise. And yet ... do you ever read a passage and immediately think of someone who would benefit from adopting that code or mode of conduct? Someone who is not you? Personally, I’m still working on this one. I used to do it all the time. 


I have realized that all of this week's scriptures are about me, for me ... not them. So, I’ve been re-reading the passages with me in mind ... not someone else. 


My takeaway: heed Wisdom's call, and choose to accept the instruction that leads to life.


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PHOTO CREDIT (and an article explaining why Boston traffic is SO BAD): 

https://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/2017/04/30/boston-traffic/



The Boston Driver’s Handbook is a hilarious read (and essential should you ever want to drive in Boston). See it here: https://www.amazon.com/Boston-Drivers-Handbook-Streets-Almost/dp/0306813262/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1536798162&sr=8-1&keywords=the+boston+drivers+handbook


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Join us in the function room at Our Breakfast Place or on Zoom** Friday morning for DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast. As usual, we gather at 8:00 for an hour-ish of visiting, reading scripture, praying, and discussing. 


Bring your own breakfast beverage to Zoom … but, be careful; still lots of laughing.


Blessings!

Steve


**Contact me for the Zoom link

NOTE: Zoom allows you to mute the camera if you don’t wish to be seen and to mute the microphone if you don’t wish to speak.


SCRIPTURES FOR SUNDAY & THE COMING WEEK

Find them here: 

Print them here:

Proverbs 1:20-33

Psalm 19

Isaiah 50:4-9a

Psalm 116:1-9

James 3:1-12

Mark 8:27-38

Proper 19 (24) (September 12, 2021)

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Saturday, September 4, 2021

Atticus Finch, Richard Dawkins, Doctor Who, and me (a Steve Orr scripture reflection)

Atticus Finch is the number one movie hero of all time. (Indiana Jones is second. George Bailey is only ninth. Superman is a distant 26th.) 


Not bad for a fictional lawyer. 


You likely recall that in the movie, To Kill A Mockingbird, Gregory Peck portrays Mr. Finch: attorney, widower, and single father of two. Central to the story is that Finch does the unthinkable in Depression Era Alabama: he defends a black man accused of beating and sexually assaulting a white woman.


The impact To Kill A Mockingbird has had on the law as a vocation is huge. Many an attorney has pointed to Atticus Finch as the reason they chose to pursue a career in law. 


But, perhaps you've heard, in Go Set A Watchmen, Harper Lee's sort-of sequel, Atticus is no longer so heroic. In fact, daughter Jean Louise (Scout) is shocked to learn her father is less the racial hero than she remembered from childhood. 


In this sense, we can compare Atticus to David. Most of us quickly recall David-the-Psalmist, or David-the-shepherd, or David-the-giant-killer. Some might, upon reflection, mention David-the-King or maybe David-the-military-leader. But, for most of us, David-the-rapist is not our go-to memory of him. David-the-failed-father doesn't pop up often, either. And, well, really, who wants to remember David-the-murderer?


But we should. 


Atticus is less than ideal to his grown daughter, but it is not likely he has devolved since he defended Tom Robinson in the 1930's. His racial prejudices had to have existed, then. The truth of it is this: in service to the law, Atticus stepped around the enculturated racial prejudice of his time to provide a vigorous defense of a black man.


It is here I find I may be in agreement with scientist and renowned atheist Richard Dawkins when he writes: "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 as “Love your neighbor as yourself.”


Here is the short of it: we're all human. And, by virtue of that state, complex. None of us is afforded the luxury of remaining the same person throughout our life. We change. But we are still, to one degree or another, the people we have been. Yes, ideally, we mature as we accumulate life experiences; learning, hopefully, to be better people, to lessen our lesser natures and to increase our better ones.


To borrow from Doctor Who, "We all change, when you think about it, we're all different people; all through our lives. And that's okay … so long as you remember all the people that you used to be." 


When we think of David, and of the Atticus Finch's we know, and of each other, we must do so with a large serving of mercy. As is brought home so clearly in this week's James 2 passage, we must love our neighbors as ourselves, regardless of our prejudices … or theirs.


It helps if we keep in mind all of the people we have been in this life.


Mercy triumphs over judgment. —James 2:13


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Clip from To Kill A Mockingbird:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7CX_5D6y6E


PHOTO CREDIT and interesting read about the “changed” Atticus Finch: 

https://www.tomvmorris.com/blog/2015/7/20/is-atticus-finch-still-a-hero?format=amp


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It's not yet fall, but the promise of it is here. I hope you can join us one of these cooler Friday mornings for DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast. We meet for about an hour at 8:00 on Zoom**  and at Our Breakfast Place (formerly “Egg and I"). We spend our time enjoying each other's company, eating some great food, and discussing the Word. 


Enjoy the week!

Steve


**Contact me for the Zoom link

NOTE: Zoom allows you to mute the camera if you don’t wish to be seen and to mute the microphone if you don’t wish to speak.


SCRIPTURES FOR SUNDAY & THE COMING WEEK
Find them here: 

Print them here:

Proverbs 22:1-2, 8-9, 22-23
Psalm 125
Isaiah 35:4-7a
Psalm 146
James 2:1-20
Mark 7:24-37
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