onewhoponders

Daily Office Readings for Saturday of Proper 26 Year 1

AM Psalm 75, 76; PM Psalm 23, 27 Ezra 9:1-15; Rev. 17:1-14; Matt. 14:22-36

“You speak in my heart and say, “Seek my face.” Your face, Lord, will I seek.” (Psalm 27: 8 or 11 depending on the Bible)

There are many variations of this verse and it appears not always in the same place within the Psalm.  What appeals to me is the God-connection our soul or heart has with God.  There is something within us that begs to connect, or reconnect with God.

Too many of us choose not to listen to the yearning within us that will connect with God. But the opportunity is within us, all of us. Often the connection to God cannot be explained with words. As Paul says there are sighs too deep for words. It has been said and I believe it, that we humans are a spiritual species.  Yes, we walk around in primate bodies but we have a special connection with the Creator  of all things.

Our greatest quest is to seek the presence of the Holy One, to “Seek His Face.”  I ask people that I companion with spiritually to meditate.  And, as they do so, I ask them to journal.  Few people, it seems, want to put their feelings and thoughts, and prayers in writing.  They don’t want to do it even on a pin-locked laptop. 

God is knocking on the door of our souls, every human soul on earth.  It matters not whether you believe there is a God, God knows that you exist.  God’s existence is not based on whether or not people believe in God.  God just is, and God is good.   And God is seeking you out.  God speaks in your heart and says, “Seek my face.” Will you RSVP?

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying to and through the saints of God and then ponder anew what the Almighty can do.  John+

Daily Office Readings for Friday of Proper 26 Year 1

AM Psalm 69:1-23(24-30)31-38; PM Psalm 73  Ezra 7:27-28, 8:21-36; Rev. 15:1-8; Matt. 14:13-21

Psalm 73:16 & 17

16 When I tried to understand these things, *
it was too hard for me;
17 Until I entered the sanctuary of God *
and discerned the end of the wicked.

We should really want you to feel the love of Jesus as it is intended to be. We can’t understand some things.  We just have to trust, trust in the love of God and the mystery of the sacraments.  

I was never one who went to church. I did attend a Catholic school when I was young and that experience made a lasting impression on me.  I was absolutely convinced that the Sisters and the Priest talked directly to God Almighty, and God to them, about me. 

Years later, and at a very difficult time in my life I asked to see a priest. My friend and co-worker said he would take me to see his priest. I reminded him that he was not Catholic.  He said you don’t have to be Catholic to be a priest.  And now, here I am myself, an Episcopal priest. Yes, God has a sense of humor.

When I entered the Sanctuary of St Anne’s Episcopal Church in Memphis, Tennessee way back then, life changed for me.  The smells, the beauty of the place, the very presence of prayer and worship filled my soul.  I knew right then that church, this church,  was the element that was missing in my life.  So I committed myself to Church and have been a faithful attendant ever since.  So, the Psalmist was right when he said, “When I tried to understand these things, it was too hard for me; until I entered the sanctuary of God.

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying to and through the saints of God and then ponder anew what the Almighty can do.  John+

Daily Office Readings for Thursday of Proper 26 Year 1

AM Psalm [70], 71; PM Psalm 74 Ezra 7:(1-10)11-26; Rev. 14:1-13; Matt. 14:1-12

Psalm 71:17 & 18:

17.  O God, you have taught me since I was young, *
and to this day I tell of your wonderful works.


18.  And now that I am old and gray-headed, O God, do not forsake me, *
till I make known your strength to this generation
and your power to all who are to come.

When I tell the story of my life to others I often say that I grew up “un-churched.”  And while that is true, I did attend a Catholic School.  However, there has always been a sense of God in, or around my life. And I don’t think I always share that very important piece.  So Like the Psalmist, “O God, you have taught me since I was young.”  I have gotten through some tight spots in my life and now in the relative comfort of my senior years I look back and see that the presence of God was always there, near me, blessing me.

