onewhoponders

Daily Office Readings for Tuesday of the 3^rd Week of Advent: Year 1

Morning, Psalm 45; Evening, Psalms 47 and 48:
Isaiah  9:1 to 7; 2^nd Peter 1:12 to 21; Luke 22:54 to 69

“For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of his majesty.  For he received honor and glory from God the Father when that voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory, saying, ‘This is my Son, my Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.’  We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven, while we were with him on the holy mountain.”  (2^nd Peter 1:16 to 18)

Peter must have had a heavy heart as he framed his letters. He had to be burning with shame being fully aware of his denial of Jesus as told in our Luke Gospel reading for today. But he presses on.

Simon Peter’s testimony of God recognizing our Lord Jesus as the Messiah is one of the most compelling witnesses we have in the Bible. We hear of the Transfiguration in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. But then this repeat of the event outside the Gospel is the icing on the cake. The voice from heaven declaring that our Lord Jesus “is the Son of God in whom God was well pleased to dwell,” was first proclaimed at the Baptism of Jesus in the Same Gospel accounts.  However, at the Transfiguration, the words, “Listen to Him,” were added. What more do we need?

Peter, and the others, did indeed not follow cleverly devised myths about who God was, and is, and is doing, and neither should we today. It was no myth.  Our faith heritage is the most precious gift we could ever receive.  Since reading “Sabbath” by Abraham Heschel, I am convinced that the Transfiguration itself, is more important than being on a holy mountain. Heschel says it is not places that make events significant, but rather, events that make places significant. Our Lord Jesus could have shown his true Self anywhere; and when that happens, it is the Sabbath. Our Lord Jesus will still do this today and wherever it happens, it will be Holy Ground and a Sabbath time.

 Our Lord Jesus can invite you to follow him into a certain place in your own home and reveal who he really is to you and how you are to go forward from that point on.  Are you ready for that? Our Lord Jesus is no made up story.  And, it is not so much that he “was” real, It is that He “IS” Real! Funny how the English words “Is Real,” sounds like the Hebrew word, “Israel,” don’t you think? He is Risen, and working through us, for the benefit of us, and will still reveal himself to us in our prayers and through the saints of God. 

Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine, Iran and China.

As we listen to what the Spirit is saying to us, let us live to love and serve, and to teach others to love and serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Daily Office Readings for Monday of the 3^rd Week of Advent: Year 1

Morning, Psalms 41 and 52; Evening, Psalm 44:
Isaiah 8:16 to 9:1; 2^nd Peter 1:1to11; Luke 22:39 to 53

“Thus he has given us, through these things, his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of lust, and may become participants in the divine nature. For this very reason, you must make every effort to support your faith with goodness, and goodness with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with endurance, and endurance with godliness, and godliness with mutual affection, and mutual affection with love.” (2^nd Peter 1:4 to 7)

The people of the world are full of lust for personal desires.  Such lust ranges from the desire for power, money, fame, and many other such self-serving intentions. From Genesis we learn, “Then God, seeing that the wickedness of men was great upon the earth and that every thought of their heart was intent upon evil at all times,” (Genesis 6:5). We must be careful not to fall into the traps of this world.  I think the lesson from Peter’s second letter should be well studied.

We must first have faith and then support our faith with good works believing in the good Lord.  We must study the holy writings in order to acquire the knowledge needed for self-control. Passions will come but we must keep control over them. The only way to do this is through religious practices like regular prayer and worship. We must do this daily, and as Peter says, with endurance. There are no excuses. What I tell people all the time is that we first have to have what we want to do, or be, in our minds.  If we don’t first determine in our minds and hearts where we are going, we will never get anywhere. And we must be consistent, we must control the self.

It is no surprise that Peter ends his progression with love.  Peter has experienced the love of our Lord Jesus who forgave him and loved him even through Peter’s denial of him.  This is the kind of love that will get us to where we want to be.  If who we want to be is not based on love that is made manifest by mutual affection, then who we want to be may be based upon evil as is God’s criticism of humanity from Genesis above. Much, but not all, of Saint Peter’s words are definitely words we should read and heed.

Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine, Iran and China.

As we listen to what the Spirit is saying to us, let us live to love and serve, and to teach others to love and serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Eucharistic Readings for the 3^rd Sunday of Advent: Year A

Isaiah 35:1-10;   Psalm 146:4-9;   James 5:7-10;  Matthew 11:2-11:

“When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?”” (Matthew 11:2 -3)

Waiting is an art.  Today we should be so adapt at it. We wait for everything; we wait for our turn in various lines at checkout counters or bank teller windows; we wait in traffic, we wait for someone to finally make it to a meeting that was supposed to start 10 minutes ago.  Waiting is both active and challenging.   We can’t stop being because we have to wait.  We must live through it.  We can try to distract ourselves while waiting, like playing with our phones, but it still means we are not there yet, the message we give to the impatient kids in the back seat.

Our Lord Jesus assures the disciples of John the Baptist that their wait and ours is over, at least for the initial coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. But it seems that John had such developed waiting skills that he was willing to keep waiting if Jesus was not the one.  For him it was a way of life. On this third Sunday of Advent, we may even learn of the joy of waiting as we light the pink or rose-colored candle on the Advent Wreath.  I think there was some joy in it for John. He loved waiting so much he wanted to know if he could wait still further.  And I think it should be this way for us as well.  In Chapter 5 of the Reading for James we are asked to wait as the farmer waits in anticipation for the rain.

 “Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. You also must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near.” (James 5:7 – 8)

Yes, Jesus’ first appearance was the early rains.  His second coming will be the late rains. We need to hone our waiting skills so that we too are comfortable, even joyfully waiting. We need to strengthen our hearts for the coming of the late rains. 

We should not let our waiting make us expect certain looks or human signs for the prophet of God or the coming of the Lord.  A broken reed, or someone dressed for success may not be the sign God is sending. We are created to be a people of patience. Which means we are a people gifted with the art of waiting.  I really have more to say, but let’s wait!

Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine, Iran and China.

As we listen to what the Spirit is saying to us, let us live to love and to serve, and then, to teach others to love and serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Daily Office Readings for Saturday of the 2^nd Week of Advent: Year 1

Morning, Psalms 30 and 32; Evening, Psalms 42 and 43:
Isaiah 8:1 to 15; 2^nd  Thessalonians 3:6 to 18; Luke 22:31 to 38:

“But I have prayed for you that your own faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned back, strengthen your brothers” (Luke 22:32)

It seems that our Lord Jesus already knows that Peter will fall away, and he does.  But it seems that Jesus also knows that Peter will come to himself, and return to the Lord, and Peter does that too.

To this point the apostles had been believing primarily on the faith of Jesus.  But Jesus prays that they, and we, come into our own faith. Jesus tells Peter about his denial of him three times before the rooster crows. I have heard that rooster crow.  I hear that rooster crow every time I do something that is inconsistent with the teachings of our Lord Jesus. I hear the rooster and look into the eyes of a disappointed, yet, loving and forgiving Jesus.

It is my sincere intention to “come to myself.”  I am tired of what that rooster’s crow means to me.  I want to be in a place where I can hear the crow and smile because I will know it no longer applies to my denial of the teachings of Jesus.  How about you?  Have you heard the crow of the rooster?  When you hear it, do you ponder about how you might have done or said something that you would not want our Lord Jesus to witness? 

Come into your own faith. Our Lord Jesus is still praying that we come into our own faith. We will fail from time to time to be who we are created to be.  But it’s not over. We also have the responsibility of when we turn back, to assist our brothers and sisters with their struggle with the rooster’s crow.  Let’s let that rooster remind us of what we are taught by our Lord Jesus, and like Peter, turn our lives around so that the rooster’s crow will be the sound of happiness because we have moved on.

Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine and Iran.

