The Pentecost Surprise on Choctaw Ridge (a Steve Orr scripture reflection)

The first time I listened to "Ode to Billy Joe," I was shocked by what I heard.

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Listen to it here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1UOJxawBps

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It was sweltering in West Kentucky that mid-summer day in 1967. I had just come in from mowing lawns, an activity my father encouraged to ensure I wasn't asking him for money and to teach me the value of hard work. I was the very definition of "hot and sweaty."

 

As soon as I cleared the back door, I sank onto a kitchen chair and let the air conditioning wash over me. Then, happy to realize I was the only one home, I quickly turned on the radio.

 

The guitar strums and throaty voice of Bobbie Gentry flowed gently into our kitchen. "Ode to Billy Joe" was a simple tale, a kind of ballad, so filled with words it was almost spoken. A lot of the song is just a conversation between members of a southern family having a midday meal. The song went on to be a number-one hit in the U.S. and was a big seller internationally. It generated eight Grammy nominations. It is ranked among the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. 

 

Many have described it as "Southern Gothic," and perhaps it is. Something about it struck a chord across the globe; and continues to capture the attention and interest of people more than 50 years later. But what I heard that day was something only a Southerner could hear.

 

Us.  

 

There, for the first time in my experience, was a song that sounded like us; that sounded exactly like conversations at our mealtimes. I was captivated by the stunning familiarity of it. More than any other thing I had heard, it captured the language and cadence of the life I was a part of. 

 

Today, when I hear Bobbie Gentry sing, "It was the third of June, another sleepy, dusty Delta day," my mind overflows with the sights and sounds of the South, the part of the world that was my home. Each new verse says to me: This is important; this is about something that matters.

 

Yes, it’s just a song. I know that. But, oh, the impact of hearing my world, described in my language. Each language has its own cadences and rhythms, distinct because it reflects the very history and culture of a people.

Many of those present at Pentecost in this week's selection from Acts were away from their home country. Some were likely "visiting Jerusalem for the holidays." Others may have permanently relocated to Jerusalem. In any case, they spoke a wide variety of native languages. Imagine what it must have been like for those gathered—to hear the life-changing message of the Gospel in their own language. Imagine the impact that would have, to hear idioms and nuances that were special to them.

 

Before them was something entirely new, but delivered to them in the comfort of their own tongue. Surely each of them thought of the people back home and concluded: This is something for us. 

 

 

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PHOTO (includes a little bit about that Southern staple, Black Eyed Peas, and one way to cook them):

https://minimalistbaker.com/instant-pot-black-eyed-peas-fast-perfect-no-soaking/

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Can you be with us Friday morning? DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast begins at 8:00 and finishes in about an hour (or sooner if you need to leave…but you'll find it's more fun to stay).

 

We're on Zoom** and at Our Breakfast Place. Come and enjoy good food, friendly people, laughter, and time in the scriptures.

 

Blessings,

Steve

 

 **Contact me for the Zoom link

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

 

SCRIPTURES FOR SUNDAY AND THE COMING WEEK

 

Find them here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=47

 

Print them here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/pdf//Ax_DayofPentecost.pdf

 

Acts 2:1-21

Numbers 11:24-30

Psalm 104:24-34, 35b

1 Corinthians 12:3b-13

John 20:19-23

John 7:37-39

Day of Pentecost (May 28, 2023)

 

The Secret of Stars End (a Steve Orr scripture reflection)

Hari Seldon has a secret—several, in fact.

 In Isaac Asimov's "Foundation" series, a science fiction classic, humankind has spread out among the stars. We’ve become a galactic empire.

 

Seldon’s biggest secret is that he knows when the current empire will collapse. In fact, he has invented a branch of mathematics that allows him to predict the fall and rise of future galactic empires. He believes he can use his invention to smooth out the process, so to speak. He establishes a "Foundation" to secretly guide mankind toward the best-case scenario. 

