dallas noir (a brief Lectionary reflection by Steve Orr)

Even as a kid, I was the one who was more interested in the B movie than the double feature headliner at our local drive-in theater. That's because the B movie was often the one with the "noir."

Noir is a story style that usually involves at least one dead person, murdered by someone wanting something that dead person owned, controlled, or had access to. Think: The Maltese Falcon. There is almost always a tough-talking protagonist seeking the truth, along with some complicated chemistry ("sparkage") between the protagonist and a suspect. Think: Mike Hammer.

I like noir.

Seems like I was always having to stay up late to see the B movie or catch the late, late show. But that's when I could see the hard-boiled detective (private or police) wade through the miasma of half-truths and red herrings on the way to ferreting out the perpetrator. This may be why I am a night owl.

I like noir so much, I recently made a pilgrimage to the Half-Price Books mother ship in north Dallas to attend the pre-release event for a new anthology called "dallas noir." This is the 60-th release from Akashic Books in a series with titles like boston noir, mumbai noir, and wall street noir (lower case all intentional). Future editions include such destinations as Baghdad, Stockholm, and Jerusalem.

The evening did not disappoint. Not only could I purchase the book in advance of public release, the editor and ten of the authors were on hand! I stood, transfixed, as author after author discussed his/her story, the what and why of it, and how they chose that particular Dallas neighborhood in which to set it. A little bit of heaven for a noir lover.

As the term implies, these are dark stories. I've spent more than a little time trying to sort out just what it is that draws me to them. A few years ago, after considering and dismissing one reason after another, I decided it was this: almost every story has at its center a knight-in-tarnished-armor who struggles against that darkness, perhaps personally, perhaps professionally, and not always succeeding . . . but never giving up.

Now, in this week's Lectionary selections, I find another reason. With all its darkness (commandments are broken, deadly sins are everywhere), each noir story serves up a dramatic illustration of what can happen when we forget something important: The idea that we control the flow of wealth is an illusion, and attempts to take it from others always leads to a dark place. When this life is measured in decades that can usually be counted on the fingers of two hands, the very concept of "possession" must be called into question.

True, while we're here, we are to be good stewards of what has been entrusted to us. And while stewarding these trusts, we are to do so in recognition of this truth:

‘The silver and gold are mine,’ says the Lord who rules over all. (Haggai 2:8)


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http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu

READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Proper 27 (32) (November 10, 2013)

Haggai 1:15b-2:9
Psalm 145:1-5, 17-21 or Psalm 98
Job 19:23-27a
Psalm 17:1-9
2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17
Luke 20:27-38

Can you be with us Friday morning? We're still meeting at 8:00 at the Waco "Egg and I" restaurant. The food is tasty and the coffee is hot.

Oh, and their dark roast is superb :-)

Enjoy the week!
Steve

Complicit (a Lectionary reflection by Steve Orr)

Do you know the name, Lewis Powell? If so, then you get a gold star. Most people, even if they've heard it before, can't think why it should be memorable. Lewis Powell was involved in what many consider one of the greatest tragedies (if not THE greatest tragedy) in the history of the United States of America.

Well, that certainly narrows it down. No? OK, I won't keep you in suspense. Lewis Powell, and his friend George Atzerodt (another name you probably don't recognize), were accomplices of John Wilkes Booth.

Booth and his accomplices originally planned to kidnap President Abraham Lincoln, Vice President Andrew Johnson, and Secretary of State William Seward (of "Seward's Folly" fame). Then, as we all know, things changed. Their goal had always been to cripple the Union by removing the President and those immediately in line to replace him. But when kidnapping proved impossible, Booth decided assassination was their only other option.

We all know Booth's name. It is infamous. Not only did he assassinate the President, but his act, all by itself, led to the extremely harsh Reconstruction period the South had to endure following the Civil War. Lincoln had made it clear he desired a kindler, gentler reabsorption of the South into the Union. With his mediating influence gone, the hammer came down and came down hard.

Booth was gunned down by Federal troops at a farm in Virginia less than two weeks after the assassination. But what about the other two guys? Powell went to Seward's house, stabbed and seriously wounded him (but Seward survived). Atzerodt could not bring himself to attempt to assassinate Vice President Johnson (he went out drinking, instead). Nevertheless, both hanged for their roles as accomplices.

