Still Can’t Face the Day? (a Steve Orr scripture reflection)

How do we face the day, these days? Before the Pandemic, we used to know the answer to that question ... or thought we did. The conventional wisdom was clear: Carpe Diem!

When we heard that cry, it conjured up thoughts of champions; rugged individualists, explorers of the unknown, captains of industry, great leaders who shaped our world over the centuries. Maybe we thought of my ancestor, William Wallace, and his call for “Freedom!” People like Ernest Hemingway and Amelia Earhart came to mind. It might have invoked images of Eric Liddell outrunning all those other “chariots of fire” in the 1924 Olympics.

Or perhaps we would recall those stirring last lines of William Ernest Henley's poem, Invictus:

"I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul."

People all about us urged us to seize the day! They wrote books about it, made speeches about it, taught classes about it ... And some actually did it ... But most of us, I think, just felt guilty about not doing it. Or not doing it very well. Or not doing it as well as someone else. We heard the exhortation. It sounded like the right thing to do. And none of us wanted to be accused of wasting a day.

But I have to wonder: is Carpe Diem really the best exhortation for us ... now? Do we need a battle cry?

John Ortberg, in his Leadership Journal article, What to Do With a Day, suggests we can do better. Our desire, he asserts, should not be to seize the day, but rather to welcome whatever the day brings to us. We should have confidence in our God and not feel the need to control it all. He proposes we use "Salve Diem" as our exhortation.

Greet the day.

I liked it immediately. It's the perfect term for this week's Matthew selection: the parable of the Mustard Seed. When we read about how the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed, Jesus provides the interpretation: a tiny seed that grows into something so large that it provides shelter.* But it is hard to read this passage and not think of that other Matthew reference to mustard seeds; the one where Jesus tells his disciples that someone with the faith of a mustard seed could move a mountain.

A bad reading of the Mustard Seed parables would have us conclude, wrongly, that we are supposed to try to, somehow, out-faith each other; that we must dig deep to come up with some more faith. We’ve been led to believe we can somehow make it grow large enough to move mountains. We might come away from those passages thinking we are failing at this faith thing (perhaps asking ourselves: If my faith isn’t weak, then why can't I move mountains?). But we would be wrong.

We need to trust in God, the true Captain of our souls, to provide what is needed for this day. Like Solomon in the 1st Kings passage, we should ask for wisdom to handle what comes our way. That’s why the Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed: massive growth is inevitable because the mustard seed knows no limits.

The mustard seed doesn't "seize the day."

It simply is what God made it. By being itself, the mustard seed grows to great size. That’s what mustard seeds do. And that is the takeaway for us. We must trust that God can and will use us as we are.

With that kind of faith, we can all say “Salve Diem!”

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PHOTO: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Turns-out-Im-Not-an-Afternoon-Person-Either-Coffee-Cup-Unique-Cheap-Funny-Cof-/124028068151

Somewhat different versions of this reflection appeared in July 2017 as “Seize the Day!” and July 2014 as "The Captain of My Soul."

*An interesting reflection on the mustard seed parable:
CLICK HERE: http://dannycoleman.blogspot.com/2012/07/parable-of-mustard-seed.html?m=1

* Short article explaining about the so-called "mustard tree."
CLICK HERE: http://allfearless.com/2012/09/the-mustard-seed-controversy/

Are you on your second cup of coffee and still can’t face the day? Listen to Chris Roberts’ cover Gordon Lightfoot’s song, Second Cup of Coffee:
CLICK HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JivIHrVxTMs

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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Proper 12 (17) (July 26, 2020)
CLICK HERE: https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu//texts.php?id=152

Genesis 29:15-28
Psalm 105:1-11, 45b or Psalm 128
1 Kings 3:5-12
Psalm 119:129-136
Romans 8:26-39
Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52
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How do you face the day in this pandemic? I wish we could get together and talk about that. Sadly, the virus keeps blocking us from gathering for DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast. Feel free to email me if you want to kick around any thoughts about the weekly scriptures.

In the meantime, let’s all keep reading and keep praying for one another.

Blessings,
Steve

A Comic Book God in Summer of ‘62 (a Steve Orr scripture reflection)

There was a god inside that man!

In the summer of 1962, I encountered a god. True, it was a comic book god, but the encounter was still thrilling. That summer, "funny books" took a turn —a permanent turn, it turns out— for the serious. That was when what-we-now-call Marvel launched The Incredible Hulk, Spider-Man, and Thor: The God of Thunder. Today, we are surrounded by these and many other Marvel characters. But, back then ...

