Who is Doug and Why Would You Fry Him? (a Steve Orr scripture reflection)

I was conditioned. That’s my story, and I’m sticking with it.

When we moved to Boston, we were actually looking forward to learning all about this new place. We expected we would need to make some cultural adjustments. We just had no idea how much adjustment was going to be needed.

The thing we thought we could depend on to make our transition a bit easier is the very thing that failed us: the English language. I might have expected a language challenge if we had moved to London, England or, say, Edinburgh, Scotland. But not from a move within the USA. I thought we only had to adjust to the New England accent. I was so naive.

From the very beginning, we could not communicate.

Perhaps the biggest challenge: we had to learn all new terminology. A shopping cart was a “carriage.” Sprinkles on ice cream? “Jimmies.” A milkshake was a “frappe,” and a water fountain was a “bubbler.” Those small cardboard cups of ice cream with the little wooden spoon? “Hoodsies.”

Each of these had a distinct name ... and no other name. Take, for instance, ice cream. If you asked for sprinkles on your ice cream, you would be met by a blank stare. If you failed to ask for a Hoodsie, by name, you didn’t get one. And don’t get me started on the drama that follows ordering a “double dip” when you should have requested two scoops.

When change encounters culture, culture wins. We weren’t going to change them. So, it didn’t take long for us to fall into the habit of assuming we just didn’t understand ... especially when a strange word appeared before us. We had become conditioned.

Hopefully, that explains my response when I saw the sign for FRIED DOUG.

I admit the fleeting thought: Who’s Doug and why would you fry him? But, I had come to the point I no longer questioned, critically, the terms and practices of my culture. My repeated experiences had formed a certain mindset: others who preceded me in history had made choices to speak and act certain ways. Even if I didn’t really understand the why, I was conditioned: FRIED DOUG must mean something.

Or, must it? For me, my FRIED DOUG clarity came just moments later when the crowd moved aside. As they parted, I realized I had only been seeing part of the sign. Now that I could see it all, I could easily understand my error. There, immediately to the right of “DOUG” was the letter “H.”

... Oh.

FRIED DOUGH made a lot more sense than FRIED DOUG. My own habit had tricked me into believing there was one meaning, when In fact there was another.

It’s similar, in a way, to what was happening with God’s people when Isaiah confronted them with their hypocrisy in this week’s scripture selection. God rejected all their religious practices, en mass. In fact, God told them those actions and observances had become a burden, and He had grown weary of bearing them! God rejected their prayers, their gatherings, their festivals: every part of what they did or said as worshippers.

Why? What had they done to warrant such a reaction? I’m sure they attempted, much as we do today, to performed each religious practice, properly. Where had they gone wrong?

They fell into a habit.

Their culture required certain religious practices of them. They had been conditioned to do them, and so ... they did them. But, over time, what made those practices meaningful had fallen away. God said their hands were bloody from doing evil. They had to restore themselves by serving justice, rescuing the oppressed, defending the orphan, and pleading for the widow.

They needed the clarity the Prophet Isaiah was providing. Like the “H” in my FRIED DOUG sign, they were missing something essential. Without that missing piece, their worship was worse than meaningless: the object of their worship no longer wanted to hear from them. If they wanted their religion to be acceptable to God, they had to actually do good.

There is no doubt they were going to have to make some serious adjustments. The question is: do we?


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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Proper 14 (19) (August 11, 2019)
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu//texts.php?id=274

Isaiah 1:1, 10-20
Psalm 50:1-8, 22-23
Genesis 15:1-6
Psalm 33:12-22
Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16
Luke 12:32-40

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DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast meets Friday morning at the “Egg and I” restaurant (soon to be renamed “Our Breakfast Place”). We start at 8:00, and enjoy a time of scripture, prayer, food, and fellowship.

Blessings,
Steve

Hush! (A brief Lectionary reflection by Steve Orr)

My first 40-hour a week job was at the Citizens Bank & Trust Company in my hometown of Paducah, Kentucky. The bank was, at ten stories, the tallest building in town; it was located at 4th and Broadway, just four blocks from the riverfront and right in the heart of downtown. How I came to have that job can wait until another time. It is its own story. Like most office jobs in those days, I wore a coat and tie each time I reported to work. If you would like some help picturing this, Google "Images" for the 1960's or maybe watch an episode of "Mad Men" (before you finish exploring, make sure you check out telephones).

My first position was in the Bookkeeping Department. Mostly we filed checks (actual pieces of paper signed by the account owner and already used to pay for something) and answered customer inquiries over the telephone. Actually a pretty nice job. But the timing was, well, interesting. CB&T had just converted from sending customer account statement at month end, only, to a "continuous" approach (which meant a pro rata portion of account statements were mailed out each working day of the month). The short of it is that our customers were VERY confused for a couple months . . . and the phones rang "off the hook." There was just one hitch: we had one more phone in Bookkeeping than there were Bookkeepers to answer them.

So, yes, we were sometimes faced with the dilemma of the extra phone ringing when everyone was already fielding a customer call. And on those occasions, one of the Bookkeepers, a nice woman named Dorcas, would place her hand over the "mouthpiece" of the telephone "handset" she was holding (so the customer would not hear) and call out "Hush!"

