Walking with God

Praise the Lord, my soul;

all my inmost being,

praise his holy name.

(from Ps.103:1-8)

Thomas Merton, American Trappist monk, writer and theologian, once asked himself a question he immediately answered:

 How does an apple ripen?

The apple, by simply being in the sun, fulfills its purpose of ripening, The apple doesn't try to ripen faster, it simply allows the sun to do its work.

 

There is nothing it can do to ripen itself.

It can’t do workouts, tighten its muscles and then suddenly be a red, ripened, juicy apple in the morning.

The apple just hangs on the branch in the sun, naturally ripening, where it receives its daily nourishment.

This is the basic plan for how Christians ripen in their relationship to God.

The difference is that Christians don’t naturally ripen in their relationship to God, we have to place themselves where we can be nourished.

The beginning place of nourishment I find most helpful is the Guide to Prayer For All Who Walk With God.

The daily walk in the Guide begins with an affirmation, psalm, and psalm prayer.

The walk continues with a daily scripture reading, silence, reading for reflection, your reflection, and prayers.

The daily walk concludes with an offering of self to God, and blessing such as Numbers 6:24-26.

The continuing steps carrying tis nourishment for people hungering and thirsting after righteousness are, for me are from Micah 6:8 and Jesus Great Commandment.

The Jesus' Refining Fire

 ““I have come to bring fire on the earth, 

and how I wish it were already kindled!

(From Luke 12:49-56)

As I write this post, the sky is hazy with smoke from the Canadian wildfires.

Currently, the Canadian government reports over 700 wildfires burning, primarily caused by human activities, lightning strikes, and climate change.

The majority of the active fires are labeled "out of control," meaning they are not contained, spreading the smoke, causing the world's worst air quality. 

For me it's like Abraham looking towards Sodom and Gomorrah watching smoke rising from God’s destroyed land 

Jeremiah wrote about God's fire as destructive while Malachi 3:2-3 wrote about it as refining, both bring about change

As a rabbi, Jesus, knowing the scriptures, wants to set a refining fire of change.

As the Son of God, Jesus asks that God’s kingdom disrupt the world bringing it to perfection through a refining fire..

This perfection means no oppression, greed, or idolatry.

It’s the same for exploitation, dehumanization, narcissism, or any evil preventing God’s people from creating and thriving.

To pray “thy kingdom come” is to pray for God’s refining fire of change.

For Jesus, the refining fire burns down our human need for security those institutions that providing human security instead of God’s security.

It does not, however, serve the purposes of comfort. The fire Jesus describes is costly, but it serves the purpose of life and love.

The refining fire’s light leads to action and action leads to choice.

 In the words of the poet Mary Oliver ,

The gospel of

light is the crossroads of -- indolence, or action.

Be ignited, or be gone.

For me being ignited is based on Micah 6:8, justice, mercy, walking with God.

Grantchester's Warning

"But know this:

if the owner of the house had known

at what hour the thief was coming,

the owner would not have let his house be broken into.

You also must be ready, for the Son of Man

is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

(from Luke 12:32-40)

I regularly watch Grantchester; a murder mystery set in 1950s England.

The main characters are a local detective and an Anglican priest who, as a team, solve mysteries set in the town.

Two aspects of Grantchester impress me.

First, the simplicity of the 1950’s police communications done by a landline phone and not cell phone.

Second, the simplicity of daily life with little television and fewer possessions allowing the characters to focus on their vocation of detective and priest.

This simplicity is more than a nostalgic return to the “good old days”.

Instead, it’s a Shaker type of simplicity where austerity allows freedom from distractions to focus on worship and community.

Today’s distraction-filled world has seemingly countless activities demanding our attention such as social obligations and children's school programs.

Jesus calls us beyond this distraction-filled lifestyle to a focused vocation prioritizing God-centered actions such as healing, justice, love, grace, peace.

This isn’t easy.

That’s why Jesus reminds the disciples, and us, that God has given everything necessary so we do not need to be afraid.

We have been given the gifts life and creation, eternal life, the Holy Spirit in Baptism, and Christ’s body and blood in communion.

With these gifts, when Jesus arrives at the “unexpected hour”, we will be dressed ready for service with our lamps lit.

Holy Communion is the reminder for me that God loves me as I focus on the God-centered action of justice.

Holy Communion for me is the unshakable treasure in heaven so I don’t need to be afraid as I work on my actions of justice.

 

Grain, Barns, and God

But God said to him, ‘You fool!

This very night your life

will be demanded from you.

Then who will get what

you have prepared for yourself?’

(From Luke 12:13-21)

Robert Frost’s poem, The Road Not Taken, is among my favorite of his.

In the poem a traveler comes to diverging roads and needs to decide which to take.

One road doesn’t look as though it’s been used as much while the other looks well used, so the traveler ponders, which shall I take?

It’s difficult for the traveler to make a decision not knowing where each path leads.

The traveler makes a choice recognizing that in the future the choice may have been wrong, but it’s impossible to go back and change the choice.

This is he sense of the parable of the Rich Fool, which choice does one make?

Here’s a rich land owner with an abundance of whatever crop and so a choice must be made. The choice made is to build a larger barn to store more crops.

Celebrate! Eat, drink, and be merry!

This choice is made based on greed and without thought of any neighbor’s needs neglecting justice and the love of God.

The party ends abruptly when God says, “Fool! Your life will be taken tonight! Now what happens to your things?”

It’s too late to change your choices!

We are in the same position as the traveler and the rich farmer: making active choices.

We can choose to be “rich with barns” by accumulating possessions, wealth (think 401k’s) so retirement is a time to “eat, drink, and be merry”

Or we can choose to be rich toward God.

We can be rich toward God by loving generously and seeking God’s kingdom through acts of justice and mercy.