I was still a "tween" that summer; not yet a teenager, but no longer a little child. Junior High and High School still loomed ahead. I was a ripe target for the angst-filled storylines of Spider-Man and his alter-ego, high school science nerd, Peter Parker. The Jekyll-and-Hyde nature of the Incredible Hulk, with his anger management challenges, perfectly resonated with a young male starting to explode with not-entirely-welcome testosterone.

But the comic book character who enthralled me that summer was the mild-mannered, partially disabled physician, Don Blake. While vacationing in Norway, he found a walking stick in a cave. Blake's limp was pronounced and he needed that walking stick. Later, circumstances caused Dr. Blake to strike that stick on a rock ... and in a flash Don Blake was transformed into Thor, the Norse god of thunder. The "stick" resumed its true form: the mighty Mjolnir, the most powerful hammer in existence.

At the moment of Dr. Blake's transformation, my pre-adolescent brain thought: Wow! There's a super hero inside that guy with the limp! All through the next school year as I read more of Thor's adventures, I mulled that initial thought. But how I thought of it had changed:

There was a "god" inside that man.

Thor was one of the Norse gods. The Greeks and Romans had similar: leader-gods like Odin and trickster gods like Loki, on and on. But these were all, actually, god-come-latelies. Long before those cultures rose, there were other beings called gods. In scripture, we find many cultures that worshiped beings they called gods.

If you've spent any time reading Old Testament scripture, you likely know that God —the God-of-the-Angel-Armies; the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; the God who led the Israelites out of Egyptian bondage— regarded these so-called "gods" as fictitious creations of humans, no more worthy of worship than a rock or block of wood.

This week’s scriptures are filled with God encounters (see the Genesis selection for a powerful example) ... and something else, too. God was angered by any who worshipped those pretenders. We find that God sent a message to those idol worshippers, repeatedly: your “gods” have zero validity.

Eventually, God called them out:
"Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god. Who is like me? Let them proclaim it, let them declare and set it forth before me. Who has announced from of old the things to come? Let them tell us what is yet to be. Do not fear, or be afraid; have I not told you from of old and declared it? You are my witnesses! Is there any god besides me? There is no other rock; I know not one." (Isaiah 44:6-8 NRSV)

With that kind of certainty on display, it may not come as a surprise that when the comic book got me thinking about the "god" inside the man, it dovetailed perfectly with another matter on my young mind: Immanuel, God-With-Us, the incarnation of Jesus.

I was much more interested in the true God, the God who was unafraid to declare Himself the one and only; the God so confident of their silence, He was unafraid to challenge those fake gods. The God who entered this existence inside a person ... for real; the God who didn't need a magic hammer to transform him from God to human and back again ... because He could be both at the same time.

This is the God encounter that mattered to me, then ... and now.

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PHOTO: https://thevikingdragon.com/blogs/news/how-thors-hammer-mjolnir-was-created

A different version of this reflection appeared in July 2017 as The Gods of Summer.

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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Proper 11 (16) (July 19, 2020)
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu//texts.php?id=151

Genesis 28:10-19a
Psalm 139:1-12, 23-24
Isaiah 44:6-8
Psalm 86:11-17
Romans 8:12-25
Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
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Are we still in the First Wave? Or has the Second Wave already started? In either case, DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast is still not meeting due to COVID-19. Let’s keep everyone in our prayers ... and keep reading. For this week’s reflection, we’re going back to the summer of ‘62

Many blessings,
Steve

The Man and the Snow (a Steve Orr scripture reflection)

Once upon a time there was a man who collected snow.

It had been winter for a very long time, and it snowed a little every day. His neighbors could not understand why anyone would want to collect snow. In fact, they swept it, shoveled it, bulldozed it out of their way. Many of them thought he was strange.

Some even thought he was crazy.

The grown-ups did not enjoy the snow. Except for feeding the livestock and hunting for food, they stayed indoors. The children enjoyed the snow. Every day they played in it. They had great fun! Every evening when they returned to their homes, they were happy ... and they were covered with melting snow.

Each day, the man fed his livestock, provided for his family’s needs, and collected snow. He did all of his chores quickly, completely, and with a smile. Then, he went out to collect the snow. It really was everywhere. It was on the ground, and on the trees. It was on the sidewalks, and on the streets.

He never shoveled the snow from his yard, nor from anyone else’s yard. He never collected snow from the trees or the countryside. He collected the snow from the roads, but only the clean snow. And he went from neighbor to neighbor to ask, “Would you like the snow cleared from your walk? No charge!” They always said yes.

The man put the snow into barrels, bottles, cans, and jars. He put the snow everywhere he could imagine.