And that brings us to this week's Lectionary passages. I've read two of these stories many, many times: the murder of Naboth for his vineyard (1st Kings) and the murder of Uriah the Hittite for his wife (2nd Samuel). But on every other reading I missed something, something pretty significant.

These murderers had accomplices.

I have always focused on the actions of Ahab and Jezebel that led to Naboth's death. And, of course, we know of David's lust and how it led to the death of Bathsheba's husband. But none of these villains acted alone. Jezebel involved the "leaders and nobles" of Naboth's city in her murder plot. And David involved Joab, his chief military commander, as well as who knows how many troops, in leaving Uriah alone and unprotected in combat.

We eventually learn of God's response to the actions of Ahab, Jezebel, and and David for their evil machinations. Even though none of the three actually committed the act, God punished them harshly. But we never read anything about their accomplices. I think I know the reason for that.

I doubt these other people escaped the consequences of their complicity. "What goes around comes around" has always been truth. You do, in fact, reap what you sow. But I think the reason these are not reported to us in scripture is this: because some people are leaders while most people are led, the greatest consequence must fall upon the leaders.

Our takeaway? We should look around us and consider just who it is we lead (because there are always some that follow us). Then we should take a little time to reflect on just exactly where it is we are leading them and what is we are leading them to do.

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http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu

READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Proper 6 (11) (June 16, 2013)

1 Kings 21:1-10, (11-14), 15-21a
Psalm 5:1-8
2 Samuel 11:26-12:10, 13-15
Psalm 32
Galatians 2:15-21
Luke 7:36-8:3

We would love for you to join us at Lectionary Breakfast some Friday morning. We're at The Egg and I (Franklin and New Road in Waco) from about 8:00 am to about 9:00 am. Good food and even better company.

Enjoy the week!
Steve

The Ring and The Book

The Ring and the Book
(a brief Lectionary reflection by Steve Orr)

"So, let him wait God’s instant men call years;
Meantime hold hard by truth and his great soul,
Do out the duty! Through such souls alone
God stooping shows sufficient of His light
For us i’ the dark to rise by.
And I rise."

The first time I read these lines---on a stained glass window at Baylor University's Armstrong Browning Library---I felt a frisson of thrill run through me. It still hits me that way. Nothing would make me happier than if, someday, these words could truthfully be said of me. To live a life worthy of such words is definitely something I desire.

Here's the story behind the words.

After the death of his beloved, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Robert Browning wrote those lines as part of "The Ring and the Book," which, though written in verse, is actually a novel based in fact. Shakespeare would have loved this: Pompilia, a young Italian noblewoman, flees her much older, abusive husband to travel to Rome with a priest; her husband later accuses Pompilia of committing adultery with the priest; subsequently, Pompilia is mortally wounded and her parents murdered; Pompilia dies and her husband is found guilty of these crimes. Long before Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood," Robert Browning wrote a true crime novel.

The words on the window are Pompilia's, who, while dying, speaks of her spiritual advisor, a man much in contrast to the husband, a man of God, a man falsely accused. She praises this young Pastor for preparing her to "rise" to Heaven by allowing God to shine through him, and she encourages him to continue doing as he did with her until his own time comes to "rise."

On another level, I know these are Robert Browning's words. And I suspect this is what he imagines Elizabeth might say to him in the wake of her death, encouraging him to continue "fighting the good fight" until he can join her in due time.

These are my thoughts as I read this week's Lectionary selections; particularly the Genesis, Mark, and Job passages. But more than these, even, I see in the Hebrews passage such a man as could be described by the words on that window.

And I rise.

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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt

Proper 22 (27) (October 7, 2012)
Job 1:1, 2:1-10
Psalm 26
Genesis 2:18-24
Psalm 8
Hebrews 1:1-4, 2:5-12
Mark 10:2-16

Can you join us Friday morning? We'll be at Cafe Cappuccino at 8:00 (downtown Waco, on 6th near the Courthouse). We would love to have you with us for some great food and some of that illumination we all seek.

Enjoy the week!
Steve