tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17345560987533713992024-02-20T03:48:49.194-06:00The Reverend John's SpotA place for reflections on the Daily Office
(and occasionally other things)JFD+http://www.blogger.com/profile/18098095765629408182noreply@blogger.comBlogger711125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1734556098753371399.post-79634924469697254942013-12-19T07:14:00.002-06:002013-12-19T07:14:40.863-06:00Daily Office Reflection: Readiness<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCJxxSGdrjhmZr0eG6ZW_qIaYXtWEGbd3gZbISLu2KvLww1Q8g05y8zM1iDoeSrlhNbr6dRyGUfJyqg3PpiqyCUF9YVvPFqXrvWYYlj76ow6OIu-vfjU9J0rdhwo4rciNP9dFJlTzquk8/s1600/IMG_0151.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCJxxSGdrjhmZr0eG6ZW_qIaYXtWEGbd3gZbISLu2KvLww1Q8g05y8zM1iDoeSrlhNbr6dRyGUfJyqg3PpiqyCUF9YVvPFqXrvWYYlj76ow6OIu-vfjU9J0rdhwo4rciNP9dFJlTzquk8/s320/IMG_0151.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Out of Focus, #5</i>, 2013, jfd+</td></tr>
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Zechariah 4:1-14; Revelation 4:9-5:5; Matthew 25:1-13, Psalms: 50 * 59, 60<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">We are six days away from celebrating, yet again, the birth of Jesus (five days from all those Eve services...and gatherings and parties). And I'm a bit torn, thinking, <i>How did that happen? So soon?</i> Juxtaposed against thinking, <i>Wow, finall</i>y....There is so much happening, going on, during this season, that time can seem fleeting. Yet, the commercial aspects of this season have rolled back to (in some cases) before the end of October and Halloween, making it seem interminable.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">What we hear in Matthew today, about the ten bridesmaids, five being ready and five not ready, and Jesus' admonition to keep awake, might help with this feeling of being torn. We are getting to the end of Matthew's Gospel, and Jesus is getting his last words-in for his disciples to hear - Matthew is getting to the end of his storyline and wants to make sure his listeners get the point -</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">We are called as followers of Jesus, our God/Human/Spirit Trinity, to always be working toward the development of the kingdom Jesus opens for all of us, and to not get distracted by things that do not accomplish that purpose. Are we ready? Are we truly ready to start again five days from now with this celebration of God come amongst us?</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Probably not. For this demand to always be ready is an impossibility for any of us to accomplish alone. But working together, remembering that we are not in this alone, can help move the ball down the field a smidge...can help make the world better and more kingdom-like, readying the playing field for those who follow us to continue those efforts.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><i>jfd</i>+</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Copyright 2013, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved for Words and Images</span>JFD+http://www.blogger.com/profile/18098095765629408182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1734556098753371399.post-69905165916655240862013-12-17T07:12:00.000-06:002013-12-17T07:13:05.540-06:00Daily Office Reflection: One Will Be Taken......<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtbQ2ql9l2odX5TqmehQyRCc6FZ3IC0pC8Ydgi9Wzzp-H7tZMdvuCnW2ChHBlIVQ3OodKeYSXJtak9P-_Pv0iceE8VVhwzAJXj7ApgHca26CMxsmcjpMlCK1m3hbvfb_hgQ2xdPvimlDE/s1600/CIMG0559.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtbQ2ql9l2odX5TqmehQyRCc6FZ3IC0pC8Ydgi9Wzzp-H7tZMdvuCnW2ChHBlIVQ3OodKeYSXJtak9P-_Pv0iceE8VVhwzAJXj7ApgHca26CMxsmcjpMlCK1m3hbvfb_hgQ2xdPvimlDE/s320/CIMG0559.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>At the Gloaming</i>, 2011, jfd+</td></tr>
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Zechariah 2:1-13; Revelation 3:14-22; Matthew 24:32-44, Psalms 45 * 47, 48<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Jesus is talking to his disciples today about end-times - known as Matthew's Apocalyptic Discourse. One of the phrases we hear twice today is: <i>one will be taken and one will be left</i>. Two women grinding meal together and two men in the field - <i>one will be taken and one will be lef</i>t....so very unsettling that thought and phrase.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Matthew deals in secrets, with unknown times and unknown agents. So there is some theological basis for Matthew's enigmatic phrase <i>one will be taken and one will be left</i>... But there is another possible translation of the word "taken." That Greek word can also be translated as (and is in other places in scripture) <i>received</i>. <i>One will be received and one will be left</i>....one will be received and one will be left. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Isn't that how so many of us have found our faith journeys to be like? We are received into the household of God, while others on our journey chose not become members. We are received by the Holy Spirit, by our opening ourselves to her presence in and around us...there is mystery here, mystery that can be seen as secrets but really are not - those mysteries are part of the gift of faith we receive when we open ourselves to God Incarnate - whom we celebrate, remember, and worship in eight days. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">How can we assist others to be received too?</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><i>jfd</i>+</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Copyright 2013, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved to art and words.</span>JFD+http://www.blogger.com/profile/18098095765629408182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1734556098753371399.post-28527589877162741482013-12-13T06:49:00.002-06:002013-12-13T06:49:45.872-06:00Daily Office Reflection: Advent Cleaning<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzd4DH_hWXx27eZSxMYQSfLyf1a42690WoJubZy5oG2jJA47IrR3pPwOWVl5FcloojoENc_7OdgkO05J23x7L7eqrjZiJgi6yDuAQqHdeRLZMA-fF2Xqqh3apbu7L1XtHx32YjruS7Lyc/s1600/photo_2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="90" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzd4DH_hWXx27eZSxMYQSfLyf1a42690WoJubZy5oG2jJA47IrR3pPwOWVl5FcloojoENc_7OdgkO05J23x7L7eqrjZiJgi6yDuAQqHdeRLZMA-fF2Xqqh3apbu7L1XtHx32YjruS7Lyc/s320/photo_2.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Central Park</i>, 2013, jfd+</td></tr>
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Haggai 1:1-15; Revelation 2:18-29; Matthew 23:27-39; Psalms 31 * 35<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Jesus is continuing his rant about the scribes and Pharisees in our reading from Matthew, telling the crowds and his disciples how hypocritical those officials are as a group. He has just <i>had-it-up-to-here</i> with them.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">This is a perfect reading for us to have in the mid-to-end point of Advent. Jesus is using his foes as an example for us. There are a number of questions that can be prompted by this reading.</span><br />
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<ul>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">What inner work do we still need to accomplish to live the kingdom life to which Jesus is directing us before we begin anew on Christmas Day?</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">What facades do we have up, masking our real selves?</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Do our actions belie our words?</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Are we so stuck in what was, that we cannot move into the newness that each day presents to us?</span></li>
</ul>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Jesus is telling us to clean house, our own internal house, of the detritus that is ruinous to our ability to cross that bridge into the future, and the kingdom he opens for all of us.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><i>jfd</i>+</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Copyright 2013, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved to images and words.</span>JFD+http://www.blogger.com/profile/18098095765629408182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1734556098753371399.post-83767458410866268112013-12-11T06:16:00.000-06:002013-12-11T06:16:48.007-06:00Daily Office Reflection: Perspective<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmQAoXy_kmuwqrn1c8913fo7xdMHXgiocAXiW2wJWvvj1aUU6s5VJ24e08Sx9Z1okTVxdU4XzOiM22dqkQWjQfMQog9sJ9uZ3sKwqvwlt-CJt2YkOmdSkV_4qxeTmKKISqxnAlYdJBjeA/s1600/534036_10151636260448719_1828823778_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmQAoXy_kmuwqrn1c8913fo7xdMHXgiocAXiW2wJWvvj1aUU6s5VJ24e08Sx9Z1okTVxdU4XzOiM22dqkQWjQfMQog9sJ9uZ3sKwqvwlt-CJt2YkOmdSkV_4qxeTmKKISqxnAlYdJBjeA/s320/534036_10151636260448719_1828823778_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Fiona & Lincoln</i>, August 2013</td></tr>
