The Fifth Widow

The Fifth Widow
(A brief Lectionary reflection by Steve Orr)

Looking back at that title, I now realize it sounds like one of those "cozy" murder mysteries from the UK with one of Agatha Christie's characters tracking down the connection between the first four widows to prevent the untimely death of the fifth; or maybe one of Steve Berry's globe-hopping adventure romps where the "the fifth widow" turns out to be something Napoleon had hidden away and that nefarious people are willing to kill for.

Sorry. No. Nothing that dramatic. But hang with me. There IS something to see here.

There are five widows in this week's Lectionary selections. Can that be coincidence? It seems highly unlikely that such a confluence of widows could be accidental. I think someone is trying to focus our thoughts.

We start with Naomi and Ruth, two widows barely getting by on the seasonal work Ruth can get "gleaning" (the law allowed the poor to gather any grain missed by the harvesters). Times are tough for the two widows; plus there's a spirit of lawlessness about that even moving back to Israel could not spare them from. Rape is a serious concern. So an aging Naomi comes up with a daring plan to ensure her daughter-in-law Ruth is protected and provided for. As I keep stating, Ruth, at only four chapters, is one of the shortest books in the Bible. You should read it.

And then there is the widow of Zarephath in 1st Kings. She has almost nothing. In fact, it is so close to nothing she expects to use the last of it to make her final meal in this life. Here is another woman who, like Ruth, was a Gentile and thus had no right to claim anything under God's laws. And once again, God does something contrarian: because this widow agreed to use the last of her resources to serve God's prophet, she was rewarded with enough food to last her family the entirety of the drought. There is more to this story and it is worth your time to read about what comes next.

The fourth widow is in the Mark passage. Her generosity leads to her being immortalized in scripture. Right after Jesus warns the crowd to beware the Scribes who "devour widows' houses," he observes a widow place two coins in the temple treasury, far less than amounts given by others that day, but they were all she had. And as Jesus points out, there is nothing greater than ALL. Like the widow of Zarephath, she trusts God with her resources.

These four widows have something in common. They are all needy. It was a common state in those days: widows, orphans, the disabled; they were all dependent on God's people honoring God's commands to care for the needy. Something that is often in very short supply among God's people FOR God's people.

And that brings us to the fifth widow. She's in Psalm 146. In a way, even though no name is given, she is the most important of the five. That's because she is every widow. She is OUR widow. The psalm (and the other passages) makes it plain that God intends good for the widow (and the orphan, the blind, the oppressed, the stranger, the hungry, the prisoner . . . all those "bowed down" by the circumstances of their lives . . . regardless of how they got that way . . . regardless whether they are counted among the "chosen" or not). Should we treat them any differently than does God? No. There are reasons God wants us to follow His example in this regard. And I bet you can think of them with a little effort.

In any case, "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." (James 1:27 NIV)

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READINGS FOR THIS WEEK
http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu

Proper 27 (32) (November 11, 2012)
Ruth 3:1-5; 4:13-17
Psalm 127
1 Kings 17:8-16
Psalm 146
Hebrews 9:24-28
Mark 12:38-44

THE EGG AND I: we're giving it a try out this coming Friday (11-16-2012). Join us there (corner of New Road and Franklin, behind Outback) if you can, at 8:00 a.m.

Enjoy the week!
Steve

Blended Families (a brief Lectionary reflection by Steve Orr)

The first time I saw the phrase "blended family" in print I was a little confused by it. As I read the article, though, I quickly understood what they meant: two existing families that attempt the very challenging process of melding into a new one. I admire those who attempt it and am in awe of those who succeed.

But, before the context of the article made plain their meaning of "blended family," I initially thought: "Isn't that redundant? What other kind of families would there be?"

All families come with a unique family culture. Families that live right next door to each other are as different as apples and oranges. And families from different parts of the country or the globe are as different as mountains and oceans. So, anytime two people from different families decide to form one of their own, it is an attempt to blend those different family cultures into one household.

It's a blended family we see in this week's Lectionary selection from the book of Ruth. A Jewish family moves to Moab because of a drought in Israel. Their sons then marry local women, and, as often happens in families, these three women become widows. Naomi, the mother-in-law, decides to return home to Israel, presumably because the law of God requires Israelites to help widows . . . Or maybe she's just lonely for home.

People often quote from this part of the story. You hear it at weddings in the songs, in the vows. And many laud Ruth, rightly so, for being the kind of person who would declare to Naomi: “Don’t entreat me to leave you, and to return from following after you, for where you go, I will go; and where you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God; (Ruth 1:16 WEB). It gives me a thrill every time I read that passage.

