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.