Then one day, it stopped snowing.

Soon, the snow began to melt. Flowers bloomed and grass grew green. Winter was over. Everyone was pleased ... for a time.

The days grew longer and hotter. The air and the earth grew drier. The grass and flowers and crops began to die.

One day, all of the man’s neighbors came to his house. “Why is your land green and growing crops? Why are your livestock not sickly and thin?” They demanded answers. “Where did you get the water? And why won’t you share with us?” So, the man led them to his barn. Inside were barrels, bottles, cans, and jars ... filled with water. He handed one to the nearest neighbor. The man’s name was neatly printed on it. “Come,” said the man, “take back the snow I collected from your walks.” He gave each of them their share.

Then the man answered them. “To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under Heaven. The season of the snow is not when it comes. The season of the snow is when it melts. It’s purpose is to replenish and refresh. When the winter is over and the air grows warm, then is the time of the snow. But until that time, it appears useless to everyone ... except children ... and fools. In this way, the snow is like the word of God in Isaiah 55:10-11.”

“As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”

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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Proper 10 (15) (July 12, 2020)
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu//texts.php?id=150

Genesis 25:19-34
Psalm 119:105-112
Isaiah 55:10-13
Psalm 65:(1-8), 9-13
Romans 8:1-11
Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23
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Another Friday of social distancing keeps us from in-person gathering for DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast. Keep reading and keep praying for one another. Above are the coming week’s scriptures and a little story i wrote in the mid-1980s that was inspired by this week’s Isaiah selection.

Keep safe,
Steve

Pretending in the Pandemic: My Alternate History (a Steve Orr scripture reflection)

I have another life.

During this pandemic, I’ve been tempted to enter one of the many immersive online gaming communities. I think it might be fun to assemble an avatar and dive into the action ... and it certainly would be a diversion from all the problems of this present dark time.

But then I remember ... I already have another life.

It is a different time ... actually, it’s a different timeline. People there dress in clothing that looks a lot like steampunk costumes, great dirigibles ply the skies, and automobiles look much as they did in the early part of the 20th Century.

In my imagined life, I am in service to the Queen of England; her personal Paladin. My friends are people like Nikola Tesla and Harriet Quimby. I have many adventures, drive and fly interesting vehicles, and often "go undercover" to ferret out enemies of the Crown.

It's all in fun, a harmless exercise of my imagination. My alternate history lives on a Pinterest board where, by pinning photos, I tell a kind of story about a life where there's ... well ... just a bit more swash in my buckle than in my real life.

And that brings me to something important: We don't always like our real lives. Sometimes, we don't even like ourselves.

We struggle with how to live a good life, often fighting inclinations to do things we know we should not, and sometimes losing that fight. In a pretend life, we are completely in control. So, it's nice to pretend from time to time, to "get away" for awhile from the pressures of this life. It can be fun, and even a relief.

But we must not allow ourselves to spend too much of our time in these retreats. As Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote in his poem, A Psalm of Life:

“Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not thy goal;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.”

Each of us does have another life, a different life; the one that continues after this one concludes. Scripture says we get a new body ... and adventures so amazing they can't be described in terms we can understand ... at least, not now.

For the time being, we must follow the teaching in this week's scriptures from Matthew and Romans. We must allow The Lord to place us in light harness so we may be guided; and we must trust God to rescue us when we live a life contrary to what we know is good.

I cannot imagine a better way.

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If interested, you can view my Pinterest Board, "In Another Life,"
HERE: http://pin.it/b1n2j5U (NOTE: my board instructions say “read from the bottom up,” which is correct. It’s just that Pinterest has placed other pins below mine. So, scroll down to the photos of Harriet Quimby and the ornate spiral staircase: that’s the bottom of my board. Then, start up)
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Slightly different versions of this reflection appeared in July 2017 and July 2014.

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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Proper 9 (14) (July 5, 2020)
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu//texts.php?id=149

Genesis 24:34-38, 42-49, 58-67
Psalm 45:10-17 or Song of Solomon 2:8-13
Zechariah 9:9-12
Psalm 145:8-14
Romans 7:15-25a
Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30
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I wish we could all join together for DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast, Friday morning, as has been our practice for many years. But, alas, the increase in COVID cases continues to prevent that.

In the interim, keep reading, keep praying, and keep safe.

Many Blessings,
Steve

Feeling Like A Young John Cusack (a Steve Orr scripture reflection)

Who is John Cusack and why are you singing about him?

