To Be or Not To Be (a Lectionary reflection by Steve Orr)

Someone once said, "We are constantly walking out of this life" (If you know who, please let me know. I like to cite with the proper attribution).

I understood this to be something akin to "seize the day," an exhortation to focus fully on what good can be done today and to act accordingly. This, I believe, is an encouragement to not waste time mourning yesterday's lost opportunities, nor, aside from planning to correct them, to dwell on our past poor behaviors.

The same is to be said of the future. Too much thought on it robs us of the time to act in the present. After all, there is only today. To paraphrase scripture: enough bad can occur today; no need to drag it from the past or borrow it from the future.

If we are, in fact, constantly walking out of this life, then we better do some good while we can. I recently read a friend's public apology to someone my friend had wronged. It was impressive, both in its courage and in its honesty. It was a carpe diem kind of thing to do.

But why, you may ask, does this matter? It matters because our citizenship is in heaven and each day we are moving closer to going home.

As I read through this week's Lectionary scripture selections, I noticed that all of them focus on our destination and how we are to live, here, until we arrive there. They say things like, “Learn to do good. Seek justice. Punish those who hurt others. Help the orphans. Stand up for the rights of widows.” (‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭1:17‬ ‭NCV‬‬, http://bible.com/105/isa.1.17.ncv)

Hebrews 11, that great treatise on faith, tells us we are going to a country unlike any on this planet, one prepared by God for those whose faith serves as the actual substance of their hopes and the evidence of what they cannot, as yet, perceive.

And until we arrive in that place prepared for us by God, we must be courageous like my friend, always willing to be humbled if that's what it takes to act as we should while we are still here.

"For every person who makes fun of your beliefs, there is another who needs your compassion.

For every person who lashes out at you for your beliefs, there is another who needs comforting.

For every person who threatens your job, social position, or voice in the public square because of your beliefs, there is another who needs you to stand with them.

For every person who places your very life in danger because of your beliefs, there is another for whom you must intercede. Stand in that gap.

Every time someone treats you like you're the scum of the Earth, thank them. Then be better. Rise above."

We must strive to rise above our circumstances, to fully "be," every time. For we are constantly walking out of this life.

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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Proper 14 (19) (August 7, 2016)
First reading and Psalm
Isaiah 1:1, 10-20
Psalm 50:1-8, 22-23
Alternate First reading and Psalm
Genesis 15:1-6
Psalm 33:12-22
Second reading
Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16
Gospel
Luke 12:32-40

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I hope you can join us, Friday morning, at Lectionary Breakfast. If not, then I hope you can join with others, elsewhere to share some time in the scriptures. We're still meeting at 8:00 at the Waco "Egg and I" restaurant for a fun and provocative hour.

Blessings,
Steve
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Hamlet cuff links at: http://www.awceramics.co.uk/bespoke/bwgt_gallery.htm

The Parts of a Pause (a Lectionary reflection by Steve Orr)

When I was young, the way we watched movies was a very different enterprise than today. Films were actually recorded on FILM, not captured digitally. Copies were made of films and physically shipped from one part of the country to the other rather than transferred digitally across the Internet.

The method for showing a film, today, is rather simple: essentially just activating the digital copy to "play." Back then, someone had to physically thread the film into a projector through which was then shone a very bright light. There was an art to that threading of film. If not accomplished correctly, the film would not feed along the sprockets to the correct position: i. e., where the bright light would project the image out toward the screen where it would be viewed.

It was a lot more complicated for the user, and could lead to FEED OUT (the film feeding right back out of the projector instead of onward into the machine), FEED BACK (the film processing through the machine, but exiting before it arrives at the projection point), or, hopefully, FEED THROUGH (the film moving through and arriving at the point where the creativity of the film can be shared by all viewers).

And that brings me to the parts of a pause. A while back, the Disney organization set out to discover what, if anything, occurs in someone's mind immediately after receiving a stimulus. Understanding that could provide Disney with valuable knowledge, knowledge they could use in shaping what they offer, to whom, and when.

What they learned was that there is a pause between a stimulus being received by someone and their response to that stimulus. And, they discovered something even more interesting: the pause had parts.

Much like the film of yesteryear, a stimulus could produce different results based on what happens during that pause. Should the person respond without thinking, it would be like FEED OUT, just an immediate reaction to the stimulus (you hit me, I immediately hit you back). A more nuanced response would be similar to FEED BACK, where a person uses some portion of that pause to reflect on previous responses to similar stimuli (you hit me, I recall a previous time you did so and decide to employ the same response I did then).

The final part of the pause could be like FEED THROUGH; neither reacting nor settling for a selection from previous responses, but rather moving on through to the creative response (You hit me; I elect to turn the other cheek). Here, at last, was where people in the business of creativity were likely to find a response most useful to their trade.

We, too, can find these metaphors useful. We have options when we read scripture. We CAN simply react without thought. Alternately, and perhaps better in many circumstances, we can reflect of our previous responses and let the scriptures reinforce our behaviors. Finally, we may well find it useful to push on through to the creative response, considering a new thought, a new way of living our lives with God.

I think there was just such a moment when Jesus told his followers “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” (‭Mark‬ ‭10:14-15‬ ‭NIV‬‬)

Pause for a bit and think about that.
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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Proper 22 (27) (October 4, 2015)
First reading and Psalm
Job 1:1, 2:1-10
Psalm 26
Alternate First reading and Psalm
Genesis 2:18-24
Psalm 8
Second reading
Hebrews 1:1-4, 2:5-12
Gospel
Mark 10:2-16
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Lectionary Breakfast resumes Friday morning at the Waco "Egg and I" restaurant. We gather at 8:00 for a wonderful hour of fellowship and food; both for the body and for the soul. Come and pause with us for a space between the stimuli and responses that make up your week.

Enjoy the week!
Steve