As we listen to what the Spirit is saying to us, let us live to love, to serve, and to teach others to love and serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Daily Office Readings for Friday of the 2^nd Week of Advent: Year 1

Morning, Psalm 31; Evening, Psalm 35;
Isaiah 7:10 to 25; 2^nd Thessalonians 2:13 to 3:5; Luke 22:14 to 30

“So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by our letter.” (2^nd Thessalonians 2:15)

I did not grow up churched.  I wish I had been. I raised three of my daughters with a Church tradition however; but I still don’t know if it stuck.  At least they have it in their bones if they ever want to revert back to it.  I probably should have done more lecturing about “holding fast” to their tradition. 

I have been a practicing Christian along the Episcopal path since my Baptism at the Easter Vigil of 1980. So I have a little over forty years of ingrained Episcopal Church tradition.  If you say, “The Lord be with you,” I can’t help but respond with, “And also with you.”  It even slips out when I am watching a Star Wars movie and I hear, “The Force be with you.” In a low voice I whisper back, “And also with you.”  It has become my tradition.

In Education for Ministry (EfM), we do Theological Reflection. With Theological Reflection we are shown that there are four sources from which all major concerns come.  Of the four sources, Tradition means Christian Tradition which includes our Church, the Bible, Christian music or writings as well as Christian art. Theological Reflection asks us to consider our Tradition when pondering our experiences in life. As Paul says, we must stand firm in our Church traditions as we consider our thoughts and actions.

I was an active duty Marine for 30 years, I have been an active duty Christian now for more than 40 years, more than fifteen of those forty years as clergy.  I have a lot of ingrained discipline and tradition, and I’m thankful for all of it.

All of us have some kind of life tradition taught to us by parents, or, as in my case, the institutions we joined and grow up in. While I support young people in participating in the military as part of their personal development and as a civic and patriotic duty, I strongly encourage them to become participating and practicing members of a faith community. They should keep up with the passing weeks in their lives not by their days off, but rather, by their meetings with like-minded worshipers on a weekly basis. Church needs to be our tradition and we should hold fast to those traditions that we were taught by parents, pastors and Christian educators.

Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine, Iran and China.

 “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done” (Genesis 2:1 and 2). So, for this evening and tomorrow day my friends, Shabbat Shalom. 

What is Shabbat? Intro to the Jewish Sabbath – YouTube

As we listen to what the Spirit is saying to us, let us live to love and serve, and to teach others to love and serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Daily Office Readings for Thursday of the 2^nd Week of Advent: Year 1

Morning, Psalm 37:1 to 18; Evening, Psalm 37:19 to 42;
Isaiah. 7:1 to 9; 2^nd Thessalonians 2:1to 12; Luke 22:1 to 13:

“If you do not stand firm in faith, you shall not stand at all.” (Isaiah 7:9)

This is the second half of verse 9 of chapter 7.  But it says everything.  We were created in the  prayers of God to be a people of faith.  God embedded in us the faith connection that informs us about the existence of the Creator. God also gives us the free will to not realize it or live by it.

We may get fairly far in life only counting on our money, physical strength, family connections, political position, or some other human idolatrous anomaly. But all of these can be lost in life.  Some would argue that we could also lose our faith; perhaps, and if so, it is the saddest of all.

 Losing one’s faith will almost certainly cause the loss of at least one of the human attributes; money, health, family or social position. And if faith is lost, where are we when we are called to judgment? And my beloved of the Lord, each and every one of us will be called to judgment.

Belief, moreover, trust and faith in a Power greater than ourselves, who loves us, is the deal breaker in human existence.  We need that faith to keep us going when we find ourselves against the wall and there seems to be no way out.  Our heart screams, “Where are you Lord?” I feel sad for the person who has no faith and yet is in a desperate situation.

We have wonderful examples of Biblical figures who walked by faith.  Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Ruth, Esther and Mordecai, and John the Baptist and the apostles of our Lord Jesus, all walked by faith and not by sight, or money, or power, or any human icon of importance. So I like what Isaiah says, “If you do not stand firm in faith, you shall not stand at all.”  Let us listen to this prophet and use our God-given faith, and then walk the rest of this life in faith, in God.

Please keep up your thoughts and prayers for Ukraine, Iran and China.