That’s the question you could ask Ben Rector if you were to meet him. In his 2016 hit song, Brand New, Rector sings of new found love and its effect on him. He is so joy-filled, he believes he can do anything. The lyrics evoke a sense of newness tied to experiences like flying, dancing, and laughing.

It's a bit of stumble, though, when he sings: “I feel like a young John Cusack!”

Today, John Cusack is quite recognizable as an actor, producer, and filmmaker. In the mid-1980s, though ... well, sure he was young, but he wasn’t much of anybody in the film world. He had been in a few films, some memorable (like Better Off Dead, still one of my favorite quirky and hilarious movies). But mostly, he had very small roles in pretty forgettable films.

Then, in 1989, he headlined a dark horse film called Say Anything.

In case you don't recall, Cusack played Lloyd Dobler, an average guy in every way. Lloyd decides that he will make a play for Diane, the most beautiful girl in his high school and, not incidentally, the class Valedictorian. Everyone, not least her father, is shocked when Diane agrees to date Lloyd. In the face of no real reason to be optimistic, optimism triumphs over skepticism.

There are no magical solutions to the challenges faced by the unlikely duo. There’s no convenient plot twist that makes everything work out perfectly. The only "super power" on display is Lloyd's youthful optimism.

And, that brings us to the question: why did Ben Rector put John Cusack in those lyrics; why include John Cusack in a song about the empowerment of love? Answer: Ben was thinking of Lloyd's optimism. Being in love made Ben feel that he, too, could risk it all.

Ben had faith.

In this week's passage from Genesis, things had been rocking along pretty well for Abraham. Life was good. Having a son meant he had an heir, a huge thing for Abraham. After many, many decades of thinking his servants would inherit, life had made a very positive turn. It felt brand new. And his love for his son was the centerpiece of that.

Then, he is commanded by God to sacrifice his son. That had to be a shock.

And yet ... Abraham obeyed God's command. Clinging to a thin optimism that, somehow —in the face of all evidence to the contrary— God would make it all be OK.

Abraham had faith.

Read the passage to find out what happened and learn why one of God's names is Jehovah-Jireh ... "God Provides."

And prepare to feel brand new.

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PHOTO: https://www.amazon.com/Brand-New-Ben-Rector/dp/B012T93AWY

A different version of this reflection appeared in summer 2017 as Say Anything.

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More about John Cusack and Lloyd Dobler here: https://g.co/kgs/mv9uTk
And here: http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-say-anything-1989


More about Ben Rector and Brand New here: http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/rock/7476878/ben-rector-talks-first-hot-100-hit-brand-new
And here: http://roughstock.com/news/2016/06/40507-album-review-ben-rector-brand-new

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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Proper 8 (11) (June 28, 2020)
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu//texts.php?id=148

Genesis 22:1-14
Psalm 13
Jeremiah 28:5-9
Psalm 89:1-4, 15-18
Romans 6:12-23
Matthew 10:40-42

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We continue on in the world of social distancing, and so there’s still no in-person meeting of DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast. Please keep reading the scriptures and praying for us all. Let me know if you want to discuss.

Blessings,
Steve

Is the Pandemic the “Big Bad?” (a Steve Orr scripture reflection)

It started with Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Well, that’s not entirely the truth. For us humans, there has always been some kind of “big bad.” It’s been with us so long, we buried it in our stories ... but it’s always been there. And in our stories, there have always been heroes to fight it. Knights to battle the dragons. Dark Knights to combat the criminals.

But it was Buffy and her “Scooby Gang” who first called it the “Big Bad.” And it was never just the monsters they fought each week. It was something truly big. Something world-shattering.

So what is the "big bad"?

For the answer, let's look at this week's scriptures; they're packed full of the Big Bad.

Like with Hagar in Genesis, it’s the realization that you and your child are not going to survive. Even those you thought were your friends seek to harm you, and your family shuns you. It’s knowing, now that your family and friends have turned against you, that no one stands with you. It’s facing the inescapable death by dehydration when there is no longer any water.

Like the Psalmist this week, it’s the drowning when the mighty waters rise above us. It’s the sure knowledge that no knight, whatever his or her stripe, can save us from what is to come. It is there, in the moment we realize all is lost, the moment when clarity shows us there is no escape, that ...

... we need to remember there is another.

If we have been waiting for just the right time, there is no more margin for waiting. It is the day of our trouble. We need to call on The Lord. In Jeremiah, he declares that if he tries to withhold the message of God, it becomes like "a burning fire shut up in his bones," a fire he cannot hold in. That message, the one so hot no one can contain it, is that God continues to care about us, cares enough to "deliver the life of the needy from the hands of the evildoers."

