All rise!

      There has been a great deal of debate and rancor about NFL players 'taking the knee'. I will not be getting in on that debate here. Rather, I will ask the rather pointed question of "what do you stand for?"  

           In today's passage from Mark, it notes that there were people wandering and following them ( Jesus and his disciples ) like sheep without a shepherd.  Jesus had compassion for them. The passage goes on but I have cut it a bit short. 

          Is today any different than the time Jesus walked and preached?  Are there still countless people wandering around like sheep without a shepherd?  They often claim a spirituality but that they are not religious. It all seems like more wandering. Looking around willy nilly for meaning, standing for nothing really specific. That is the point. We often stand for nothing really. There are nebulous concepts we loosely adhere to and we can even have an arrogance or even pride about what little we do know. Don't get me wrong, there is great wisdom in knowing that we do not have all the answers. This however seems like pride in ignorance. We are proud at the little we know, don't shake the boat and tell me anything more. Heaven forbid we have to stand for something! Heaven forbid we are called to act.

        Yesterday I noted that I probably was a closet Episcopalian for most of my life.  Nurtured by some very good Roman Catholic priests, nuns and schools, I never quite fit in. It wasn't until I was about 50 that I put so many of the pieces together and took the formal step of being welcomed into the Episcopal church. It may have seemed that it was all the beginning of a mass ad campaign to get converts to the Episcopal church.  Not really.

        I am not quite arrogant enough to think that the Episcopal church is the answer for everyone. Every one's journey is different and no one source has all of the truth or even 'the best or most truth'. With that in mind, this passage reminds me that perhaps I am starting a campaign of sorts. I want everyone to wander less and stand more.  I argue against roaming around aimlessly or arrogantly and find a path and walk it. Stand for that.

       I argue for being an Episcopalian myself. It means I am claiming Jesus as my Lord and saviour. Standing in that light I am called to act and respond in a certain manner.  There can be no hate or malice, there must be love and obedience to not only the word and life of Jesus but a respect for the roots in Judaism and yes, Islam as well.  I claim respect for more than that but you get the idea, I hope. Pick a path that speaks truth to you and walk, do not run, on that course of love, imagination, hope, honesty and truth 

Mark 6:30-34

 The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. He said to them, ‘Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.’ For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves. Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.

Common sense

        My beloved 'Pop' was both an attorney and a policeman. He certainly was an interesting person of both wisdom and intellect, his growth as a person was somewhat lost on some of my siblings as his circuitous route to wholeness had left some of them rather scarred. He and I had a rather good relationship, calling each other almost daily in his latter years. I was truly blessed. One of the things that I revel in are the pearls he could come out with. As a cop and lawyer, one was that laws were made because not everyone has common sense.

         I thought of that when I read this passage from Mark. Poor King Herod and his 'word'. To save face he had John beheaded. A parent with any lick of common sense would have punished Herodias for merely asking for such a 'gift' and dismissed his promise. Perhaps it is the arrogance of being King or being rich that allowed Herod to have himself backed into a corner.

       Transitioning here to my totally gay marriage ( it has no significance here except that I love to say it, love to live it ), one of the things that we feel is a real asset to us as a couple is our ability to learn and to be flexible to change when we see something going sideways. We do not feel compelled to stick by a course of action as if the decision was etched in stone.  We don't find it necessary to carry through on a obviously bad decision just because that is the way we had planned it. Do not go in 100% when it's a mistake. That to me is common sense.

       It all reminds me of my own faith, raised Catholic by countless courses and 20 solid years of Roman Catholic education.  Should I remain 'in the church' when I am labelled as intrinsically disordered by canon law? What do I do with the myriad positions and beliefs that I  personally do not agree with or accept? In some ways my forthrightness forced me into a position of decision. My honesty and respect for "the Church" was not mutual. My honesty got me ostracized and laicized. I was welcomed by the Episcopal church and specifically some Episcopal Franciscan Monks. As it turns out, just as I was a closeted gay man, I was also a closet Episcopalian. I was always more in line with the freedom of beliefs and the Spirit of God that is so alive in this denomination.

        Where am I going with this? How many of us remain in a church for family, convenience, tradition when in our hearts we know we do not agree with a vast majority of the beliefs, doctrines and positions that they hold? From birth control, to divorce, to the penchant to sin by avoiding scandal at the hands of pedophiles and harming countless young souls in the process. As a gay person, can you really just dismiss that you are considered "intrinsically disordered" by doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church? Can you bifurcate your personality without self loathing by staying in a church that feels you are less than? Can you dismiss the greater church even if some people and a few parish priests make you feel welcome?

       The common sense thing here is to cut your losses and leave. Find a church that welcomes you as the gift of God that you are - as you are. There are communities of faith, Jewish, Christian and Muslim and still others, that recognize the beauty of diversity of God's creation in every one of us.  Are you committed to stay closeted, filled with self loathing and wearing blinders to how the Church proper really feels about you?

