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 then called “a house of ill repute.” I could write a lot about that place and the fact that even children knew about it. But not this time.

 

This is how Dad came to work at our everybody-knows-about-it brothel. Dad worked for his cousin, Norman, as a “brick and tile man” or “Brickie.” 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 the crew could afford to turn down a paying job, Dad included. So, every day, for about a week, he worked on that patio and walkway—brick...by brick...by brick. 

 

Nothing says 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. 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 the answer is “yes,” then we did what we could.  

 

Most of us know 1 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 1 Corinthians. While the Corinthians passage gives us the broad strokes about love, Romans is definitely the day-to-day, nuts and bolts, brick-by-brick approach. 

 

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, not keeping a record of wrongs, not delighting in evil, rejoicing in the truth, always trusting, always hoping, and always persevering.  

 

The thought of trying to accomplish that list 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 goal is loving. Sometimes, like Dad, you need to do the nuts-and-bolts version, to be practical. 

 

It’s that way in the actual practice of loving. Those lofty goals in 1 Corinthians 13 need practical, brick-by-brick, steps. Read the very practical actions listed at Romans 12:9-21. Then, just like a Brickie laying one brick and then another, do them. 

 

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PHOTO: Steve Orr

BONUS MATERIAL 

THE OTHER LOVE CHAPTER

“Your love must be real. Hate what is evil. Hold on to what is good. Love each other like brothers and sisters. Give your brothers and sisters more honor than you want for yourselves. Do not be lazy but work hard. Serve the Lord with all your heart. Be joyful because you have hope. Be patient when trouble comes. Pray at all times. Share with God’s people who need help. Bring strangers in need into your homes. Wish good for those who do bad things to you. Wish them well and do not curse them. Be happy with those who are happy. Be sad with those who are sad. Live together in peace with each other. Do not be proud, but make friends with those who seem unimportant. Do not think how smart you are. If someone does wrong to you, do not pay him back by doing wrong to him. Try to do what everyone thinks is right. Do your best to live in peace with everyone. My friends, do not try to punish others when they wrong you. Wait for God to punish them with his anger. It is written: “I am the One who punishes; I will pay people back,” says the Lord. But you should do this: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if your enemy is thirsty, give him a drink. Doing this will be like pouring burning coals on his head. Do not let evil defeat you. Defeat evil by doing good.” —Romans 12:9-21 ICB

 

 

In Romans 12:17-21, Paul is quoting Proverbs 25:21-22: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him a drink. Doing this will be like pouring burning coals on his head. And the Lord will reward you.”

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DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast meets Friday mornings in the function room at Our Breakfast Place. We still start at 8:00 and spend an hour eating, reading, talking, praying, and laughing. 

 

Blessings,

Steve

 

SCRIPTURES FOR SUNDAY AND THE COMING WEEK

 

Find them here:

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

 

Print them from here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/pdf//Ax_Proper17.pdf

 

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

Proper 17 (22) (September 3, 2023)

 

The Catch-22 Conundrum (a Steve Orr scripture reflection)

“How we spend our days is how we spend our lives."  —Annie Dillard

 

How’s life going? Do you sometimes feel like Wile E. Coyote in the Road Runner cartoons? He just can’t win. No matter what approach he takes, no matter how sophisticated, he never succeeds in capturing that pesky bird!

 

The problem: Mr. Coyote is stuck inside a paradox, a Catch-22.

 

His avian nemesis is much faster than he, and—because that’s not difficult enough—smarter than he looks. Mark Twain describes a coyote as “a living, breathing allegory of Want, He is always hungry.” That means there is no way Wile E. can win. His hunger means 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. That’s a Catch-22. 

 

We, of course, are not cartoon characters.

 

We have a choice. We always have a choice. Unlike the coyote, we are not enslaved to our natures. Still, it may seem that we, too, are sometimes 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 can be 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 the exact opposite. Day in and day out, they helped deliver all the babies. Each delivery, by itself was a single event. But when they were aggregated, they became a legacy. Today, these two are heralded 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.” Shiphrah and Puah refused to be conformed to their world. Though mired in an impossible situation, they found a way to serve God.

 

It is often a shock to recognize that our day-in-day-out activity is our life. It might not seem like it in the moment, but what we do with each day builds up into our entire life. When all is said and done, it is what we actually do, not what we long for, that becomes our life. 

