Giant Arrows on the Earth (a Steve Orr Lent reflection)

They’re still out there, you know ... those giant concrete arrows. You can still see them, even though they are quite old.

No, they’re not remnants of some ancient civilization, nor do they point the way to Superman's Fortress of Solitude, and they aren’t evidence of extra-terrestrial landing sites.

These concrete arrows were first placed on the Earth in the 1920's. They were the most visible part of the Transcontinental Airway System, designed to aid Air-mail pilots as they traveled across the United States. Lacking the level of technology we enjoy, today, these pilots could easily get lost. At the time, it was a perfectly reasonable approach to providing a useful navigation aid.

The arrows were painted bright yellow. At the center of each was a tall tower with a rotating beacon boasting a million-candlepower light. So, even though it was possible to see them from the ground, they were designed to be seen, and were best seen, from the air.

At their peak, there were over 1,500 of these "ground beacons" stretching from New York to San Francisco. Day or night, pilots could find their way across the country and back. Their makers intended these arrows to serve as a kind of covenant between themselves and those who had to depend on the arrows for essential, maybe even vital, information.

Today, though, they seem a little simple.

Kind of like rainbows.

After a rain, we see a rainbow arcing across a portion of the sky and feel a little jump of elation, an appreciation of its beauty. Few of us stop to reflect on an essential truth: rainbows are anything but simple.

Without the rain, no amount of sunlight striking our atmosphere could produce a rainbow. For a rainbow to appear high up in the sky, there has to be a brilliant light source and there has to be millions upon millions of rain drops to reflect/refract that light.

To Noah and his family (in this week’s Genesis passage), the appearance of a rainbow was brand new. Before the Flood there had been no rain. Whatever mechanism God used to change our atmospheric composition to bring about that first rain, it remained in place when the flood subsided. And it produced, for the first time, the conditions necessary for a rainbow.

Technically, you can see a rainbow from the air, but it doesn't look quite the same; it can even appear as a circle from certain angles. Where you need to be to see the phenomenon as a bow is on the ground, with rain before you and the sun behind you.

God placed His bow "in the clouds" so that, for all generations, we could be assured that God would never again destroy all flesh by means of a flood.

The rainbow is just one of the covenants God has set between Himself and us ... signs we can see as we travel this spiritual journey on our way to where we are reunited, pointing the way so we don't become lost.

Whether it's bows or arrows, the intent is the same. If you want a successful journey, look for the signs along the way.

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A somewhat different version of this reflection appeared in February 2015.

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If you want to read more on the giant concrete arrows, some of which can still be seen, you could Google them or you could try http://www.citylab.com/work/2015/02/why-is-america-dotted-with-giant-concrete-arrows/385472/?utmsource=GristFB&utm_content=buffere1847&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
First Sunday in Lent (February 18, 2018)
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=71

Genesis 9:8-17
Psalm 25:1-10
1 Peter 3:18-22
Mark 1:9-15
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Lectionary Breakfast meets most Friday mornings at 8:00. We gather at the Waco "Egg and I" restaurant (Franklin and New Road, near Outback. Look for us at the back.) We read the week’s scriptures and then dig in for the sustenance.

The food's good, too.

Enjoy the week!
Steve

Catch God on the Whisper (a Lectionary reflection by Steve Orr)

There's an old joke that keeps hanging around about a man stranded in a flood. Some of the details have changed over the decades, but it is essentially this:

As flood waters began to rise around a man's house, people in a row boat came by and implored the homeowner to climb in. The man refused, saying, "I've prayed about this. God will save me." The row boat moved on. Next, as the rising waters forced the man to the second story of his home, people in a motorboat came by and implored the man to climb in. The man refused, repeating, "I've prayed about this. God will save me." The motorboat moved on. As the flood waters continued their inexorable rise, the man was forced out onto his roof. While he clung to the chimney, a helicopter came and hovered above the man. They implored him to climb up the rope ladder to safety. As he had done twice before, the man again said, "I've prayed about this. God will save me." The helicopter moved on. Soon the flood overtook the man and swept him to his death.

Upon arriving in Heaven, the man demanded an audience with God. At the meeting, the man, recounting that he had placed his faith in God to save him, demanded to know why God allowed him to drown. In response, God said, "I sent you a rowboat, a motorboat, and helicopter. 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. Consider the man in this week's Lectionary selection from John 5. Having been disabled for decades, he has joined many others who await a miraculous healing in the waters of Bethesda. Notice how he never answers when Jesus asks, "Do you want to be made well?" (John 5:6 NRSV). The guy can only talk about missed opportunities, not having anyone to help him with his problem, and how others seem to get all the breaks. The solution to his problem (Jesus) is right in front of him, but he is looking beyond, to something more complicated, perhaps something grander. In this case, Jesus took immediate action, not waiting for the man's perceptions to catch up.

But what do we do in our lives?

Some years ago, Oprah was invited to make the Commencement address at Wellesley College. In part, she recounted the experience of the Prophet Elijah on the Mountain of the Lord (1Kings 19). 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 rowboat, the motorboat, and the helicopter 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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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Sixth Sunday of Easter (May 1, 2016)
http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/

First reading
Acts 16:9-15
Psalm
Psalm 67
Second reading
Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5
Gospel
John 14:23-29 or John 5:1-9

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Please join us for Lectionary Breakfast Friday morning. We meet at 8:00 at the Waco "Egg and I" restaurant. The hour we meet includes breakfasts we order from the menu, scriptures we read aloud, and unfettered discussion. We say what we think and we grow from listening to each other. Nothing fancy.

We're all hoping to "catch God on the whisper."

Enjoy your week!
Steve