      Are we all Herods that are locked in to a course of action, beliefs or plans because it seems all pre-arranged. Too complicated and too late to change now?  If our faith holds any significance to us, if our relationship with God is real and meaningful, then our worship and surroundings should reflect that.  Just some things to think about this brisk cold morning.  It is the common sense thing to do.

         

Mark 6:13-29

They cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.

 King Herod heard of it, for Jesus’ name had become known. Some weresaying, ‘John the baptizer has been raised from the dead; and for this reason these powers are at work in him.’ But others said, ‘It is Elijah.’ And others said, ‘It is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.’ But when Herod heard of it, he said, ‘John, whom I beheaded, has been raised.’

 For Herod himself had sent men who arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because Herod had married her. For John had been telling Herod, ‘It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.’ And Herodias had a grudge against him, and wanted to kill him. But she could not, for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he protected him. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed; and yet he liked to listen to him. But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his courtiers and officers and for the leaders of Galilee. When his daughter Herodias came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests; and the king said to the girl, ‘Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it.’ And he solemnly swore to her, ‘Whatever you ask me, I will give you, even half of my kingdom.’ She went out and said to her mother, ‘What should I ask for?’ She replied, ‘The head of John the baptizer.’Immediately she rushed back to the king and requested, ‘I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter.’ The king was deeply grieved; yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he did not want to refuse her. Immediately the king sent a soldier of the guard with orders to bring John’s head. He went and beheaded him in the prison, brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl. Then the girl gave it to her mother. When his disciples heard about it, they came and took his body, and laid it in a tomb. 

Poor vision

       This passage of Mark is a real slice of reality.  It isn't a parable but relays what really happens in the world to this very day. It surely is something we should be on guard for.  Jesus is the home boy and he's come home to preach. Clearly they see the knowledge, wisdom and holiness of Jesus. Then as if to say , Nah, can't be, this is that carpenter boy. The community holds him down, spiritually, perhaps emotionally and eventually physically and onto death.

        How often do we refuse to see things as they are because they don't jive with what we want to believe? So many examples today in what the world is like.  Take almost any woman in politics. If they are tough and knowledgeable, they are labelled as harsh and bitchy. A man would be labelled - as a man.  I know that from my background I cannot fully appreciate the depth of hate and dismissal that Barach Obama received because he was intellectual, well spoken and a black.  The depth of that hate has only come to full light and been unleashed by the likes of  Mr. Trump who seems well at ease with hateful rhetoric and ignorance.

          What if you are a gay person, a member of the LGBTQ rainbow? How are you perceived? What do people see or expect to see? There is a whole list of attributes from sexual predator to free sex to a lack of morals to disease ridden. As a member of the LGBTQ community I am well aware of the hate and expectations, the judgments and marginalization. 

         Jesus told his disciples that if they were not welcome in a place, to shake the dust off their shoes as they leave and not look back. We may have to do the same. Live our lives witnessing and leaving the offer to learn on others. We can witness to our goodness and witness to the love of God in our lives but we cannot force anyone to see anymore than Jesus could. The losers are those who refuse to see, who do not even make an effort to expand their vision and try to see things from a new and enlightened perspective.

        What we have to do as people and especially as LGBTQ members is to make a concerted effort not to be like those who do not see or see only what they want to see. That should not be us. We are all about love and being the holy creations of God. Witnesses to the glory and diversity of God's creation.

Mark 6:1-13

He left that place and came to his home town, and his disciples followed him. On the sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astounded. They said, ‘Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands! Is not this the carpenter, the son of Maryand brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?’ And they took offence at him. Then Jesus said to them, ‘Prophets are not without honour, except in their home town, and among their own kin, and in their own house.’ And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them. And he was amazed at their unbelief. 

Then he went about among the villages teaching. He called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. He ordered them to take nothing for their journey except a staff; no bread, no bag, no money in their belts; but to wear sandals and not to put on two tunics. He said to them, ‘Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave the place. If any place will not welcome you and they refuse to hear you, as you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.’ So they went out and proclaimed that all should repent. They cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.

Trying to impart, love, wisdom and knowledge

       In today's reading from Mark we see the glory of God as Jesus goes about using his energies, power to love and cure those around him. Miracles.  This seems almost nothing like the Pentateuch which I have just read through at breakneck speed to keep up with my classmates. There seems to be repetition upon repetition upon repetition of stories, census and rules. A few things become apparent and one is that in Deuteronomy, Moses is repeating everything yet again and trying to impart on this Jewish nation all they need to know as they arrive in the promised land. Moses knows he will not be there so he wants to be sure he goes over it all - again. Moses wants to give a last burst of energy to imparting all his wisdom imparted by God for his beloved people. No small task. In the mix of all these stories are miracles, professions of faith and real  life stories and situations played out.

