Matthew 13:36-43
     "Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the  field."


      I'm struck by the fact that the disciples want Jesus to explain the parable of the wheat and weeds again. The reading for us was several days ago. In real life, to the disciples, it was the very same day. I find a comfort in that. These holy men and women asking Jesus to explain again what the message is because they didn't quite get the parable. And you know, Jesus explains it for them, probably a bit more to the point but he does. Jesus could have thrown up his hands but he simply explains it again.


    How often do we need to have things explained to us again ? a message we should know?  a mistake we made before? The disciples, those men and women followers of Jesus, were not quite that dfferent from you and I. I think we need to be reminded of that! They did not study and give a doctoral discertation on ancient Hebrew scripture. They were ordinary folk who loved to eat, drink and sit by a fire with each other.


      But if there is one thing I would stress that we should not forget, that we should repeat until we know it in our guts, as well as knowing our own name without hesiataion - it is that God loves us. Yeah, I know, I know. But what I mean is that God loves YOU the individual, infinitely and immesurably. In fact, if you were the only person on the planet he still would have submitted to the cross for you - that's how much God loves you. Remember that but don't worry, I'll explain it again, and again and again and He will show you again, and again and again.
God loves ( insert your name here ).


        Sprout and grown my little blade of wheat, reach for the sky, bask in the Son !
     

Matthew 13:31-35

       Hidden Truths

     "I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world"

The Holy Spirit is alive and still revealing truths today just as Jesus revealed truths 'hidden since the foundation of the world'.

     We once thought the world was flat. We once thought the earth to be the center of the universe.

We once thought slavery was ok. Indiginous people had no souls. On a more laughable note, a Pope once said suspension bridges were the work of the devil. We once believed women were second class citizens both legally and in the eyes of God.

    Some of these 'truths' were justified and defended by the church. Some of these 'truths' were supported, implicitly perhaps, by passages of scripture. As we have grown in knowledge and wisdom, the Spirit has revealed more truths to us just as Jesus did in his time. I don't think anyone in Jesus' time could fathom even the concept of particle physics. Yet little atoms and particles are known fact and they attest to the complexity of creation and the magnificence of God.

     The clues to God's creation and his design for us can be seen all around us. That is one source of the Spirit's revelation. Another is Holy Scripture. We need to have our eyes wide open to truly discrern God's presence, his message. In terms of scripture reading, we need to be incredibly careful in discerning the meanings of what has been written. We can become arrogant at best when we attest firmly to the meanings of single sentences or passages.

    I will use an example of an old letter written by my great Grandmother. It spoke of a birthday party held in her honor. In those days 'snail mail' was the rule and an art. Remember that, her time was different than our time. She wrote of everyone being gay and lots of coke being passed around to the guests. One might take that a bit differently these days but it was quite innocent and the words meant different things in her time.  There was no chance that she meant everyone was homosexual, lesbian and high on cocaine.

   Th truths of scripture must also be judged with a keen eye.  It is wrong to take simple minded translations away from scripture.  After all, it was a different time, different standards, foreign traditions and most of all, totally different languages. Note the original texts of Aramaic or Hebrew and the ensuining translations into Greek, Latin and English. Each had it's own keen definitions and meanings. We have no universal translotor as Star Trek does. We need to know everything to evaluate, interpret and see the meanigs intended for scripture. Translation is a science, several sciences in fact.

    The hidden meanings and word of God is still being revealed. Anyone who attests to the absolute value and meaning of a section of scripture, let alone a single line is being disingenuous.

     I mention this because I will be delving into specific issues and translations that may be part of a daily reflection in future blogs. I want everyone to understand, learn, where I am coming from. I want us all to be reminded that the Spirit is alive, God's love, wisdom and knowledge still being revealed.  Humanity as well as each one of us individually are on a journey to wholeness, the truth and wisdom of God's love is still unfolding for all of us like a flower not yet fully blossomed.

   Look sharp, LISTEN and grow.

John 6: 1-15
     Fragments


     "Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost."  Moving beyond a discussion of the miracle of the loaves and the fishes, I find genuine social teaching in this reading. Whomever might say that scripture that's 2000 years old has no bearing on us today, should read this. This reading is a directive for us as Americans if not a condemnation.


     The bounty of the world is enormous. In a world where incredible amounts of grain are used simply to rasie cattle, we as Americans are huge consumers. We are 5% of the world's population and yet we consume a disproportionately large amount of food and sadder still, waste a geat deal of food.  We also consume a quarter of the planets energy. 


    On one level this speaks horrors about our ability to share what we have, a model held high today in the Gospel reading. At the same time we are being given a command that we should not waste even what is left over.