As an old man now and an Episcopal Priest I feel the need to tell the story of, not just God in my life, but God acting in the world.  My adult mantra is, “I can never see where God is or what God is doing, but I can always see where God was and what God has done.”  Finally I’m getting a sense that God is very present always and for me to see God “in the act” I need to just settle down and be still.

Now I want God to bless me with the opportunity to make known the wonderful presence of God in all our lives every day. So I quote the Psalmist again, “And now that I am old and gray-headed, O God, do not forsake me, till I make known your strength to this generation and your power to all who are to come.” 

All of us should share with others the many ways in which God has acted in our lives.  People today really need to hear this Good News. Who knows, maybe the time will come when God will let us see what God is doing while it is actually happening. Such an event would be walking through the Red Sea, Again.

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying to and through the saints of God and then ponder anew what the Almighty can do.  John+

Readings for William Temple Archbishop of Canterbury, 1944

Psalm 119: 97-104 Ephesians 3:7-12  John 1:9-18

“The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him.  But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.”  (John 1: 9 – 13)

I think William Temple accepted, and received, Jesus as the true light and was thus made a child of God.

“Temple was born October 15, 1881, and baptized three weeks later, on November 6, in Exeter Cathedral. His father, Dr. Frederick Temple, Bishop of Exeter and then of London, became Archbishop of Canterbury when William was fifteen. Growing up at the heart of the Church of England, William’s love for it was deep and lifelong.”  (Great Cloud of Witnesses for November 6)  He didn’t have to find the church, the church pretty much made him.  While I sometimes wish I had a “from birth experience with the church”, I am glad and thankful that I found the church even though I was not brought up that way.

“At the age of two, he had the first attack of the gout that would be with him throughout life and eventually kill him. His eyesight was bad, and a cataract, present from infancy, left him completely blind in the right eye when he was 40. However, he was an avid reader, with a near-photographic memory, and once he had read a book, it was his. He was a passionate lover of the music of Bach. In literature, his special enthusiasms were poetry (Browning and Shelley), drama (the Greeks and Shakespeare), and a few novels, especially The Brothers Karamazov. He believed that theological ideas were often explored most effectively by writers who were not explicitly writing theology.” One of his more well-known quotes is this: “The Church is the only society that exists for the benefit of those who are not its members.” (James Kiefer for November 6)  I think if we don’t take away anything else from Temple we should remember his quote.  I put it this way: The Church is in the world for the world, not for itself. This view helps us to resist the urge to become cathedrals, but rather, missionary stations.

“Though he was never subject to poverty himself, he developed a passion for social justice which shaped his words and his actions. He owed this passion to a profound belief in the Incarnation. He wrote that in Jesus Christ God took flesh and dwelt among us, and, as a consequence, “the personality of every man and woman is sacred.””  (Great Cloud of Witnesses for November 6)  William Temple did more with one good eye and one good foot than many of us do with both eyes and both feet (me very much included).

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying to and through the saints of God and then ponder anew what the Almighty can do.  John+

Daily Office Readings for Tuesday of Proper 26 Year 1

AM Psalm 61, 62; PM Psalm 68:1-20(21-23)24-36 Neh. 12:27-31a,42b-47; Rev. 11:1-19; Matt. 13:44-52

Matthew 13: 44 – 46

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

 ‘Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.”

These verses are all about prioritizing what we value. I have found that what I value has changed over time.  I value fancy cars and lots of money much less than I used to (if at all).  In fact, I really don’t care what kind of car I have now as long as it’s dependable.  As far as money is concerned, I just want to be reasonably comfortable, food, shelter, something to wear and my laptop, ha, ha.

Lifelong learning is the most important thing to me now, and yes, I would probably sell all I have in order to pay for a doctoral program at Virginia Theological Seminary or Duke University. Such an education would be my treasure or fine pearl.  I am a mentor for Education of Ministry (EfM) operated out of the School of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee.  I tell my participants all the time that our class is not about them, it is about me, I love this stuff.  I say it jokingly, (But it’s kind of true too)

I just want to ponder more and more. Pondering is the way I pray.  For what would you sell “all you have” to buy?  It says a lot about who you are.