 

Over the centuries, many "in-power" groups attempt to find and destroy that Foundation. In time, they discover Seldon established a second foundation to keep matters moving along if the first foundation were to be destroyed or corrupted. The location of this Second Foundation is also secret. The only clue: It can be found at "Stars End."

 

It’s a big galaxy. They end up considering every planet along the edge of the galaxy as a possible location. "Stars End" could be, well…almost anywhere. There would be millions and millions of planets and moons to consider.

 

That brings us to a verse from this week's Acts selection. Jesus tells his followers some of their future: "And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” The first part of it is pretty clear. But where are the ends of the Earth? The Earth is a big round-ish ball of a place. The “ends” could be every point on that ball; truly…anywhere. 

 

Perhaps like Jesus’ followers, you too are wondering just where "the ends of the Earth" might be. Something that can be said to be anywhere, can in truth be everywhere. Look about. You are already at the ends of the Earth. Be the living message of Jesus right where you are.*

 

 

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PHOTO (a galaxy as seen through NASA’s space-based telescopes): 

https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/spitzer/multimedia/spitzer-20070604.html

* How far do we have to travel to find the ends of the Earth? Mother Teresa told those who wanted to join her in Calcutta to serve the needy: “Stay where you are. Find your own Calcutta. Find the sick, the suffering, and the lonely right there where you are—in your own homes and in your own families, in your workplaces and in your schools. You can find Calcutta all over the world, if you have the eyes to see. Everywhere, wherever you go, you find people who are unwanted, unloved, uncared for, just rejected by society—completely forgotten, completely left alone.”

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We'll be together again this week on Zoom** and at Our Breakfast Place. Join us for DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast at 8:00 on Friday morning. We're going to eat some food (all from Earth) and we're going to discuss some creation-spanning ideas from this week's Lectionary scriptures.

 

Blessings,

Steve

 

 **Contact me for the Zoom link

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

 

SCRIPTURES FOR SUNDAY AND THE COMING WEEK

 

Ascension of the Lord (May 18, 2023)

Acts 1:1-11

Psalm 47 or Psalm 93

Ephesians 1:15-23

Luke 24:44-53

 

Find them here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=45

 

Print them here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/pdf//Ax_AscensionoftheLord.pdf

 

Seventh Sunday of Easter (May 21, 2023)

Acts 1:6-14

Psalm 68:1-10, 32-35

1 Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11

John 17:1-11

 

Find them here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=46

 

Print them here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/pdf//Ax_SeventhSundayofEaster.pdf

 

Bravery: Fearless or Foolhardy? (a Steve Orr scripture reflection)

In 1933, at the worst point in the Great Depression, fear was a great concern. So great in fact, President Franklin D. Roosevelt made it the central theme of his inaugural address: "So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance." 

On the bravery front, a lot has changed since the Great Depression. The sources of our fears, for example. But we still fear. It’s a thing we humans do. And a lot has been written about our fears. New thoughts on the subject are being forged with each passing week. There’s quite a bit out there about our reactions to them: fight or flight—or freeze. 

 

Considering how many billions of us occupy this planet, the list of our most common fears is relatively short. Here’s the top ten: fears of failure, success, dying, commitment or intimacy, spiders, flying, public speaking, heights, the dark, rejection. The full list, of course, might be endless.

 

While I am not offering a cure, I do have an idea for how we should regard our fears. Perhaps from there, we can find a path toward taking away their power over us. FDR was right when he said we need to find a way "to convert retreat into advance." A start: recognize that the more we focus on our fears the greater their power over us. 

 

That recognition is the first step toward bravery. 

 

In this week's 1st Peter selection, he writes to believers about how to deal with the distresses in their lives, the suffering they are experiencing because they are Christians. Quoting Isaiah, Peter exhorts them to “not fear what they fear." By that, Peter means we should not fear the same things, in the same way, as nonbelievers. But how? We all fear. 

 

The answer lies in the focus.

 

Isaiah told his listeners to focus on God rather than fear what "they" fear. Peter pivots that focus to Jesus. Neither is saying we are not going to fear. Both are saying we need to shift our focus, our attention, our concentration—to God.