      This is not news, there is a growing list of organizations and groups ( like Second Harvest ) that gather left over food from restaurants and other sources to feed the poor and needy. There is also the opportunity to donate to local food banks in our town ( Long Island Council of Churches )  and probably in our very own church.  If we are to take our spiritual growth seriously and look to the word of God as a directive or guide to how we are supposed to live, then we must take some action, in our personal lives and in the world at large. I am reminded two bumper stickers I've seen "ACT LOCALLY, THINK GLOBALY" AND "LIVE SIMPLY SO OTHERS MAY SIMPLY LIVE". I think we can make that, Eat simply as well.


        We have the directive, take a smalll step in doing what we should be doing.


     


      


     

Matthew 13:24-30

Wheat and weeds

     I am on a crusade of sorts to let everyone know their innate goodness. I think people need to know that and be reminded of it. I believe that if people had that in their consciousness they might act a little differently all day long. They are a unique and special gift from God. God made a decision that as part of his creation, he needed to create you as a gift to the world, as a special part of His plan for creation.

    That seems pretty awesome to me. If we all felt that way I could see a great many people might be walking around with swelled heads but also people might feel a great sense of responsibility for the gift God has given them. God has given us a great opportunity and we really do need to find out everything we can to bring ourselves to wholeness, to that unique gift to the world that God created.

      Now for the weeds.  I don't know who sows the 'weeds' in us. When you see how damaged and troubled some of us are, it seems a far cry from that beautiful empty canvas that stands before us at birth and Baptism. When I preached at Baptisms I tried to stress that the beautiful child that I held high as a new member of our community is a new canvas. We all will 'paint' on it to try and create the masterpiece that God wants. Somehow though, life intervenes and not always in a good way. 

S**! happens as they say. We all get damaged and broken. The child, we, become masterpieces with some flaws. 

      So as much as we are a beautiful gift from God we need to realize that while we have innate goodness, we also have some flaws. As part of our journey to wholeness we need to try and fix those problems. I don't know what has happened in your life to create those flaws. Some are inflicted on us, others we sadly inflict on ourselves by bad choices and misguided efforts to achieve wholeness and happiness in an artificial way.  So although I like to think we are all wheat growing and glistening in the sun, reaching upward to God in all it's symbolism, we also have some weeds growing in amongst the wheat as well.  The reading would tell us not to yank out the weeds lest we destroy the wheat as well. If we can't yank out our own weeds, le us at least recognize they are there and work on minimizing the bad affect they have on our lives and that journey to wholeness we are on.

       Our journey then is to all be whole wheat?

Matthew 13:18-23

   Sowing seeds

     

     I watched my son play tennis in so many matches and I never understood the scoring system. I heard words like 'love' and numbers that made absolutely no sense to me. That was 10 years ago or more. Fast forward to 4 years ago and I was asked to play and somehow it all made sense.  For whatever reason, at the age of 51, I took up tennis and it all made sense and I picked it up pretty well.  What seemed like Klingon to me now seems like my native tongue.

    I'm not wise enough to know why stuff like that happens but I'm wise enough to know that it does.

     Sometime in spite of our best efforts, we just don't get it. We try at something, anything - you fill in the blanks - and we fail. At some point further on in our journey of life we succeed at the very same thing.  And that is one of the two points that comes to mind about the sowing of seeds.

     One is that we are on a journey. A life trip to wholeness and everyone's journey is different. Some are similar but all are different. We should respect that, cherish that and even learn from that.  Somethings we will 'get' or learn or grow in the knowledge of and then other things may never take root in us. One person may learn something at 17 that another may not learn until they are 70. It's not for us to judge.

    The second point to this parable of the sowing of the seeds is that whatever our path is, whatever and where ever we are on our journey, we should give ourselves the best chance of success.  If we are talking spiritual growth - give the time needed for prayer, for listening. Listening is key. So is time set aside to worship.  The same is true for any endeaver. If we join weight watchers we have planted a seed. What 'soil' have we planted it in if we head off to KFC or to the chinese buffet? We have to be realsitic and give our journey the best chance at growing and flourishing.

     In sowing our seed well, in proper soil with proper furtilizer, we are respecting our talents and ourselves. We are honouring and respecting our own journey and perhaps most imortantly we are honouring and praising our God that created us. God wants us to be what he created each of us individually to be in all our glory. Shine my little flower and grow!

Matthew 13:10-17

   Having eyes and not seeing, having ears and not hearing. I guess this problem has been around awhile.  Jesus seems fit to speak about it to his disciples and He is really repeating what the prophet Isaiah said countless years before, You shall indeed hear but never understand, and you shall indeed see but never perceive.