But let's don't miss something momentous here: Ruth said those words, but she said them to her MOTHER-IN-LAW. Let's face it, even in the best of situations, relations between a person and his/her in-laws can be challenging. It's an extraordinary declaration in any circumstance, but even more so between in-laws.

And what does that tell us about Naomi? Here is a woman who lived out the spirit of the commandment to "love your neighbor as yourself." She clearly understood it as applying to "those who are nearby." Something to think about. How wonderful it would be to have someone declare the same of us.

And where did this declaration lead? What eventually happened to this blended family?

It's a short book :-)

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READINGS FOR THIS WEEK
http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu

Proper 26 (31) (November 4, 2012)
Ruth 1:1-18
Psalm 146
Deuteronomy 6:1-9
Psalm 119:1-8
Hebrews 9:11-14
Mark 12:28-34

Join us Friday if you can. We're still meeting at Cafe Cappuccino (downtown Waco on 6th, near the Courthouse) at 8:00 a.m. We eat a delicious breakfast (cooked when you order) and then we try to figure out how to apply these scripture passages to our actual lives.

Join us. We're neighborly ;-)

Enjoy the week!
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

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

The Way Things Work

The Way Things Work
(a brief Lectionary reflection by Steve Orr)

Maybe you've sat with your child or grandchild and thumbed through "The Way Things Work" by David Macaulay. Or maybe you, like me, only needed your inner child nearby to enjoy learning how stuff works :-)

If you've never spent any time with this wonderful book, let me encourage you to grab a copy and get ready to be dazzled. There are no dry, difficult to understand explanations here. Macaulay is a genius at making the complex seem simple, with the added bonus that most of it is visual. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then Macaulay has saved us millions.

Or perhaps you've read (viewed) some of his other, award-winning books: "Castle" (he assembles one for us), "City" (all about Rome), "Ship" (a sea-going visual treat), "Pyramid" (just what you think), or "The Way We Work" (human anatomy), etc. These are delightful attempts to make plain much of what inhabits our modern life or which we wonder about from our past.

But you may not know of my favorite work by Macaulay: "Motel of the Mysteries." In this funny, quirky book Macaulay does for the modern world what he has done for castles, cathedrals, and pyramids. But there's a twist.

The set up: 2000 years from now most of the American continent is covered in a thick layer of petrified material. It has become one giant archeological site; people from across the globe trying to piece together what life was like in "Usa" before the not-fully-understood catastrophe made it uninhabitable.

In what has some pretty humorous parallels to Howard Carter's excavation of Tutankhamen's tomb, Macaulay shows us how easy it is, despite best intentions, to get it all wrong. Every time something is discovered about life in "Usa," it is assumed to have religious significance. And that's what happens when the ground gives way beneath amateur archeologist Howard Carson. He drops several feet into a shaft that, fortuitously for him (and us), reveals a previously undisturbed "burial" chamber in one of the former civilization's mysterious "motels."

A great part of the fun in reading through "Motel of the Mysteries" is that, due to Mr. Macaulay's remarkable drawings, we readers recognize everything and KNOW it is not what they think it is. We know it's just a motel room and that each discovered item is not something of religious significance. Some of my favorites are the Sacred Urn (commode), the Sacred Point (foil seal on the toilet paper), the Internal Component Enclosure used to symbolically store major organs of the deceased (ICE bucket), and the "Plant That Would Not Die."

If you have any interest in archeology---whether you read Michener's "The Source" cover to cover or are just a fan of Indiana Jones---you should find this makes for an entertaining afternoon. Snickers abound :-)

And that brings us to this week's Lectionary passages. Somewhat like Macaulay's future archeologists, we tend to see what we expect to see. And all the more so when we are treading familiar territory. We get so caught up in the part of the story we know, we often miss some very significant gems.

We read Esther expecting to come to the thrilling conclusion where the evil villain gets his just reward. But it's worth a revisit to Esther 9:22 where the details of the subsequent celebration are told, including the many "days for sending gifts of food to one another and presents to the poor." Wait. What? They celebrated by giving gifts to the poor? Now there's a thought; gifts to the poor. That one has me scratching my head trying to remember the last time I gave a gift (not a loan or a necessity) to the poor.

We read the Numbers passage unsurprised to find that, once again, the people are whining to Moses about something. This time they miss the foods they had for "free" while being slaves in Egypt; they want meat (miraculous manna is just not enough). Moses then whines to God about it (Yes, he really did). In response, God, just before dumping two feet of quail on the campo, gets Moses to convene the tribal elders at the Tent of the Meeting. God then drops a load of spirit on them that is so strong they all start prophesying, even two of them that stayed behind in the camp!

