in community

Mark 7:24-37

          A deaf man who had an impediment in his speech? Why is that ? I know that this is a spiritual blog but please bare with me while I go over a bit of an explaination. One of the ways in which we learn to speak is through our hearing. We hear words and then we try to make similar sounds from our mouth and our hearing again plays a role, comparing what we originally heard to what our mouth produced. It is a system of checks and balances. If you ever noticed how poorly a deaf person speaks, especially someone who was not born deaf, it's because that auditory checks and balance system is not working. Even though they once may have had perfect pronunciation, the words gets slurred a bit over time because there is not that constant check and balance from the hearing. We are always hearing what we say, always performing an auditory fine tune of our words.   This is what comes to mind in this passage because it says They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech. Now you know why.

         What I find interesting is that this analogy can be used for our faith.  In many religions, kids are brought up to study the faith of their parents.  Very often the faith is not as important to the parents but rather than make an intentional decision to break away from the faith, they insist their kids attend classes, or shul. The kids learn and in time, after Confirmation or Bar Mitzvah, they fall away. Not unlike the deaf man whose speech becomes slurred, their faith then becomes slurred. What they learned falls away, outside influences take hold, the realization that it is not re-enforced at home makes their faith a mish mosh. Boom, they are spiritually mute.

         In terms of faith then, what do we do?  What kind of theological or faith checks and balances system is there that we can employ?  Many people will say, I am a faithful person but I find no need to attend services to prove it or show it. Frankly, that's BS and a cop out. Actually, it's a lie and to those who actually believe it, it only shows how we can rationalize our own laziness and stupidity.

          Everything Jesus did and every religious celebration, holiday and action of faith is done in communion. That is, in community. All the sacraments are based on our inherent communal nature. Nothing is solitary. Jesus lived that way and showed us what community is all about.

         Community is the checks and balance system that our ears are to our speech. Through the community our faith is sustained, it grows and is reaffirmed. Faith not put into action or acknowledged is sure to die. Faith would mutate into some set of empty, meaningless rituals that have no  connection to God or our brothers and sisters. 

        A faith that is alive is always in community. For Lent then, one more thing to do, return to community. Many who read this will not find a welcoming hand or embrace in the faith of their youth. If that is the case, do some leg work, google "inclusive churches" or "LGBTQ friendly churches". Being faithful and gay are not mutually exclusive. In fact, being gay is a special and extraordinary gift from God. We really need to find a welcoming community that allows us to praise and thank God for all we are, no matter who we are - in community 

From there he set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice, but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. He said to her, ‘Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.’ But she answered him, ‘Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.’ Then he said to her, ‘For saying that, you may go—the demon has left your daughter.’ So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.

Then he returned from the region of Tyre, and went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him. He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, ‘Ephphatha’, that is, ‘Be opened.’ And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. Then Jesus ordered them to tell no one; but the more he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. They were astounded beyond measure, saying, ‘He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.’