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying to and through the saints of God and then ponder anew what the Almighty can do.  John+

Daily Office Readings for Monday of Proper 26 Year 1

AM Psalm 56, 57, [58]; PM Psalm 64, 65 Neh. 6:1-19; Rev. 10:1-11; Matt. 13:36-43

Psalm 57:7, 8, 9

My heart is firmly fixed, O God, my heart is fixed;
I will sing and make melody.

Wake up, my spirit;
awake, lute and harp;
I myself will waken the dawn.

 I will confess you among the peoples, O Lord;
I will sing praise to you among the nations.

I played guitar with my friend David last night. He is a patient teacher.  We go over and over musical chords until I get it.  It really makes me happy when I can keep up with him.  It makes me even happier when I can play Christian music as part of my own personal worship and prayer life.

For the most part I am not a fan of the Psalms, but some of them strike a chord with me, pun intended. I care less for words that want God to punish my enemies and I care more for words that reflect my heart being fixed on the love of God. But I am evolving, I am still a work in progress even though I have felt this way for a long time now.

Singing hymns often has us standing side by side as we embrace the melody.  Whether we are in pews or just standing and singing, we find ourselves shoulder to shoulder harmonizing for God.  It is the same when playing instruments; we tend to be side by side as we read the music.  This is the position of prayer also.  We don’t pray “to” each other, we pray “with” each other.  This is the way to raise children, playing and praying with them, side by side.  One of the most precious sights I have ever seen was one of our parish pianist and her very young daughter sitting at a piano and playing during the service. Their hearts were firmly fixed O Lord, their hearts are fixed.  And we sang and made melody.

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying to and through the saints of God and then ponder anew what the Almighty can do.  John+

Eucharistic Readings for Sunday of Proper 26, Year C Track 2

Isaiah 1:10-18  Psalm 32:1-82 Thessalonians 1:1-4, 11-12 Luke 19:1-10

“Then Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham.  For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost.” (Luke 19: 9 – 10)

I always see Danny De Vito as Zacchaeus; a little man but open to change. Funny how a man climbs a tree to see a man who will end his life on a tree.  This is something to ponder later. 

Something else to ponder is that Zacchaeus is called a “chief” tax collector.  This shows how he is considered even further removed from the House of Israel and from the Temple. He is perhaps the most repugnant among the excluded of the Hebrew people. But Jesus hears his change of heart and proclaims him also “a son of Abraham.”  Jesus by passes all the Temple bureaucracy and puts Zacchaeus back into the Promise of God.

My barber gave me a sycamore sapling a few years ago.  It’s growing but not yet large enough or strong enough to climb.  I hope that when Jesus comes my way the tree with be ready.  I am.

Jesus declares that he came to earth for just that reason. He came for people like me.  But like Zacchaeus, I too must get myself into a place where I can see who Jesus is and then allow him to come and visit with me.  I must make right the wrongs I’ve done and promise to do all I can to fix or mend what I’ve broken.  I too want to be placed back into the fold of Abraham.

How about you?  Climbed any sycamore trees lately?  He is coming!

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying to and through the saints of God and then ponder anew what the Almighty can do.  John+

Readings for the Commemoration of the faithful departed (All Souls Day) 2019

Psalm 130 Wisdom 3:1-9 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 John 5:24-27 

“Very truly, I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life, and does not come under judgments, but has passed from death to life.” (John 5; 24)

If nothing else, Jesus is the Great Teacher of Him who sent Him.  The Gospel of John uses the word “believe” a verb, rather than “faith” a noun, the word found in the Synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark ad Luke.  John wants action.  We must do something. We must believe.

This very day I am to do a funeral where in the Gospel of John Jesus asks Martha, at the site of the tomb of her dead brother Lazarus, if she believes him.  Believing is the key to eternal life. Remember John 3:16? “ For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”  This is a consistent message from the Gospel of John.

Those of our loved ones and relatives who believed, even though they die, they live again.  Today we remember those who have gone before. We remember those who lived long lives and those whose lives were cut short either by accident, sickness or violence.