Joshua, Moses' assistant and eventual successor, is so horrified to learn of these two "outlier" prophets, he calls for Moses to stop them. But, in Numbers 11:29 Moses replied, "Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord's people were prophets, and that the LORD would put his spirit on them!" It's a cautionary note to those in spiritual authority; a leader's desire should be that God blesses the people and leaders equally, particularly in matters of the Spirit.

In all the talk about who should or should not be casting out demons in the name of Jesus, who's for us and who's against us, and whether we're salty enough, you could easily miss this admonition to those who mislead the young. Mark 9:42 quotes Jesus saying, "If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones [children] who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea."

Gulp.

And finally there is all that talk in James about praising and praying; praying for the sick and the sad, and about how Elijah is just like us. You might miss this comment in James 5:20 which says "you should know that whoever brings back a sinner from wandering will save the sinner's soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins."

Covered. Gone. For good.

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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt
Proper 21 (26) (September 30, 2012)

Esther 7:1-6, 9-10; 9:20-22
Psalm 124
Numbers 11:4-6, 10-16, 24-29
Psalm 19:7-14
James 5:13-20
Mark 9:38-50

Join us Friday at 8:00 a.m. at Cafe Cappuccino to imbibe food for thought and body. This "Cafe of the Mysteries" is located in downtown Waco on 6th, near the Courthouse, and there are many excellent items to be discovered therein. Food and libation is available for all in the inner chamber ;-)

Enjoy the week!
Steve

Not Exactly A Role Model (a Lectionary reflection by Steve Orr)

There are many who would question any attempt to hold up my mother as a role model. And I must confess, for many years I could have been found standing among them.

She was not the kind of woman the stay-at-home moms would have invited over for coffee . . . had she been at home to be invited. Mama worked, full time, at the phone company; back when AT&T was something of a monopoly. In the early years her hours were erratic; she started as an Operator and had to work when scheduled. So, she wasn't always available when I thought we needed her. In those days, when she was at work, my slightly younger sister and I were cared for either by relatives or by hired help. Once I reached Junior High School, we became latchkey kids, with me being responsible for my sister.

In the pseudo-wisdom of my youth, like many people, I found my parents lacking. I often compared them, unfavorably, to other adults for what I considered deficiencies in their parenting, our home, our possessions, their work, etc., etc. It seemed to me that my parents had missed the boat on several fronts.

At one point in my life I had a very long laundry list of complaints, mostly charged to my mother, that started with my room (no heat, no air-conditioning) and ran on to include my lack of a wardrobe (mostly hand-me-downs), paltry allowances, not being driven to school (which was across town), unfair treatment, yadda, yadda, yadda.

Then life happened.

As absolutely none of you will be surprised to learn, my view of my parents changed significantly when I became a parent. And it has continued to change over the years. Oh, my mother still had her problems. I'm not looking back through rose-colored glasses, forgetting the problems. No. What HAS happened is that I have begun to value things which I either had previously discounted, down to zero in some cases, or which I had failed to perceive at all.

My mother was not the ideal woman. But, seriously, who is? The worthy woman described in Proverbs 31 has many commendable qualities. She keeps her home in good shape. She conducts business profitably. She truly is a worthy woman.

And she is an ideal.

I see some of my mother in that passage. And I see some things there that would never have applied to her. Mama could be petty, and could hold a grudge like nobody's business. She also was an unflagging champion of the underdog, rescued people others had given up on, and was steadfast to those she befriended. I could keep delivering these, seeming, incompatible contrasts for several pages.

In short, she was a human being, with all the flaws and foibles attendant to that. But, she is also the one who taught me to regard all people equally, regardless of race, gender, etc. She is the one who modeled for me how to make and keep commitments, how to provide for family both monetarily and by keeping a clean, safe place for us to live; taught me to love reading, taught me how to drive a car, inculcated me with many of the philosophies that form the ribs of my life.

So, yes, Mama was no angel; she possessed many negative qualities that branded her as certifiably human. And, no, Mama was not exactly a role model.

She was just like all of us; not wholly ideal. But there were some truly fine parts. And that is the little secret of this week's Proverbs passage.

It is sometimes referred to as "The Worthy Woman." But if you read it with the right eyes, you'll realize it could just as easily be called "The Worthy Human." Think about it. Is there anyone, any person, regardless of gender, who wouldn't like to have such wonderful things said of them?