       The similarities then are miracles and the need to impart important information to the faithful. Jesus is always telling parables and setting straight ( no pun intended ) the real intent of passages from Hebrew Scriptures and the prophets which Jesus sees fit to repeat, honour and explain.

       This reminded of something that I ran across in my genealogy work. I have a letter in my possession from my Grandmother who died before I ever knew her. My grandmother died of TB when my own mom was only 17 years old. Knowing she was going to die, she wrote a letter to her three daughters with sage advice and the wisdom she wanted to impart before she herself departed. It is a very touching and forthright letter of love.  My Grandmother tried to get all the information in there that she could because it was important for good living.

          Years ago, a pastor asked each of us to bring a picture of ourselves to church, preferably a picture of us as our much, much younger self. Bordering perhaps on psychoanalysis he lead a meditation the next Sunday about talking to our younger selves. What information would we like to impart? What do we want to tell our younger self, forgive them for something? Let them know how loved they are?  A very interesting meditation.

          The common thread to me is imparting knowledge, love and wisdom. It is something we all want to do for others we love and for ourselves. It happens in the secular world and especially perhaps in the realm of spirituality and religion. 

          In the secular realm, one of the reasons that I write this blog is to impart knowledge, wisdom, hope and love for my LGBTQ siblings.  Sure, everyone needs to know that they are loved because after all, it is true. But there is a uniquely wonderful thing about being gay and it is not always celebrated. Sometimes we are demonized, marginalized and hated.  I want to impart the love that God has for us too, especially us.  I hope this volume of work and thought is not hurried like Deuteronomy. I hope it is not my parting voice to those whom I love. I do want it to be a voice of love and hope for people who are challenged by the ignorance of the world, who have erroneously experienced hate in the name of God.

            Know you are enormously loved by your Creator my gentle and wonderful siblings. 

Mark 5:21-43

 When Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered round him; and he was by the lake. Then one of the leaders of the synagogue named Jairus came and, when he saw him, fell at his feet and begged him repeatedly, ‘My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well, and live.’ So he went with him.

And a large crowd followed him and pressed in on him. Now there was a woman who had been suffering from haemorrhages for twelve years. She had endured much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had; and she was no better, but rather grew worse. She had heard about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, for she said, ‘If I but touch his clothes, I will be made well.’ Immediately her haemorrhage stopped; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. Immediately aware that power had gone forth from him, Jesus turned about in the crowd and said, ‘Who touched my clothes?’ And his disciples said to him, ‘You see the crowd pressing in on you; how can you say, “Who touched me?” ’ He looked all round to see who had done it.But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling, fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.’

 While he was still speaking, some people came from the leader’s house to say, ‘Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any further?’ But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the leader of the synagogue, ‘Do not fear, only believe.’ He allowed no one to follow him except Peter, James, and John, the brother of James. When they came to the house of the leader of the synagogue, he saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. When he had entered, he said to them, ‘Why do you make a commotion and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping.’ And they laughed at him. Then he put them all outside, and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him, and went in where the child was. He took her by the hand and said to her, ‘Talitha cum’, which means, ‘Little girl, get up!’ And immediately the girl got up and began to walk about (she was twelve years of age). At this they were overcome with amazement. He strictly ordered them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.

Relative?

       One of the glaring things that I've noted about reading the Bible, cover to cover, is the number of times people are condemned.  It is astounding just how many times people are killed, called to die for an infraction, a seemingly arbitrary judgment by God or Moses and the volume of peoples struck down by the sword for a lack of faith. This clearly is not the God of Jesus - and yet it is.

       However you wish to read into the stories portrayed in the Pentateuch, the killings, judgments, rules and rubrics, Jesus seems far removed from those stories. Jesus was all about love, compassion, inclusiveness and more. Yet here in Hebrews we have a vivid reminder and symbolism of the 'great priest' and punishment for sin, willful ignorance and transgressing the law.

       As much as I like to put all the harsh rhetoric and readings of the Pentateuch into context and not take it literally in most cases, we are all being called to be people of God who obey the Ten Commandments. Even though I would stress the Two Great commandments that Jesus proclaimed as the most important, we are called to obedience, good behavior and codes of moral, ethical and intelligent conduct. Just because Jesus says 'these are the two great commandments', life is not all simply 'relative'. We are still called to holiness as part of our wholeness. They are inseparable.  For all of Jesus' 'transgressions' of healing on the Sabbath, touching unclean people and such, He never discarded his Jewishness or his call to us to be Holy. 

        Our lives still have loving, Godly guidance. We are still created in the image and likeness of God and as such we are called to a high standard of love and yes, even some rules of behavior. As we have seen so much in the Evangelical and political arena, you cannot simply say you are Christian and then witness it by errant, immoral and hateful behavior.