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Amos 8:1-14; Revelation 1:17-2:7; Matthew 23:1-12, Psalms 38 * 56, 57, 58<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">We are projected to not get above zero here in Minnesota, with wind chills well into the negative teens. The frigid weather can make many feel penned in, and longing for warmer climes.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I have often wondered if Jesus felt constrained by his human nature: his divine self trying to burst out of his pores with frustration at the hypocrisy he found at every turn. In today's reading from Matthew, Jesus is speaking to the crowds about following the law and rules set down by God, and not mimicking what the leaders are doing. A kind-of-third-person <i>Do as I say, not as I do</i> example. He is telling that crowd, and really us, to not get ahead of ourselves...to not let our ego rule us...but instead to be focused on serving others, no matter how exalted we may think we are in life. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">This reading from Matthew, in the middle of the second week of Advent, is reminding us that God took on our human nature, and set the example for how we are to act in life. A good and proper Advent-reflection-topic to take on today.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><i>jfd</i>+</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Copyright 2013, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights to images and words Reserved.</span>JFD+http://www.blogger.com/profile/18098095765629408182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1734556098753371399.post-80953817483797042302013-12-09T06:54:00.000-06:002013-12-09T06:54:05.367-06:00Daily Office Reflection: God's Power<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZKNab2QhK7IV_9N-Z7-v9gseV9d7uwE0VIJnenQMzsn7XuTnMlLd4Fyqh-5xjEhMBPNUm6jjHKIhiFhaoiKzLmQJ0ezS3z1ISjIAWz8JoYYbcWBy3w4KENLXJyM-UzLO480BIPjp6Iec/s1600/P6060009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="165" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZKNab2QhK7IV_9N-Z7-v9gseV9d7uwE0VIJnenQMzsn7XuTnMlLd4Fyqh-5xjEhMBPNUm6jjHKIhiFhaoiKzLmQJ0ezS3z1ISjIAWz8JoYYbcWBy3w4KENLXJyM-UzLO480BIPjp6Iec/s320/P6060009.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Out of Focus #3</i>, 2013, jfd+</td></tr>
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Amos 7:1-9; Revelation 1:1-8; Matthew:22:23-33, Psalms 25 * 44. 45, 46<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">So much effort is placed in trying to understand God. And many, if not most, of those attempts (scholarly, theologically, spiritually, pragmatically, you name the effort) result in putting God in a box. A box of our making...<i>There, right there...that is God</i>. And we can pat ourselves on the back and say we get it now. Often, when we do that, soon thereafter, something happens that disproves or challenges that understanding and frustration can set in, allowing others (or perhaps ourselves) to simply walk away saying <i>Nope, there is no God</i>.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">That is part of the reasoning behind Jesus' interaction with the Sadducees today and their absurd question about the woman and the seven brothers and whose wife she is in the resurrection. They were living in a static, rigid, understanding of God. Jesus says God doesn't operate in that way.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">We can all like rules and order....Do this...act <i>this</i> way and all will be well...God will be pleased. Those are human constraints placed on something that is beyond our ability to constrain...I think this is one of the reasons we have been given the gift of Jesus - God in human form, fully human and somehow also fully divine. This Jesus, whose entry into the world we celebrate in 16 days. (<i>16 days! Crap, I've gotta mail those packages!</i>) For in that mystery of this gift of Jesus, we have wrapped up in human form this challenge of not putting God in a box...This is one of the things Jesus is sent to us to prove, for he is always challenging us to think outside of that box.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">As we continue to wait and prepare and dig into what this mystery means to us this Advent Season, one of the inquiries we can make of ourselves is how much we are trying to put God into a rigid structure, as opposed to living into the wideness and beauty that is God's presence.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">jfd+</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Copyright 2013. The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All rights reserved.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>JFD+http://www.blogger.com/profile/18098095765629408182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1734556098753371399.post-20911671456638489352013-12-04T07:04:00.002-06:002013-12-04T07:04:16.400-06:00Daily Office Reflection: "We Do Not Know"<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt916h9iNLUtNlEjNUYlixej-gOZ4zTskvkZ9qWmSxldedJHWr-la6PAiouGLoaW-oaQ3rY1ss919j_dk98N4R6d9JdDSj4xSaYX-bOUDMKmVHiRS-D3ndCmRhG2pCPmvOcNvp5hnW_uM/s1600/IMG_0154.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt916h9iNLUtNlEjNUYlixej-gOZ4zTskvkZ9qWmSxldedJHWr-la6PAiouGLoaW-oaQ3rY1ss919j_dk98N4R6d9JdDSj4xSaYX-bOUDMKmVHiRS-D3ndCmRhG2pCPmvOcNvp5hnW_uM/s320/IMG_0154.JPG" width="194" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Out of Focus, #4</i>, 2013, jfd+</td></tr>