As we listen to what the Spirit is saying to us, let us live to love, and to serve, and to teach others to love and serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Daily Office Readings for Wednesday of the 2^nd Week of Advent: Year 1

Morning, Psalm 38; Evening, Psalm 119:25 to 48:
Isaiah 6:1 to 13; 2^nd  Thessalonians 1:1 to 12; John 7:53 to 8:11

“The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery; and making her stand before all of them, they said to him, ‘Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery.”  (John 8:3 and 4)

She was not caught alone, she, (and someone else with her), was caught in adultery.  It might have even been one of the men standing in the crowd of scribes and Pharisees with a stone in his hand.  But then our Lord Jesus says to them, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” (John 8: 3 and 4)  They all, one by one, had to deal with their own shortfalls, and walk away. None of us today are without sin.

Twice during this scene Jesus stoops to the ground and writes something. I wish we had what he wrote, if he was writing.  Maybe with his hand touching the ground, his Spirit moved through the ground and touched the conscience of the scribes and Pharisees and elders who were accusing the woman. Therefore, maybe he didn’t even write at all. I ponder these kinds of things. Something shook the men into knowing that they were not innocent of various sins.

Look at what’s going on here.  Jesus reaches down to touch the ground, to write or whatever. The accusing men reach down to pick up a stone. What do we reach down for, when something or someone we don’t like comes before us?  Maybe such a time is the time to take notes, with pen and paper, or just a mental note about what is going on in our hearts and minds, and about our own spotted history. We too are still “works in progress.”  Even with our flaws, in Christ Jesus, we are the saints of God. Saints pardon and forgive. Reach down, but be careful about what you pick up.

Please keep up your thoughts and prayers for Ukraine, Iran and China.

As we listen to what the Spirit is saying to us, let us live to love, and to serve, and to teach others to love and serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Daily Office Readings for Tuesday of the 2^nd  Week of Advent 2020: Year 1

Morning, Psalms 26 and 28; Evening, Psalms 36 and 39;
Isaiah 5:13 to 17 and 24 to 25; 1^st  Thessalonians 5:12 to 28; Luke 21:29 to 38

“And we urge you, beloved, to admonish the idlers, encourage the faint-hearted, help the weak, be patient with all of them. See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.  Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise the words of prophets, but test everything; hold fast to what is good;” (1^St Thessalonians, 5: 14 to 21)

In Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians he gives them, and us, lessons in how to relate with each other. His instruction requires us to at least notice others; are they idlers, are they faint-hearted, are they weak?  We can’t live in community in a vacuum.  The implied answer to Cain’s question of “Am I my brother’s keeper?” is, yes. (Genesis 4:9)

It is hard to be patient and to rejoice always.  We have sad times.  We can however pray without ceasing.  Such prayer is not formal, spoken prayers, but rather, thoughts of appealing to God for help.  This can, and often should be done, quietly. It is being thankful and saying “Thank You Jesus” when you realize things could have been worse.

Regular reading of scripture certainly helps us in our relationship with others.  As you know, I read our Daily Office “daily.”  I don’t really get a lot from all of the readings.  But even acknowledging what I don’t like, helps.  There is much wisdom in the Bible.  But I advise you to say a little prayer before you read asking the Holy Spirit to assist you with understanding, and then a prayer of thanks at the conclusion. Perhaps a Bible Study group would help.  The prophets still speak to us through these ancient words.

Today we remember Nicholas of Myra; (AKA, Santa Claus).  As Nicholas lived, Santa Claus is real. Check him out at http://www.satucket.com/lectionary/Nicholas.htm

Please keep up your thoughts and prayers for Ukraine, Iran and China.

As we listen to what the Spirit is saying to us, let us live to love, to serve, and to teach others to love and serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

Daily Office Readings for Monday of the Second Week of Advent: Year 1

Morning, Psalm 25; Evening, Psalms 9 and 15;
Isaiah 5:8 to 12 and 18 to 23; 1 Thessalonians  5:1 to 11; Luke 21:20 to 28

“All the paths of the Lord are love and faithfulness to those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.” (Psalm 25:9)

Our Presiding Bishop, the Most Reverend Michael Curry, has said of our Church that we are the Episcopal path of the Jesus movement.  I like it! Judaism and Islam are a couple of other, well established faith paths that exist outside of the Christian path, but paths non-the-less.