       We are indeed called to a higher standard.  

Hebrews 10:19-31

 Therefore, my friends, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain (that is, through his flesh), and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

 For if we wilfully persist in sin after having received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful prospect of judgement, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.Anyone who has violated the law of Moses dies without mercy ‘on the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ How much worse punishment do you think will be deserved by those who have spurned the Son of God, profaned the blood of the covenant by which they were sanctified, and outraged the Spirit of grace? For we know the one who said, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay.’ And again, ‘The Lord will judge his people.’ It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Church time and the legion of evil

       And the man who was possessed was told to 'go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you'. This is the man who had been possessed by a 'legion' of spirits. A man possessed. I admit, this sort of thing scares me. I think about it when I hear of some horrific event that someone has perpetrated on another or on society. Certainly, no rational person would behave in such a manner. What threw them over the edge, what 'possessed' them to act in whatever evil way they have? I say to myself that I almost want to know what was going through their mind but then, I'd be crazy too if I could understand such behavior.

        I will agree that there is such a thing as being possessed. I find it difficult to beleive that it is a choice. Is it as simple as saying yes to evil? Are we simply pushed and pushed , or incited to such extreme anger that we begin to think irrationally? We all know, especially in today's society that there are voices of evil out there, lurking and now boldly showing their faces because they have been shown it is politically acceptable to be that way. All beacuse one person crawled out from under a rock and was elected to the highest office in the land.

       This my seem like a digression but I want to note something about attendance at church. So many people say that they do not have to attend church to be holy or spiritual. That is true up to a point. However, unless you are heavily committed to taking the time and spending it devoted to your spirituality, all you will hear is a plethora of competing voices from society and you deprive yourself of the support of the voices and love of people you should have in that church setting, whatever it is. Further, it seems to me that by not attending services we show a fundamental disrespect for ourselves in the blessing we bestow on others by our own attendance. We witness in our very attendance.

       When we do not attend church or specifically devote time to say thank you and worship, we open ourselves to all those competing and errant voices of society that are devoid and contra to God and love and the Spirit. While the Spirit is alive and everywhere, there are so many errant voices and voices of hate that we really need support to avoid, negate, undermine. Our strength is in a community of love and worship.

          I find love and support in the Episcopalian church. I am free to believe that which makes sense to me. I am free to sidestep questions that trouble me while I devote myself and my life to the larger goal and mission of God's love in the world.  I need that connectedness and support or else all I may hear is the evils, the injustices and the sounds of narrow voices devoid of love.

        This all surrounds what I suppose is my theory of the legion of evil that exists in the world. Church attendance will not solve everything, especially if you try the likes of the Westboro Baptist Church or some orthodox right wing church concerned more with ministrations than ministries.  Church attendance is a dedicated time to give to our God in thanksgiving and love. That alone should be good enough reason alone to set aside time.

          

Mark 5:1-20

They came to the other side of the lake, to the country of the Gerasenes.And when he had stepped out of the boat, immediately a man out of the tombs with an unclean spirit met him. He lived among the tombs; and no one could restrain him any more, even with a chain; for he had often been restrained with shackles and chains, but the chains he wrenched apart, and the shackles he broke in pieces; and no one had the strength to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always howling and bruising himself with stones. When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and bowed down before him; and he shouted at the top of his voice, ‘What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.’ For he had said to him, ‘Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!’ Then Jesus asked him, ‘What is your name?’ He replied, ‘My name is Legion; for we are many.’He begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. Now there on the hillside a great herd of swine was feeding; and the unclean spiritsbegged him, ‘Send us into the swine; let us enter them.’ So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the swine; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the lake, and were drowned in the lake.

 The swineherds ran off and told it in the city and in the country. Then people came to see what it was that had happened. They came to Jesus and saw the demoniac sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had had the legion; and they were afraid. Those who had seen what had happened to the demoniac and to the swine reported it.Then they began to beg Jesus to leave their neighbourhood. As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed by demons begged him that he might be with him. But Jesus refused, and said to him, ‘Go home to your friends, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and what mercy he has shown you.’ And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed.

Traffic lights and lotto

       I don't want to seem like Obi-Wan Kenobi but we all have enormous power at our fingertips.  As people of faith, of any kind, we are tapping in on our limitless potential and cosmic inheritance that is ours as creations of God. The Apostles get a taste of it in today's passage from the Gospel of Mark when Jesus has the sea calm and the winds cease. Jesus notes in other passages like Matthew 17:20 that if we had the faith the size of a mustard seed we could have mountains topple into the sea. That's news!