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<i>Amos 3.12-4.4; 2 Peter 3:1-10; Matthew 21.23-32; Psalms 119;1-24 * 19,21,21</i><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Where is our heart when we are responding to a question? This seems to be the central focus of Jesus' interaction with the chief priests and the elders of the temple in our Gospel selection from Matthew. They ask him, basically, who the hell he thinks he is doing the things and saying the things that he does...and he responds with a question about John the Baptist's authority.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Jesus is pushing them to really evaluate what is going on right in front of them...And their motives are clear to him that they want the status quo and refuse to give a direct and honest answer by saying, "We do not know" when in fact they do. His retort to their lie is a question in the form of the story of the two sons: one saying <i>Nope go pound sand old man, I won't do the work in the vineyard</i>, and then the son changes his mind and goes and does as his father asks; and the other says, <i>Sure Pop, glad to</i>, and when his father goes away he doesn't do as he said he would. The chief priests and the elders answer Jesus' question about this story correctly, and then Jesus points out that they are the latter child, not the former, because of their refusal to accept what is right in front of them: him.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">We are challenged by this Gospel reading: </span><br />
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<ul>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">to put away the selfishness of preservation of the status quo; </span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">to be honest and forthright about our intentions; and</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">to live the kingdom-life - doing the work to which Jesus' life, teachings, and ministry instruct us to aspire.</span></li>
</ul>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">We all can make mistakes, and have second thoughts, and be indecisive, like the first son in Jesus' example story. That is just part of our human nature...Well, second and third and fourth thoughts too...But if we break those indecisions down, and really follow our heart based in God's love, we may initially answer, <i>I don't know</i>, but we will end up where that first son did - doing that which is right and correct and kingdom-building.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><i>jfd</i>+</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Copyright 2013, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved to images and words.</span></div>
JFD+http://www.blogger.com/profile/18098095765629408182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1734556098753371399.post-91003845319014688232013-12-02T07:00:00.001-06:002013-12-02T07:04:18.777-06:00Monday of the First Week of Advent<div style="text-align: right;">
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Amos 2:6-16, 2 Peter 1:1-11, Matthew 21:1-11, Psalms: MP - 1, 2, 3; EP - 4, 7.<br />
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I have taken over a year off from writing reflections on the Daily Office. I've decided that for the new calendar year, the church one, I am going to make an effort to re-start my daily office reflections. Not a daily thing. But 3 to 4 times a week is the planned effort. So here goes....<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwJEaNV8YHVdvvK0sJ47VvOY2pjeuNplIHHWK65ZT7AbJ_7tK3cMm1G9f-xQYXrE0RL2ukDb96csDTgfWQyJgnzix2GJo6w96urUjCfOlRQ36I0r_zYaLdnN4sFaSVLB_c9mJEFG_TIgM/s1600/IMG_0145.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwJEaNV8YHVdvvK0sJ47VvOY2pjeuNplIHHWK65ZT7AbJ_7tK3cMm1G9f-xQYXrE0RL2ukDb96csDTgfWQyJgnzix2GJo6w96urUjCfOlRQ36I0r_zYaLdnN4sFaSVLB_c9mJEFG_TIgM/s320/IMG_0145.JPG" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Advent Wreath 2013</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: large;">We have Jesus' triumphant entry into Jerusalem in our Gospel reading for today. Perhaps a seemingly odd choice of scripture readings for this first Monday in the advent season. For we are at the very beginning of our new church year. And we are provided with a portion of Matthew from the near end of that Gospel.