Sin can happen at an interpersonal level when we hurt those around us with our words and deeds and it can happen at a collective, or structural level when we systematically fail to respect the dignity of every human being; when our political and economic systems contribute to the violence of poverty or the degradation of the earth. Moreover sin occurs not only in the things that we do, but in the things we have left undone. One of our prayers of confession in Enriching our Worship eloquently states “We repent of the evil that enslaves us, the evil we have done, and the evil done on our behalf.” The common denominator of all of this sin is spiritual and literal estrangement from the goodness of God’s love that is present in the world and in all those who inhabit it.
Read MoreIn a world that is broken and hurting, full of uncertainty and suffering, God likewise appears to us. We, who have worthwhile jobs to do, paths to take, duties to tend to. Where are the burning bushes here and now? What are we being called to turn towards so that we might see, hear, and know the call of God?
The poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning reminds us:
“Earth’s crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God:
But only he who sees, takes off his shoes,
The rest sit round it, and pluck blackberries
. . . unaware.”
That’s why the psalms are so great. They are great because they are real. They cover every human emotion possible- from fear, lonliness, and even hate, to love, connection and exhuberant joy. They express a profound and deep, abiding relationship with God, not a “pie in the sky, everything is perfect” statement of belief, but an authentic relationship between the psalmist and God, a God who can handle questions, a God who can handle doubts, a God who can handle the deepest questions of human life.
Read MoreThe Season of Lent refuses to allow our tempter to remain an outsider. Lenten penitence instead redirects us, engaging the harmful places in our lives and in our very souls; for surely that is where our greatest temptations and most severe demons lie. [5] In Lent, we are to become aware of the road we travel, reconsidering our landmarks, considering how truly far we are from home.
Read MoreIf there are two things I hope we would all remember this Lent it’s that first, we are incredibly beloved dust that is destined from birth for temporary death and eternal life, and that today’s remembrance of the impermanence of our earthly life is what paradoxically can liberate us from the fear of permanent death. And second, that our dusty lives are not lived alone. We are all connected by a web of divine love and common toil, and the purpose of our repentance and spiritual discipline this season is to shed bonds of injustice and strengthen the bonds of love.
Read MoreWhen Jesus took his closest disciples up on the mountain to pray, they weren’t trying to escape reality, they were seeking to see reality at its deepest level. They were getting in touch with the Source of life itself. That is, I imagine, what the 7 Ukranians, kneeling in the town square were trying to do, connecting with the source of the “peace that passes all understanding” as the world as they knew it was falling apart. Jesus left a hurting world and he went back to a hurting world to bring healing. The Ukranians prayed with shelling going on in the distance and they went back to their homes to a long day and night of more shelling. We can go to the mountaintop anytime, even when we are in the bowels of hell.
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