       On whatever level we are in touch with our inheritance or such abilities, we often fall far short of what it might be used for. I can approach a traffic light and will it to stay green making my route clearer.  Is that what our power is for?  Traffic control seems almost infantile, laughable, misguided.  You might ask, if we really have the power then why aren't so many of us millionaires? Doesn't almost every person who buys a lotto ticket have a conversation with themselves and/or God fervently asking to win?  I could do so much good Lord if you let me win! I guess that's the rub right there. On some level we know when we are asking for something really worth asking for and it isn't magical. We doesn't just twitch our nose like Samantha or cast a spell like they seem to do in Hogwarts. When we ask for peace or to find that special someone or for a cure to an illness what we are perhaps really asking for  is for us to have the courage to make peace; for us to love ourselves so we can also love someone else; not so much for a cure but strength to see us through whatever is before us and let God be there with us no matter what. And God is. God always is with us.

        I may play funny games with traffic signals but I know I can ask God for anything and She will abide me as much as I follow through on my end and ask for something reasonable. Perhaps that is the toughest part, what is reasonable and loving? 

        

Mark 4:35-41

 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, ‘Let us go across to the other side.’ And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. A great gale arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, ‘Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?’ He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Peace! Be still!’ Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, ‘Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?’ And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?’

Not submissive enough

       When I was in therapy trying to comes to terms with the fact that I am Gay, my therapist asked many enlightening and helpful questions. I highly advise therapy for anyone with issues of any sort. I liken it to a personal trainer at the gym. They will help and guide you but the lifting is all done by you. Of course you have to recognize there is a problem and you have to be willing to accept help and make changes.  As Marjorie 'Sponsor' says on the sitcom Mom, " Nothing changes if nothing changes". 

      The problem with my well educated and very helpful therapist only came about when he decided to offer some advice on how to handle my particular situation. He had advised what might have worked for him but it was clearly not for me. I could not hide who I am, deny who I am in any fashion and most of all, I had to be honest with those that I love.

      I write this blog and I try to educate. I try to make insightful and probing observations about life, Scripture and faith. I am painfully aware that I am far from complete. If I take a step too far it would probably be an arrogance on my part to think I can make some judgments about other peoples lives however well intentioned. As a gay man of faith, some might follow my directions explicitly and perhaps even think I am wise and learned beyond my real abilities.

     People and churches are like that. Given an ounce of encouragement, they think they have all the answers or that they can't be wrong. It is a form of arrogance if not simple stupidity.

       We have the life of Christ and the lives and writing of the Apostles that follow. What holds the greatest value are the life events and words of Chris himself. We can glean enormous information of great value by how Jesus lived, who he consorted with and the parables he used.  Then there are the secondary sources of information however well intentioned, sometimes they go beyond their directive or knowledge even if done so in faith.

        I recall my Mother who was beaten verbally and physically by my father. I was too young to actually see most of it. The fact that my older brothers did see much more of the action perhaps is a reason our relationships with our father differed so much. My Mom being a devoted Catholic young woman and wife sought comfort and answers in her anguish from the local Priest. Long believed to be a bastion of wisdom and assistance, the Priest had very little practical experience with marriage relations or spousal abuse. The Priest came armed with Scripture like today's from  Ephesians. I think Paul probably went well beyond his scope here. However faithful a servant of God he was, he simply relayed the beliefs of the time. Woman were to be subject to their husbands. Woman were basically chattel. Woman must be subservient and had no comment  or consideration in a marriage. THAT is the message my mother received from the local Priest. Clearly, she was the problem. She wasn't submissive enough. She should be a better wife.  It evokes anger at the ignorance and lack of fundamental principles of faith in Jesus. That is NOT what Jesus would do. Advice from Paul, however well intentioned was flawed, tainted by the beliefs and norms of his time.

         I would think we have a better grasp of what should happen in spousal and relationship abuse today. I am not sure it is universally accepted that you do not stay in a relationship like that. I don't know if woman or any abused person is being taught to have the self respect and self love to know they do not in fact deserve any such treatment. 

        When we live thankfully and lovingly we can see well beyond the norms or accepted behaviour of today. The Spirit is very much alive and helping us see the path to our wholeness and the holiness of all people.  We can easily get caught up in the arrogance of thinking that when we have part of the knowledge we are somehow better or more learned or more faithful than the next. It ain't necessarily so. It probably is not true. 

       Let us live humbly, love humbly but love abundantly.  Offer little advice except to love.

Ephesians 5:15-33

 Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil. So do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit, as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ.

 Wives, be subject to your husbands as you are to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife just as Christ is the head of the church, the body of which he is the Saviour. Just as the church is subject to Christ, so also wives ought to be, in everything, to their husbands.

 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, in order to make her holy by cleansing her with the washing of water by the word, so as to present the church to himself in splendour, without a spot or wrinkle or anything of the kind—yes, so that she may be holy and without blemish. In the same way, husbands should love their wives as they do their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hates his own body, but he nourishes and tenderly cares for it, just as Christ does for the church, because we are members of his body. ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ This is a great mystery, and I am applying it to Christ and the church. Each of you, however, should love his wife as himself, and a wife should respect her husband.