The key to understanding the passage is in the opening phrase: "Who can find a worthy...?" If one must search, then it can't be the standard; can't be the everyday baseline for acceptable behavior in this life. Who could fully live up to that?

"Not exactly a role model" could describe any of us. In that light, the Proverbs 31 passage constitutes a worthy goal for us all.


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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt
Proper 20 (25) (September 23, 2012)

Proverbs 31:10-31
Psalm 1
Jeremiah 11:18-20
Psalm 54
James 3:13 - 4:3, 7-8a
Mark 9:30-37

Who can find a worthy human? If you are one of those who, like me, believes the search for ideals is a good use of your time, then join us Friday morning at Cafe Cappuccino (downtown Waco on 6th, near the Courthouse) at 8:00.

The food is good and the company is better.

Enjoy the week!
Steve

In the School of Life

In the School of Life
(a brief Lectionary reflection by Steve Orr)

While life may, indeed, be like a box of chocolates, I think it's also a lot like high school. I recall a little piece of wisdom from those early years that still seems to have relevance, today:


The Freshman knows not and knows not he knows not.
The Sophomore knows not, but knows he knows not.
The Junior knows, but knows not he knows.
The Senior knows and knows he knows.

It seems like everything starts all over when you leave school. That supreme confidence you have dissipates almost overnight. Suddenly, at least in the school of life, you're a Freshman again. There is SO much to know, and you really have no idea just how huge is your ignorance. Those can be trying years. Just as in high school, you encounter people who seem to have some key pieces of information to which no one has allowed you access; information for which you don't even know how to frame the request.

But then a decade flies by and you enter the Sophomore season. You experience some of life; have relationships, pay for things, get married, have kids, gain and lose some jobs. Soon you find that, while you certainly don't know everything, you at least are aware of your ignorance. There is a certain comfort, at that point, in having achieved some orientation. Having come to an understanding of what you don't know, you find you can begin to focus on what you NEED to know.

In the blink of an eye a couple more decades disappear; welcome to the Junior season. You spend this period doing a lot of things: raising your kids to adulthood, paying off mortgages, being active in the community, maybe going back for some more education, maybe trying to glue together your work experiences into something resembling a career. But all through this period there is in the back reaches of your thoughts this small voice that keeps asking, "Is this the right thing to be doing? Should I be better in some way? Are the choices I am and have been making leading to a good result?" The questions don't stop you; you keep doing. But you're just not sure . . .

And then one day . . . you just know. You know what you did right and you know what you did wrong. It's not perfect; you're not all-wise and all-knowing. But there is a comfortable certainty that you do, finally, understand many things about life; at least among those life things that are important to you. And if you've achieved this Senior season of life, you can pause and luxuriate in that certainty for a bit. Yes, there is time for a semi-victory lap. Take it. Enjoy the moment. Soak in it for a little while. After so many decades, it is just nice to finally feel like a high school Senior again.

There is a constant among these seasons of our lives, though; the dynamic tension between what is urgent and what is important. In every season we are faced with choices of how we will allocate our time and resources; and more often than not we address the urgent over the important.

They say one of the most difficult things to do in this life is NOT answer a ringing telephone. Try that sometime. It illustrates something about urgency. When we perceive something as urgent (urging us to action), it is very difficult to choose a different, perhaps even more important, activity at that time.

Oh, to be sure, there are urgent matters that are also important; that's how many of them came to be urgent in the first place. But there are also important things that arrive without the flare and blare of urgency. We know we need to do them, but . . . well . . . there are all those other things that need doing first! ;-)

It doesn't really matter, though, what or how much we know, or with what degree of certainty, if at the conclusion we've missed something of great importance. And it is into this relatively quiet moment that I wish to step with a suggestion.

Your spiritual development, if you are like most of us, has not gotten quite the time and attention as have some matters, perhaps more urgent seeming matters, over the years. Make some time for it. You'll have to, you know---make time for it. Our lives are too busy for the time to just make itself available for this very important thing.

There is a reason high school graduations are called "Commencement." But you don't have to wait for some official moment.

Start now. Whatever season of life you're in.

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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
http://lectionary.library.vanderbilt
September 14, 2012

Numbers 21:4b-9
Psalm 98:1-5 or Psalm 78:1-2, 34-38
1 Corinthians 1:18-24
John 3:13-17

Join us Friday if you can. We're still meeting at Cafe Cappuccino (downtown Waco on 6th, near the Courthouse) at 8:00 every Friday morning, eating a delicious breakfast and kicking around thoughts on this week's scriptures.

They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Who knows? This one may be one of the most important of your life :-)

Enjoy the week!