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">There is a bit of book ending by the writer of this Gospel going on today. He begins this book providing a genealogy of Jesus, Joseph's visit by an angel of God telling him that Mary is to bear the son of God,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"> and then the visit by the three wise individuals to the infant who </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">they described as the new king of the Jews, and Joseph being gifted another angelic visitor telling him to flee Herod's wrath. At the </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">very beginning of this Gospel, Jesus is announced as the new king and at the end of this Gospel Jesus is treated as a king upon his entry into Jerusalem.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">What are we to take away from this reading? Perhaps it is two things. First, it is the marvel at the beauty of the story we enter into at the beginning of this new church year. And secondly, it is to remind us of who and what this infant in a manger we wait upon is and what he becomes. Not a bad start to Advent.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">jfd+</span><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Copyright, The Rev. John Dwyer. 2013, all rights reserved.</i></div>
</div>
JFD+http://www.blogger.com/profile/18098095765629408182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1734556098753371399.post-81920012784837070792013-01-01T09:09:00.001-06:002013-01-01T09:09:25.411-06:00Daily Office Reflection: Holy Name<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqoLMlZByO-AW8P_on1wpQDQs0G74dhBXlYjI2d31Ru9KXQzMSQ6tKRHl35zA5Kv3hkD5va61YnsoNfIl1kWZbyHErIzxCrwzzAMJbEezVhjk1893h_BXWIzkH3_7CuQZeOysfxGCqTiQ/s1600/247326_428753387197696_1237827522_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="203" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqoLMlZByO-AW8P_on1wpQDQs0G74dhBXlYjI2d31Ru9KXQzMSQ6tKRHl35zA5Kv3hkD5va61YnsoNfIl1kWZbyHErIzxCrwzzAMJbEezVhjk1893h_BXWIzkH3_7CuQZeOysfxGCqTiQ/s320/247326_428753387197696_1237827522_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Christmas Eve 2012, Children's Service: St Christopher's</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Psalms 103 * 148; Genesis 17:1-12a, 13-16; Colossians 2:6-12; John 16:23b-30</i></span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">In <i>Holy Women Holy Men: Celebrating the Saints</i>, a quite nice summary is provided of this feast day. Being New Year's Day, I am going to provide that as a "reflection" for today and let the Spirit move as she will.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>"The designation of this day as the Feast of the Holy Name is new to the 1979 revision of the Prayer Book. Previous Anglican Prayer Books called it the Feast of the Circumcision. January first is, of course, the eighth day after Christmas Day, and the Gospel according to Luke records that eight days after his birth the child was circumcised and given the name Jesus.</i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>The Law of Moses required that every male child be circumcised on the eighth day from his birth (Leviticus 12:3) {as well as in our Genesis reading today with God giving Abram and Sarai new names - Abraham and Sarah - and giving instructions about circumcision}; and it had long been the custom to make of it a festive occasion, when family and friends came together to witness the naming of the child.</i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>The liturgical commemoration of the Circumcision is of Gallican origin, and a Council in Tours in 567 enacted that the day was to be kept as a fast day to counteract pagan festivities connected with the beginning of the new year. In the Roman tradition, January first was observed as the octave day of Christmas, and it was specially devoted to the Virgin Mother.</i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>The early preachers of the Gospel lay stress on the name as showing that Jesus was a man of flesh and blood, though also the Son of God, who died a human death, and whom God raised from death to be the Savior. The name was given to Jesus, as the angel explained to Joseph, because he would "save his people from their sins." (Matthew 1:21) {The word means "Savior" or "Deliverer" in Hebrew.}</i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Then as now, people longed to be freed from evils: political, social, and spiritual. The name of Jesus calls to mind the true freedom which is ours through Jesus the Christ."</i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">A Happy and a Blessed New Year.</span>JFD+http://www.blogger.com/profile/18098095765629408182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1734556098753371399.post-24898229838922717442012-12-23T10:15:00.000-06:002012-12-23T10:15:52.582-06:00Advent 4: Preparation<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhTwxFccY-6_n6aB3qeEJ4epGldF-y7ijy8iHFSyg7fsPg9S9YDcVE-f3LA-9d3YN68eSBA0gO-Kyhl7mF8gQsV7QS5Cf74McsL1RMzfzf6N9xVF4Kot_PzOr22MvVEblQQlFmqNrbIcM/s1600/0.