New Face Book post: What kind of dirt are you?

           Everything from what kind of Dog you are, to what kind of animal are you, to who you were in a past life, the list never ends. I am afraid I will soon see 'what kind of poop are you?' It is way too much. The world seems insane with reading facebook, targeted news sites and there is very little listening. Maybe, just maybe there is some hearing but very little listening. Perhaps that is an inherent problem with us humans. We are easily distracted, unable to focus and in spite of the two ears, we often do not really listen to each other. So it is wonder of wonders that I sit here this morning as the sun rises wondering what kind of soil am I?

       I get the parable of today's passage from Mark. I am not as sure where I am or who I am in respect to the reading. Have I really taken in the message of God in my life? Have I offered a nutrient rich 'soil' with which God's message of love in action will flourish within me? I have been searching for an intimate relationship with God my entire life. I try to really hear what God is saying and truly listen to God's message.  I can think of ways in which I have indeed listened and cooperated.  The question still remains however as to how much growth I have yielded or will yield. Am I too shallow? Am I deep enough to produce good strong healthy growth? 

       An interesting side bar here. We inherited a Christmas Cactus from my mother-in-law when she passed. Same old plant, same old soil. Someone had said to place it in a dark room or closet for a day or so to initiate some kind of reset. Lo and behold, the plant that was closeted now blooms with an abundance with magnificent red blooms. I cannot help but wonder if some kind of darkness or reset would help our own growth?  A retreat perhaps, a lonely time in the desert of our own lives?  Same soil, new growth.

         I am still not sure what kind of soil I am. I know that I have to listen earnestly and constantly make the effort to help me bloom into the magnificent flower God created me to be. The same is so very much a truth for you as well.  Listen, learn, blossom and bloom.

Mark 4:1-20

Again he began to teach beside the lake. Such a very large crowd gathered around him that he got into a boat on the lake and sat there, while the whole crowd was beside the lake on the land. He began to teach them many things in parables, and in his teaching he said to them:‘Listen! A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and it sprang up quickly, since it had no depth of soil. And when the sun rose, it was scorched; and since it had no root, it withered away. Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain. Other seed fell into good soil and brought forth grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.’ And he said, ‘Let anyone with ears to hear listen!’

 When he was alone, those who were around him along with the twelve asked him about the parables. And he said to them, ‘To you has been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but for those outside, everything comes in parables; in order that
“they may indeed look, but not perceive,
   and may indeed listen, but not understand;
so that they may not turn again and be forgiven.” ’

 And he said to them, ‘Do you not understand this parable? Then how will you understand all the parables? The sower sows the word. These are the ones on the path where the word is sown: when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. And these are the ones sown on rocky ground: when they hear the word, they immediately receive it with joy. But they have no root, and endure only for a while; then, when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away. And others are those sown among the thorns: these are the ones who hear the word, but the cares of the world, and the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things come in and choke the word, and it yields nothing. And these are the ones sown on the good soil: they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.’

My two dads

       The Evangelical Christian community often rants and goes on about the traditional family. I have to say though that after reading just the book of Genesis, the concept of what a family is does not quite measure up with what these self righteous religious zealots claim it to be. There is sex with concubines , slaves, rape of a father (Lot ) by his two daughters and even Sarah and Abraham were half brother and sister which later on in Leviticus would have them being stoned to death. Reading scripture is not for the faint of heart and making judgments out of context or from a single line of scripture is just flat out wrong.

          But today we have a snippet of Scripture that speaks to several versions of what family is.  Of course there is Mary, Jesus and Joseph. There is the 'biological' Dad in the Holy Spirit. After all, Joseph is the step dad in the family. Note too that Jesus had brothers and I do not believe for one second that the passage is speaking of spiritual brothers in the Apostles or something like that. Who is to say Mary and Joseph did not have children of their own?

       Then there is another version of family portrayed here. Jesus says ‘Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.’  That is an astounding statement but one of such importance that it cannot be at all dismissed. Who is your family?

        One of the problems I have encountered as a preacher is trying to use the symbol of Father as a standard. God the Father loves you!  But what if your father is a drunken lush and a real bastard who beats you , your siblings and your mom? Not a good symbol for me to use in that case although there is no mal intent.  There are countless people from dysfunctional families that find that friends and other people in their life are more of family than biologicals.

        This scenario has played out again and again in divorces and especially in the LGBTQ community where owning who you are is sometimes met with chastisement, derision and disownment. This is a major fear that keeps so many people in the closet and bifurcated.  But to those who can and do come out, the ones that fail us ( especially our immediate family ) are balanced by those that step up to the plate and offer astounding and overwhelming love.  Many in the LGBTQ community find the concept of family is perhaps a bit different than what they originally experienced in life. And there are countless families who are made of LGBTQ community members who have recreated the Holy family of their own and it is more loving, more accepting and more stable than the ones many have been turned out of.