Of these three, Judaism is the oldest, and in fact, Christianity has its roots in Judaism. The Psalmist says, “All the paths of the Lord are love and faithfulness to those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.”  Keeping covenant is something we have failed to do over and over again.  The Bible records over and over again how the People of Israel fail to keep covenant with God and then go into repentance and God saves us again.  It makes no difference if covenant is made up of two laws (Love God and love your neighbor), or, if covenant is 613 laws from the Hebrew Testament. We repeatedly fail and must call on God for salvation. Failure requires love and faith.

Love is expressed in all of the three mentioned religious traditions.  There is love of deity and love of fellow human being.  There should be no room for jealousy or hatred within our faith paths, or of another faith tradition.  We are all God’s children.  And God loves us all the same.  All humanity is “favored.”  There is no one group within humanity favored over another.

Faith is the other necessary component of a religion.  We must understand that there is a Master of Creation, the Creator and Maintainer.  There is a Presence larger and far more important than ourselves.  It is in this Presence that we place our trust. This trust is for the benefit of life in creation: a creation held together by the love of the faithful Creating Maintainer.

Love and faith make up the Christian covenant (and perhaps others faith covenants as well) that our Lord Jesus left for us Christians.  We are to love the Lord our God with all that we are.  We are also to trust in the lord in all situations, no matter what.  And the second is like onto it, we are to love our neighbor as our self, (which includes loving ourselves).  Our faith is the path that the Holy One uses to enter our heart.  From our heart, the Holy One spreads love. “All the paths of the Lord are love and faithfulness to those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.”

Please keep up your thoughts and prayers for Ukraine, Iran and China.

As we listen to what the Spirit is saying to us, let us live to love, to serve, and to teach others to love and serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John

New Testament Eucharistic Readings for Sunday of the 2^nd Week of Advent: Year A

Romans 15:4-13 and Matthew 3:1-12

 “John said to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our ancestor’; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham.” (Matthew 3: 7 to 9)

While John the Baptist is not the most eloquent of coastal hosts, he does get to the point of racial or genetic identity being of no consequence as far as God is concerned.  It means nothing to God. God made all humanity with no intention of making one genetic code superior to another. There is no such thing as race as for as God is concerned. Race is a human made construct used to discriminate against those of us who look different, sound different, or have different traditions and customs. 

This so-called entitled privilege goes further than just race or overall human classifications. John speaks of direct human descendants, he speaks of direct offspring, sons and daughters. In 1^st Samuel we learn that Samuel was received by Eli to raise because his sons deviated from Eli’s teachings.  And then, later we learn that  Samuel himself, had sons that did not keep in Samuel’s ways. Whether kings, or judges, or prophets or presidents, there is no guarantee our children will live with integrity as we do, if we do.

We are all God’s people and loved by God equally. Beyond ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation does not concern God as long as relationships are consensual and loving. The first concern each of us should have is personally living right and loving lives.

 We humans, as part of our fear of otherness, have since the beginning of recorded history, discriminated against any look, language or lifestyle different than our own. We fail to realize that it takes many different kinds of musical instruments to complete an orchestra. The range and sound of each brings its own character into play for a beautiful communal sound. The one tone that each instrument has is middle C. The one tone that we all have regardless of our different makeup is middle “C,” Christ. Christ is made manifest in many ways but always gracious and glorious, bringing orchestral beauty to the whole of the community.

It is so important on each of us to live loving lives as examples to those who come after us as well as to show God who we are. When are we going to stop fearing others and start truly accepting others, others different than ourselves? God is able to bring children to Christ from rocks, and as far as music goes, that really rocks.

Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine, Iran and China.

As we listen to what the Spirit is saying to us, let us live to love, to serve, and to teach others to love and serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John