 

After all, at its most basic, a tapestry is simply a collection 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

 

 

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Join us Friday morning at DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast. We meet at Our Breakfast Place and we start at 8:00-ish. It’s an hour of good food and good folk learning to serve God one day at a time. 

 

Blessings,

Steve

 

SCRIPTURES FOR SUNDAY AND THE COMING WEEK

 

Find them here:

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

 

Print them from here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/pdf//Ax_Proper16.pdf

 

Exodus 1:8-2:10

Psalm 124

Isaiah 51:1-6

Psalm 138

Romans 12:1-8

Matthew 16:13-20

Proper 16 (21) (August 27, 2023)

 

One of the Little Dogs (a Steve Orr scripture Reflection)

Many want to be the people other people think about, to be the main topic of conversation. 

There’s a preoccupation, these days, with being the focus of every moment. But, if we're being honest, we'll admit that's not really a new thing. We've been caught up with being exceptional for quite some time. Decades. Centuries. 

 

Maybe even millennia.

 

Part and parcel with this are certain phrases we toss about in our conversations, self-help books, and social media posts. Phrases like: "If you can't run with the big dogs, stay on the porch!" "Go big or go home!" "Cookies are for closers!" There are many of them, rendered all sorts of ways, but their messages all boil down to one thing: you want to be one of those people—a closer, a winner, a big dog. 

 

But there's another side to that message: If you’re not a winner, you are, somehow, lesser. There’s a not-so-subtle subtext that you're either among the elite, or you're not worth our consideration.

 

In this week’s Matthew passage, Jesus is confronted by a non-Jewish woman. She is seeking His intervention on behalf of her daughter who is besieged by demons. 

 

Jesus ignores her. (Wait. What?!)

 

But she keeps following Him, calling after Him, never letting up, really advocating on behalf of her suffering child. Even His disciples beg Jesus to address her—specifically, to send her away. Eventually, Jesus does engage with her, but the reader gets another surprise. 

 

He does not give her what she's asked for. 

 

He tells her that He was sent to the "lost sheep" of Israel. In other words: "Not you." Then, adding insult to injury, Jesus calls her a dog. He tells her it would not be right for the "little dogs" (house pets—as opposed to the big, feral dogs that ran in packs in those days) to have the food intended by the master for His children. She is one of the "little dogs," and, therefore, not due anything from Jesus.

 

Jesus is astonished by her response: "Even the dogs eat the crumbs from the master's table."

 

How often do you think Jesus is astonished by something we say or do? I can’t imagine it’s often. Here, Jesus is so affected by her perspective, He praises her faith. This is a faith that existed despite the absolute absence of any reason to believe it would produce a benefit for her or her daughter. He then grants her request. 

 

We need to be like this woman—one of the "little dogs” in this world. We should seek Jesus even if we are convinced we are in no position to demand His attention, much less His action on our part.

 

Life is not about whether we're winners or losers, whether we're closers, or even if we can run with the big dogs. Desiring excellence can be a good thing. But it raises the question: With whom do we associate when we pursue that desire?

 

Maybe we should have been running with the little dogs all along. 

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PHOTO: Adobe Express

 

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Join us Friday morning for DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast. We're in the back function room at Our Breakfast Place and we still start at 8:00-ish. Good food, good folk, spending an hour with a good God. 

 

Blessings,

Steve.

 

SCRIPTURES FOR SUNDAY AND THE COMING WEEK

 

Find them here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=155

 

Print them from here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/pdf//Ax_Proper15.pdf

 

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

Proper 15 (20) (August 20, 2023)

 

 

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"The task is, not so much to see what no one has yet seen; but to think what nobody has yet thought, about that which everybody sees." —Erwin Schrödinger

 

New Orders Needed? (a Steve Orr Lectionary reflection)

When Japan surrendered in August 1945, World War II came to an end in the Pacific.

But not for everyone.

 

On scattered islands in the Pacific Ocean, small pockets of Japanese soldiers either did not know or did not believe that Japan had surrendered. For them, the war was definitely not over. Lieutenant Hiro Onoda was given orders to disrupt and sabotage enemy efforts — and to never surrender or to take his own life.

He was a man who followed orders.

Despite several attempts by the post-war Japanese government to convince him to surrender, he refused to accept the good news that the war was over. His commanding officer had not issued him any new orders. Therefore, he would follow the orders he had.

Rather than believe the sound of human footfalls meant good news, Lieutenant Onoda assumed just the opposite: Every sound could be the enemy. In his view, he had to defend himself against any encroachment. Shots were fired. Lives ended. It was only when, in 1974, his former commanding officer was flown to the island and formally delivered new orders to him that Lieutenant Onoda surrendered. 