         When we think of the Holy family, we think of love and perhaps that wonderful Jewish mom, Mary, who loved her Son to the moon and back. Mary stood by her son as he was taken into custody, beaten, whipped, paraded and hung on a cross.  She never abandoned her Son.  As humans were are not always as enlightened, loving or open to God's call. Jesus, I think, made it abundantly clear that family is a concept born entirely of love and the will of God which is love.

        Let us not be so arrogant or ignorant to define what we want a family to be but let it be freely defined by the love and mercy of God.

Mark 3:19-35

and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

Then he went home; and the crowd came together again, so that they could not even eat. When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, ‘He has gone out of his mind.’ And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, ‘He has Beelzebul, and by the ruler of the demons he casts out demons.’ And he called them to him, and spoke to them in parables, ‘How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but his end has come. But no one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his property without first tying up the strong man; then indeed the house can be plundered.

 ‘Truly I tell you, people will be forgiven for their sins and whatever blasphemies they utter; but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit can never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin’— for they had said, ‘He has an unclean spirit.’

 Then his mother and his brothers came; and standing outside, they sent to him and called him. A crowd was sitting around him; and they said to him, ‘Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside, asking for you.’ And he replied, ‘Who are my mother and my brothers?’ And looking at those who sat around him, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.’ 

Smiling, arrogant hate mongering. God weeps.

        I went to see Cher the other night, wonderful concert, checked all the boxes, enormous crowds. It is amazing to me how this 72 year old diva speaks to such a large and diverse audience and still moves it on stage, physically and vocally. 

       There is another 72 year old that also attracts large crowds. However people usually do not pay to see him and quite often they are payed to attend. It must be a real ego booster to have such throngs around you. Of course you must have something to say and Mr. Trump comes armed with standardized one liners and hate mongering. Quite a difference in people who are 72.  Polar opposites?

       Jesus also garnered great crowds. Who knows quite how many, but enough that Jesus had given thought to being crushed.  People seek Jesus for several reasons. The crowds who needed cures are one. These are the literally and figuratively ill. The marginalized, the outcasts. These are also the people seeking a real relationship with God. Seekers listen in the desert of life, seekers listen for God's voice.

       There is a whole other group of people who feel that they have a relationship with God. It is not static or growing, it is what it is. These people have 'the word' that they have already interpreted for their own means and they need nothing more. They already claim salvation and the privilege somehow to judge everyone else. These people do not see The Word and they do not really seek Jesus. They have some bastardized, contorted version of truth.

        The real seekers of a relationship with God are willing to be cured, willing to change, willing to give up and have a stirring in their soul for a deeper relationship with God.  They speak less and listen more - and they do, they love. People who seek Jesus know that they are while they are loved like everyone else, they are not yet complete, not fulfilled and have no right to judge anyone else or their journey to wholeness. 

         Hate mongering crowds are smug, calculating, manipulative, arrogant and in reality, as far as one can get from a real meaningful relationship with God. They speak so loudly they can barely hear themselves, let alone God's voice. I often refer to these people as fake Christians. These people wield scripture like hammers and shoot them like bullets of hate and self righteousness.  This does not speak of love. It does not speak of humbleness of heart. This does not sound like anything that Jesus would say or do.

      There are plenty of crowds out there, sometimes mobs.  Some speak to your soul, speak of love and speak of a loving and all embracing God. Other crowds speak of hate, judgment, blame and exclusion.. Be careful which you aim for, which crowds you teach are worthy of your time and attention. 

Mark 3:7-19

 Jesus departed with his disciples to the lake, and a great multitude from Galilee followed him; hearing all that he was doing, they came to him in great numbers from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond the Jordan, and the region around Tyre and Sidon. He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him; for he had cured many, so that all who had diseases pressed upon him to touch him. Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and shouted, ‘You are the Son of God!’ But he sternly ordered them not to make him known.

 He went up the mountain and called to him those whom he wanted, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve, whom he also named apostles, to be with him, and to be sent out to proclaim the message, and to have authority to cast out demons. So he appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); James son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

Then he went home;

Final exams cancelled

       One of the classes that I took in college was Biochemistry. The professor rattled on from the moment we entered class until the moment we left our seats. In similar fashion, his exams were never a question. What was on the test? Every single thing was on the test, each and every word was important. The grades seemed abysmal. He once proudly told to me that my "C" was an exceptional grade, certainly an "A" in anyone else's course. Another teacher of Organic Chemistry was equally methodical in his teaching and testing. I believe the average (uncurved) grade was well below a 30. Yes, out of 100 . The argument of the organic chemistry teacher was that we were not really allowed to make mistakes. In medicine, a mistake meant death or a an error that could not be undone in most cases. His exam booklets were strewn with paged size font ( in red ) which simply read "Zero"  Testing is very much still     'a thing' in our lives. 