The pandemic is bad ... but it’s not the Big Bad.

Death has been the Big Bad for us for so long —the biggest, the true inescapable fate— for as long as recorded history. But that time has ended. Jeremiah’s bone-burning message eventually took human form as the Messiah. And it was His sacrifice —the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus— that turned what was once an inescapable prison into a mere way-station.

That’s why, in the day of our troubles —facing our own world-shattering Big Bad— we can confidently call on The Lord ... knowing in our very bones the Big Bad isn’t really so big.

It can never overcome the Big Good.

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Different versions of this reflection appeared in 2017 as Burning Bones and the Big Bad and in 2014 as The Big Bad.


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FOR THE COMING WEEK
Proper 7 (12) (June 21, 2020)
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu//texts.php?id=147

Genesis 21:8-21
Psalm 86:1-10, 16-17
Jeremiah 20:7-13
Psalm 69:7-10, (11-15), 16-18
Romans 6:1b-11
Matthew 10:24-39

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We continue to remain on hold for DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast. In the meantime, keep safe and keep in touch. Read the scriptures and pray.

Blessings,
Steve

PS: If you want to, feel free to drop me a line (stephen.c.orr@gmail.com). I’ll write back.

A Sudden Chill (a Steve Orr scripture reflection)

Changing weather is just part of life. Most of us have found ways to factor in its changeability. Still, there are those times that surprise us ... and sometimes overwhelm us.

It was just three years ago, this week, that we experienced one of those sudden and shocking changes: It almost snowed on us ... in June.

We had been cruising the ocean along the eastern coast of Canada. That day, our port of call was Sydney (Cape Breton, Nova Scotia). The weather report called for a dry 61° Fahrenheit, high clouds, and some sun. A light jacket would be all that was needed.

All went well in the morning; but as the afternoon settled in, we saw the clouds darkening and dropping low. The temps dropped with them. Zipping up our windbreakers, we decided to walk back to the ship. In short order, we found ourselves struggling against a stiff, cold wind.

And a chilling mist.

We weren’t actually far from the ship. But the weather changed so quickly, it was worsening the closer we got. Locals we encountered told us they had just heard there might be snow on the way. In June. None of them appeared the least bit surprised.

I am not a winter person.

And my years living in New England has done nothing but reinforce my negative feelings about the cold. Cars that wouldn't start, constantly falling down on slick surfaces, impassable roads, power outages, being late to ... well, everything; never, ever getting warm enough. And, worst of all, the claustrophobic feeling it would never end.
But ...

Summer in New England, and the few weeks that bookend either side of it, is a lovely time. Very Robert Frost. When winter does finally end, everyone feels an uplift in spirit; joy fills every heart. A kind of collective amnesia overtakes, clouding the harsher memories of winter.

So, deep in the winter, people think of the spring to come, of the green grass, flowers, and the planting of gardens. They think of the warm days of summer and the eventual harvest.

They have hope.

They know that every inch of snow piled upon the ground throughout the winter is actually stored water, just waiting for spring to release it. Water that brings life to the land, the plants, the animals, and all of us humans who could not survive without it.

This week’s Romans passage talks about a "hope that does not disappoint." Such hope is more than just a wish; it is a confidence that good will come. The passage asserts that, by enduring our sufferings, we gain character ... the kind of character that can hope, unreservedly, in the belief that our faith is not misplaced.

On that day of sudden chill, our ship pulled away from the port and headed out to sea. As we stood on the back deck, we watched the port shrink to toy-size, then ornament size. Soon, we left lowering clouds behind. Above us, patches of sun-drenched cerulean blue began to appear. Within ten minutes of leaving, I could stand on the deck without a jacket ... not a cloud in sight.

Regardless of their length or severity, we must not let bouts of bad weather —our sufferings— distract us from the hope that does not disappoint. Our faith is our storehouse of that hope. And it will see us through our winters.

Even really brief ones.

Even in June.

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Portions of this reflection are borrowed from a June 2017 reflection titled Snow in June?! and a 2014 reflection titled Winter is Coming.

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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Proper 6 (11) (June 14, 2020)
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu//texts.php?id=146

Genesis 18:1-15, (21:1-7)
Psalm 116:1-2, 12-19
Exodus 19:2-8a
Psalm 100
Romans 5:1-8
Matthew 9:35-10:8, (9-23)

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According to the calendar, Summer is just around the corner (Summer heat is already in Texas ... We hit triple digits this week). DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast remains on hiatus. We all look forward to the time we can gather in person. Until then, enjoy the coming week’s scriptures. Keep praying and keep safe.

Blessings,
Steve