Personally, I am glad that our church has set aside a day of remembrance for all our loved ones.  I find it appalling to remember our loved ones who were murdered on a day picked by bad people to do evil like 9/11 or even random murders.  We can mark the day and revisit the sadness but let’s lift up our family and friends in the Church on this day that our Church has set aside for just such an occasion.  We will remember them today as we give thanks to Jesus for them and look forward to our joining them one day in that heavenly abode where Jesus will call each of us by name out of the shadow of darkness and into eternal light. Thank You Jesus

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying to and through the saints of God and then ponder anew what the Almighty can do.  John+

Eucharistic Readings for All Saint’s Day 2019                                                             

Ecclesiasticus 44:1-14; Psalm 149;  Revelation 7:2–4,9–17;  Matthew 5:1-12

“Blessed are”

These are the words we have as the Gospel of Matthew presents the Beatitudes in Chapter 5.  There are 9 “Blessed Are”s.  

Today is All Saints Day.  Today we remember those who are lifted up from our midst and honored for their devotion and service to others in Jesus’ Name.  We have those who are famous like St Francis and Joan of Arc. And we have those not so famous on the world stage like people in our own life where only a few of us knew of their good and honorable deeds.  This latter category of saints is normally recognized on November 2^nd as we commemorate the lives of the faithful departed or All Souls Day. I am doing a combined service this Sunday to remember all Saints, famous and personal.

Something to notice from the famous saints are the challenges they were required to endure on their unintended climb to sainthood. The Beatitudes mentioned in Matthew speak to this.  Each and every “Blessed Are” shows a challenge or some level of suffering before eternal joy comes.  The Saints also underwent challenges. Certainly St Francis and Joan of Arc did as did all those we hold in high esteem.

As we look at those whom we want to recognize as saints we must ask ourselves if they too faced challenges and faced them with steadfast Christian courage.  In our later years we have Mother Teresa and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and others.  I don’t think we have to depend on any one church to determine for us who is a saint and who is not.  St Paul typically referred to all worshiping communities as saints of that city.  It is an inclusive term of endearment meant for those recognized as tenacious people of faith, no matter what. And so, let us recall the words (by Lesbia Scott) of the hymn “I Sing a Song of the Saints of God” as found in our 1982 Hymnal where the words of the last verse are:

“They lived not only in ages past, there are hundreds of thousands still, the world is bright with the joyous saints who loved to do Jesus’ will.  You can meet them in school, or in lanes, or at sea, in church, or in trains, or in shops, or at tea, for the saints of God are just folk like me and I mean to be one too.”

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying to and through the saints of God and then ponder anew what the Almighty can do.  John+

Daily Office Readings for Thursday of Proper 25 Year 1

AM Psalm 50; PM Psalm [59, 60] or 103 Neh. 1-1:11; Rev. 5:11-6:11; Matt. 13:18-23

“Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, singing, ‘To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!’ (Revelation  5:13)

Perhaps The Revelation to John from Jesus is the most avoided book in our New Testament.  I think some just don’t understand it and that’s not to suggest that I do, at least not all of it.  But then who can truly say he or she understands all of any book of the Bible?  There were even attempts to keep it out of the Christian cannon by Martin Luther.  But here we have it in all its sometimes spooky detail.  How appropriate for Halloween.  Hardly anybody today knows about All Saints Day which brought about All Hallow’s Eve in the first place.

I think the thing to take away from the Book of Revelation is the notification that we will be praising God with song in Heaven.  Everybody sings in heaven!  Once we get past the slaughter of beasts and the various proclamations, we sing.

Maybe the best use of our time in this life is to prepare to give voice in song to the glory of God in the next life.  I think there is a hint of this message in the first verse of Hymn “Praise to the Lord” 1982 Hymnal : “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation; O my soul, praise him, for he is thy health and salvation; join the great throng, psaltery, organ, and song, sounding in glad adoration.” 

Yes, let us join the great throng singing ‘To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!’

Let us hear what the Spirit is saying to and through God’s people and then ponder anew what the Almighty can do.  John+