          There is of course the exams every student must endure if only to see if the knowledge has been received. Unfortunately there is a great deal more testing in the world as with the Pharisees in today's reading from Mark.  You are worthy if you obey all the rules and rubrics. For Jesus, that just ain't so. 

        When Jesus comes across someone with a whithering hand, a paralytic, someone with seizures, years of menses, blindness, leprosy or a sick loved one, there are no questions. There is no test of worthiness. No questions to assess if you should indeed be cured or dismissed.  It seems to me that the ones labelled by society as the most unworthy are the ones that Jesus deems indeed very worthy. 

          This is maddening to some people and to whole churches. You must do something. Jesus really apparently does not work on that premise. If Jesus did work on that premise would he have cured the Roman Centurions sickly homosexual partner ? ( Pais ).  Understand, this is an officer of the occupying army, not even a Jew, not likely one who could even address any question of scripture and lived as is common in Roman and Greek life, with a subordinate ( but totally loved ) male lover. How many even today would judge this man and his companion, both, as unworthy. Perhaps worthy of disdain or hate but not love and an open cure. 

          It seems to me the lesson is as it was yesterday, literally, and today and tomorrow and the next. We are all worthy, we are all beloved creations of God. We need not do anything to be worthy but we are worthy by our 'mere' creation in the image and likeness of God.  Our existence is reason to be loved and cured. Sounds like socialized medicine to me! Seems absolutely childlike in it's simplicity and yet that is also what Jesus said.  We are after all, ALL children of God no matter who or what you define God as.

          As far as God, religion and love, there should be no tests, no exams.  

Mark 2:23-3:6

 One sabbath he was going through the cornfields; and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, ‘Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?’ And he said to them, ‘Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food? He entered the house of God, when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and he gave some to his companions.’ Then he said to them, ‘The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath; so the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.’

Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand. They watched him to see whether he would cure him on the sabbath, so that they might accuse him. And he said to the man who had the withered hand, ‘Come forward.’ Then he said to them, ‘Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to kill?’ But they were silent. He looked around at them with anger; he was grieved at their hardness of heart and said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out and immediately conspired with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him. 

Worthy of love

       We have a bit of a luxury. We from several vantage points have the benefit of the gift of faith. Even if we have not experienced the loving hand and heart of Jesus in our lives, we know the historical figure who at the very least was a prophet. To believers, Jesus is the Word made flesh, God, Son of God and lover of all creation.

       That last one about lover of creation is truly present in today's passage from Mark.

Jesus consorts with the most unlikely people. It is not an accident or a rare occasion. Jesus always seeks out the marginalized in his ministry. The leper, the blind sinners, the lame, the dead, the sick, the tax collectors, the occupying army's Centurion and his lover. 

        Are there any limits to Jesus' love and inclusion?  The answer is a resolute no. There are no limits. God created all, God loves all. Jesus does not hold the same  judgments that humans do and has a vision of humanity not in just what we can do or should do but sees something more, deeper, more profound. Jesus seems to see a beautiful essence that we often overlook. We fail to see with the eyes of God, the eyes of Love, the eyes of hope.

       If we fail to see what Jesus sees, what God sees in everyone of us, it is because we fail to see the magnificence in ourselves. We stay quite too busy judging ourselves as much as we judge others. I suspect deeply rooted in our judgment and even hate of others is a strong dislike of ourselves. We easily pass judgment on ourselves when it really is equally easy to love ourselves. Whatever we use to cut ourselves down, God sees a journey to wholeness that cannot be demeaned or debased. God sees the whole picture, the essence and the  purity of who we are. Can we? 

        The only way to follow the commandment to love others is to also love ourselves. We cannot dismiss our flaws or mistakes but we also cannot take those as the basis for the entirety of who we are. Jesus did not see sinners in that way. Jesus welcomed in unrestricted fashion and thought His love worthy for all. Can we do so for ourselves and others?

Mark 2:13-22

 Jesus went out again beside the lake; the whole crowd gathered around him, and he taught them. As he was walking along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’ And he got up and followed him.

 And as he sat at dinner in Levi’s house, many tax-collectors and sinners were also sitting with Jesus and his disciples—for there were many who followed him. When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that he was eating with sinners and tax-collectors, they said to his disciples, ‘Why does he eat with tax-collectors and sinners?’ When Jesus heard this, he said to them, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.’

 Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting; and people came and said to him, ‘Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?’ Jesus said to them, ‘The wedding-guests cannot fast while the bridegroom is with them, can they? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day.

 ‘No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak; otherwise, the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made.And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost, and so are the skins; but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins.’