 

Throughout scripture, we are told to place God first. It's the first commandment given to Moses. Jesus claimed it is the greatest commandment. Nothing and no one should be positioned ahead of God. In that light, it is probably not a great surprise that God must also be placed ahead of our fears. 

 

We need not pretend to be fearless. And we need never be foolhardy in our actions just to prove we are brave. When faced with what we fear, we need to focus on God. 

 

That’s how we turn retreat into advance. 

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PHOTO: Steve Orr

 

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Can you join us Friday morning for DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast? We start at 8:00 and run for about an hour. The food is tasty and the company is relaxed. We enjoy reading and discussing the scripture, and finding how it applies to our real lives. Find us on Zoom** or in the back room at Our Breakfast Place. 

 

Ask if you don't see us. There's nothing to fear.

 

Blessings,

Steve

 

 **Contact me for the Zoom link

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

 

SCRIPTURES FOR SUNDAY AND THE COMING WEEK

Find them here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=44

 

Print them here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/pdf//Ax_SixthSundayofEaster.pdf

 

Acts 17:22-31

Psalm 66:8-20

1 Peter 3:13-22

John 14:15-21

Sixth Sunday of Easter (May 14, 2023)

Trust No One? (a Steve Orr scripture reflection)

In the hit TV show The X-Files, the catchphrase was “Trust no one.” Each week, fictional FBI agents Mulder and Scully tackled mysteries tied to UFO sightings, government conspiracies, and urban myths. Layered into this was the true central theme: Whom do we trust—and how?

 

Ernest Hemingway wrote, "The best way to make people trustworthy is to trust them." He penned those words after experiencing the 1918 Flu Pandemic. How could he feel comfortable taking that approach? Does it sound dangerous to you? At the very least, it sounds risky.

 

What level of risk can you live with? How much are you willing for your behaviors to put at risk the lives of family, loved ones, and strangers?

 

For many of us, when we weigh the possible costs of choosing the Hemingway Option, the risk of being hurt (or worse) just seems too high. We won't do it. But don't think Hemingway was naive. He, too, had weighed the potentials. He knew that, even though some could be trusted, not everyone could be. The difference? It was far more valuable to Hemingway to know who was trustworthy than to continue to wonder. To him, the risk was worth the risk. 

 

There are, of course, situations where the risk is too great. When I can actually see someone acting in a way that places me at greater risk than if they acted a different way, then I must wonder just how high is their regard for my wellbeing.  

 

In this week's scriptures, the Psalmist implores God to "Pull me from the trap my enemies set for me, for I find protection in you alone." Call it the Psalmist Option. 

 

Most of us would rather not exercise the Hemingway Option to determine if a “trap” awaits us. In fact, most of us can see the obvious if we will only pay attention. Sure, someone could lay a trap for us in some clandestine way, but God has provided a response to that. 

 

Whom should I trust? When I need rescue, God is my deliverer. When I need a place to hide away, God is my refuge. I won’t test God by going about in this life ignoring obvious pitfalls. What I‘m going to do is elect the Psalmist Option: Trust God to deal with my enemies and to pull me from any traps they set.

And if even that’s too much, we could do as Jesus said in this week’s scriptures: “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God and trust in me.”

 

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PHOTO (an example of the Kintsugi artform): Adobe Express

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Join us at 8:00 for DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast Friday morning. We meet on Zoom** or in person at Our Breakfast Place. For a Bible study, there seems to be an unusual amount of laughter… 

 

Looking forward to being with you,

Steve

 

 **Contact me for the Zoom link

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

 

SCRIPTURES FOR SUNDAY AND THE COMING WEEK

Find them here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=43

 

Print them here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/pdf//Ax_FifthSundayofEaster.pdf

 

Acts 7:55-60

Psalm 31:1-5, 15-16

1 Peter 2:2-10

John 14:1-14

Fifth Sunday of Easter (May 7, 2023)