     In the political maelstrom that we are now in, where candidates spew forth thier agendas and lies about thier opponents, I can't help but think about this reading. Do any of these people really listen to each other? Does the public listen to each side or simply demonize the side they dislike more for whatever reason.  Personally I think the 'right' is far less adept at listening. They have ears that clearly don't hear.


     Of course aside from politics, the ears that won't hear and eyes that won't see scenario isn't any more evident than with , sorry, the 'right' and evangelicals who condemn being gay. The anti-gay bigots seem to be fixated on a sexual act as if that defines being gay and I assure you, it does not. They read scripture but seem fit to read into that text what they want it to say. Scripture is taken out of context, is the victim of dubious translation and is used to support an agenda rather than the love of God which is what scripture is all about, isn't it? I can try to explain until I am blue in the face that an attraction to the same sex is not a perverse act, it is not a lifestyle but a gift from God. It is context in which a person seeks to find the love of God and hopefully another to live out the love of God and to show that love of God to the world in a life well lived and loved. Even when a couple has lived 50 years of committed monogamous love, some people will not see a life well lived and loved.


      Lastly, this scripture calls to mind our daily condition. We rise, eat, get to work, accomplish our assigned tasks, seek the end of the day or the weekend, come home, eat and return to slep. If we see ourselves in any of that routine, do we 'see' anything going on during that day? Do we see any love going on around us. Good deads? God's wonders? Charity? Fogivenss? Are our eyes actually seeing what is going on around us, what we are actull participating in and are we actually present? Are we there?


     Yesterday I woke. I tried to be present to the scripture I was reading and tried to give silnce and time to God who is trying to speak to me. I drove to work and saw my neighbor , the deer. I siad "be careful" and continued on my drive. I tried to be present to the computer order entry so that patient may get the loving care they deserve and need. I spoke with a supervisor who wanted tell me she was coming to my office next week because she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. I listened with my ears AND my eyes as she spoke insorrow and fear. I tried to be present, her and feel her pain. I came home and shared a wonderful bike ride among the vineyards with my new husband, my love. Afterward we had a picnic in the park. I tried to be present to the surroundings, the beautiful weather, to the delicious food that was perpared. Later still, I was very present to the gifted pieces of cake that my coworker gave me along with some ice cream from snowflake. As my love and I ended our day and looked forward to a good nights sleep we took in one more sight as we ate our desserts on the couch, we saw a beautiful sunset over the sound and could not help but hear and see what God was trying to say. I heard God's voice saying, I am here. I am present to you. I am present in the love you two have for each other.


     Be present today. You have eyes to see and ears to hear.  Use them.

Matthew 20:20-28


      Asking God for something we want. That seems like a novel idea. I'm not sure if it's an American thing, but we seem hell bent on making things happen the way we want them to happen. Even if we show a modicum of thought or reflection on a subject, we can be quick to decide what the right path or decision is - and then we channel all our energies into making it happen and invest all our thoughts into justifying the decision. God forbid we should acknowledge that perhaps we were too hasty or acted rashly. 


    It would be perhaps be a more joyous life if we could allow the world, God's plan if you will, to unfold around us. This takes patience, something that might be a very good source of reflection today. Am I a patient person? What would life be like if we restrained ourselves from acting on any given subject or question, supplied some thought, reflection or even prayer, and then proceeded forward. Basically, asking God for something and actually waiting for an answer! In our ever busy lives, we are quick to find the answer in any event or 'sign from God' that will justify ourselves, our decision or need. 


      Once again I find myself being reminded to take time, to set aside time to have a conversation with God. To be patient with God, patient with myslef. To place my needs, our needs before the Almighty.

     I decided to start this blog as a means to express my own spirituality and to share it as a source of comfort and growth for everyone who might be interested.  It is an outgrowth of my daily Lenten and Advent refletions that I wrote on my Facebook Page for the last two years. This blog is especially for  those in the LGBT community who are often marginalized and lead to beleive they are not worthy of God's love and that they are certain to go to hell in a handbasket.

      Without getting into any scriptural exegesis of any passages that might passingly be used to condemn or elevate gays, all I want to state is that we are all, the Beloved Disciple in God's eyes, in God's heart and in God's mind.  The title for this Blog is based on references in the Gospel of John. Whether or not these references refer to an intimate relationship between Jesus and John (it probably does not), it clearly shows a deeply loving and close relationship between them.

     Of a practical note on format, it is my intention to offers scriptural commentary that will enlighten, elevate and perhaps be a cause of profound thought and self examination. While I am the product of a strong Roman Catholic backround, I often decribe myself as a recovering Catholic. This Blog will not be limited to any dogma , religion or philosophy since all of God's creation is a revelation and His/Her wisdom is found in the many facets and the many corners of the globe and universe.  No discipline in itself is the one true course, no single discipline is the one true and entire revelation.