 

He had been at war for 30 years.

 

In this week's Lectionary selection from Romans, Paul quotes Isaiah 52 when he writes, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!" But, Isaiah also raises (and Paul repeats) the question: "Who has believed our message?" People may be sent, proclamations voiced, and the Lord made known throughout the world. But if those who are on the receiving end do not believe that what they hear constitutes good news, they may, like Lieutenant Onoda, refuse to come in from the cold.

 

As happened with Elijah in another of this week's scriptures, when Lieutenant Onoda was given new orders, they were life-changing. The trajectory of the remainder of his life was significantly different from the previous decades. But it took new orders to make that happen. When we humans "dig in" to a belief, it is very difficult to change. It is only when the message comes coupled with what we recognize as a higher power that we are willing to set aside our "old way" and become something entirely new.

 

Paul was exactly that way before his encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus. He wouldn't surrender without new orders—and he got them.

 

Our takeaway: If, when you deliver your good news, it is rejected, don't be discouraged. People often reject change that seems to conflict with their existing structure—especially if it sounds like they may have to "surrender." Instead of giving up, reach out to God, pray on their behalf. 

 

New orders may be needed.

 

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PHOTO: Lt. Onoda receiving new orders in 1974. (from War History Online)

https://www.warhistoryonline.com/world-war-ii/in-1974-hiro-onoda-became-the-last-japanese-world-war-two-soldier-to-surrender-m.html/amp

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DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast is truly a "stand down" experience. We leave our concerns for a while and just enjoy some time together. Join us Friday morning for food, fellowship, and some time in God's word. We meet in the back function room at Our Breakfast Place. We start at 8:00. Visiting and laughter are both on the menu.

 

Blessings,

Steve

 

SCRIPTURES FOR SUNDAY AND THE COMING WEEK

 

Find them here:

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

 

Print them from here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/pdf//Ax_Proper14.pdf

 

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

Proper 14 (19) (August 13, 2023)

 

An Unexpected Encounter (a Steve Orr scripture reflection)

Everything about that morning was unexpected. 

First, it was cool. That summer had been one of the hottest in recent memory, triple digits for days on end. So, by "cool," I mean it was a pleasant morning to take a stroll in a short-sleeved shirt. Also, I was early. Unexpected. I often needed to hurry from the commuter rail station to my office. But not that morning. The sun had yet to crest the buildings, the tall sides of the downtown canyon. Morning was still dawning.

 

I was caught off guard by the birds.

 

Rounding a corner, I suddenly found myself serenaded. So, so unexpected. On my right was a small pocket park, and its trees were packed full of singing birds. Even though there was no melody, the collected sound of their birdsong was surprisingly harmonious. I stopped and just let it wash over me. For several long minutes, I was completely wrapped in those blended voices.

 

Many people, when asked to identify a place where they feel closer to God, will describe things like high mountains, majestic waterfalls, a peaceful stretch of ocean, or a moment of absolute silence in an ancient meeting place. But these "thin places" are individual. People often erect edifices to mark those places. 

 

Jacob did that once, on the west side of the Jordan River where he had a vision of a stairway to heaven. In this week’s Genesis passage, we learn he did it a second time, two decades later. This time, he marked the east side of the Jordan where he wrestled with an angel as he was returning to the land promised him by God. Jacob did not expect either of those encounters. They were arranged by God, on God's timetable.

 

Not many modern people claim to have encountered God, at least not up close and personal like Jacob did. In modern times, we tend to describe such encounters 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 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

 

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

 

I know many people make sometimes long, arduous journeys so they can visit some "thinny," a place where others have claimed an encounter with God. I mean no disrespect for their choices when I state that, for me, there is great value in waiting for God to make the arrangements. I wait for Him to choose the place of encounter—and the nature of that experience. 

 

You never know in what unexpected place—and unexpected way—God may choose to meet you. 

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PHOTO (Downtown Dallas Sunrise): Steve Orr

 

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I hope you can join us on Zoom** and at Our Breakfast Place Friday morning. We're in at 8:00 and out at 9:00. And, for that hour, we have our own little thin place. We spend time in God's word and draw closer to Him. 

 

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=153

 

Print them from here:

https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/pdf//Ax_Proper13.pdf

 

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

Proper 13 (18) (August 6, 2023)