The ringing telephone would stop ringing. Every time.

We were all in awe of Dorcas. She was the only person I ever met who could, successfully, tell a telephone to be quiet.

In this week's Lectionary selections there is an interesting story about a blind man who would NOT be hushed. In the Mark 10 passage we find Jesus on his way out of Jericho when he hears someone calling his name. Picture it: Jesus and his entourage have finished up a round of spreading the good news. Their group probably includes several important locals, pressing for just a few more comments, asking some last minute questions, seeking one last audience with the man who, they thought, might become their king.

And here's the blind beggar, someone almost certainly to be overlooked in such a situation. The crowd is big enough, and noisy enough, that Bartimaeus has to shout in hopes of getting Jesus' attention. And what does he get for his efforts? "Many sternly ordered him to be quiet."

Not to be deterred, he calls out to Jesus even more loudly!

I doubt you will be surprised to learn that Jesus ignored those who were trying to prevent the blind man from "bothering" him. Instead, Jesus not only invited the man to approach, but when the man said his desire was to have his sight restored, Jesus granted that request.

So, if you find there are people telling you, for any reason, that you can't talk to God; if there are voices sternly ordering you to be quiet when you need to have a conversation with God, whether those voices are surrounding you or are inside your own head: shout them down!

If you want to talk to God, then talk to God. Don't let anyone hush you up.

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

Proper 25 (30) (October 28, 2012)
Job 42:1-6, 10-17
Psalm 34:1-8, (19-22)
Jeremiah 31:7-9
Psalm 126
Hebrews 7:23-28
Mark 10:46-52

Join us if you can on Friday morning. As is our practice, we will be at Cafe Cappuccino (downtown Waco, on 6th near the Courthouse) at 8:00 to discuss this week's scripture passages and to scarf down some great food.

None of us is very good at being hushed up, so the discussion is pretty lively :-)

Enjoy the week!

Steve

A Two-edged Sword (a Reflection for Valentine's Day)

A Two-edged Sword (a brief Valentine's reflection by Steve Orr)

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths."
Proverbs 3:5-6

The Bible says the word of the Lord is sharper than any two-edged sword. When I was in college, something happened that gave me a very real and personal understanding of just what those two edges could do. That was when the Proverbs passage above led to the end of one relationship and to the beginning of another.

When I was a Junior I started asking out, and was soon dating exclusively, a beautiful young woman who was also smart and sweet. And while she seemed a bit shier than those I had previously dated, I really enjoyed going out with her. And, as these things happen, we became a couple.

One day, my girlfriend gave me a block of wood decorated with that passage from Proverbs. This oblong piece of wood was about a half inch thick at it's thickest, tapering to an edge, all round, that was maybe an eighth of an inch. I would guess it was about six inches in length and maybe four in width. All of that is a guess from a long ago memory. What I know for sure is this: its message really struck me. Strange as it may seem to some, that was the first time I had ever seen it. At that point, I had been attending church and Sunday School for a couple decades. How was it that something so fundamental to our relationship with God had never before come to my attention? You would think I might have, at the very least, heard it in a sermon.

The impact those two verses had on my life was profound. I thought about that scripture quite a lot. Its message worked its way into my every decision from that point forward, including, maybe most especially, my relationships. I started praying about which courses I would take, which professors I would follow, which church I would attend. I found myself thinking about my friendships in light of that scripture, and about the people who were being influences in my life, and about those I was influencing.

Some changes came about as a result. I stopped some pursuits and processes, and I ended some relationships (quietly, without fanfare; I just stopped spending time with some people). I strongly doubt anyone knew about this. It was a very private process for me. On the other hand, I continued many, but with a different perspective, a different set of reasons for extending my involvement.

Looking back from the perspective of a few decades, I now see that it was inevitable I would eventually bring my love life before the Lord, as well. Consequently, as I pondered a possible future with my girlfriend, I came to realize that, however good my intentions had been, I had not sought God's guidance when I entered into that relationship. I agonized over this for many weeks, but in the end could find no way to continue. I knew it would hurt her, but I also came to know it had to end. Finally, with great reluctance, I broke up with her.

I was not happy, but I was committed to trying to approach my relationships a different way, a prayerful way. I plunged into work and school, immersing myself so I would not dwell on the hurt I had caused; telling myself it was for the best, and trying to trust God that this would somehow lead to good for both of us.

Two months went by; which, in college time, with all it's activity, can seem like decades. Then one day, I met a woman by whom I was truly smitten. This time, though, I spent much time in prayer before proceeding; not wanting to jump forward into a relationship based solely on my own desires. To borrow from another piece of scripture, I watched and prayed. Eventually I asked her out.

So what happened? The woman I broke with met a wonderful man, a man who matches her love of the Lord. They have children and grandchildren, and a great life together; all of which may not have happened had I insisted on having my own way all those years ago.

And the woman I asked out a few months later?

We recently celebrated our 37th wedding anniversary.

Great scripture!