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhTwxFccY-6_n6aB3qeEJ4epGldF-y7ijy8iHFSyg7fsPg9S9YDcVE-f3LA-9d3YN68eSBA0gO-Kyhl7mF8gQsV7QS5Cf74McsL1RMzfzf6N9xVF4Kot_PzOr22MvVEblQQlFmqNrbIcM/s320/0.jpeg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Advent Wreathe, Week 4</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I have stayed quiet on this blog since the incident in CT. At first, I couldn't contain the sadness, the grief, the anger and write coherent, sensible things. Others were writing far more succinct and wonderful reflections. As the week progressed and I began to develop this sermon, it felt right to hold off posting here until this was done...So, the Advent 4 Sermon......<br />
<br />
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">jfd+<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span>Micah 5:2-5<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">Advent 4 C <span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Hebrews 10:5-10<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt;">Preached @ St. Christopher’s,
Roseville, 12/23/12<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span>Luke
1:39-55<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">y friend, The Rev. Jessica Hitchcock wrote on Facebook this
past week: “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Just an observation: I am
feeling fragile and easily annoyed today, yet I want to be kind and generous in
spirit to my brothers and sisters that I meet along the way because this is a
time when we especially are called to be kind to one another. I want to cut
myself and others some slack but I don’t want off the hook. I want this bleary
haze of “not again” to haunt and harass me because this is my sin, and I have
some repentance to do</i>.” Jessica is referring to her torn-desire: to be able
to move on from the tragedy of what happened in Connecticut nine days ago, and
then catching herself, knowing that letting it go only pushes the problem down
the road. She is also owning-up to the fact, as we all must, that we all bear
some measure of culpability for this tragedy…Jessica’s reflection is an example
of Advent preparation and a living into the prayer that is our Collect: that we
may create mansions of love within ourselves.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Jessica’s self reflection and honesty also mirrors what we
hear Elizabeth and Mary say in our Gospel reading from Luke…What are we to make
of the unlikely pregnancies of Mary and Elizabeth? How are we to make these
hymns of self-reflective, joyous-wonder relevant to us today? We hear echoes of
early Biblical stories of women and impossible births in the accounts of
Elizabeth and Mary and they echo a resonance of real-life drama.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Marcus Borg describes these Christmas narratives as
summaries of themes we hear throughout the Gospel of Luke. In these two birth
narratives, we hear about the importance of the Holy Spirit, the significant
role women play in Jesus’ life and ministry, the importance of women in the
life and ministry of the church and new community forming around that new
church, the concept of joy that permeates so much of the Gospel of Luke, and
the importance of the oppressed and God’s interest in seeing justice done.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Elizabeth and Mary’s encounter with each other is really, at
its root, about choice: Mary’s decision to find help and solace from Elizabeth;
Elizabeth choosing to welcome and be joyous about a single young teenager’s
pregnancy. Both choosing to be inspired by the Holy Spirit and Her urging to
look within themselves and then express the joy and wonder and thanksgiving
about the new and unexpected trajectory their lives have taken.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Elizabeth could have spurned her cousin, sent her away as
shameful. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">She made a choice</i> to
protect this child…Now, no early teen likes to referred to as, (or considers
themselves to be) a child…but they are: developmentally, psychologically, emotionally,
experientially. Elizabeth did not abandon Mary, but did what she knew was
right: help and protect and support Mary. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">That small and just action by Elizabeth helped to change the
world. I am sure that if Elizabeth had turned Mary away, God would have
protected Mary in some other way…What about those 26<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1734556098753371399" name="_GoBack"></a>
children in Connecticut…where was God on that terrible Friday? We are subjected
to all kinds of trash-talking celebrity-preacher-types saying this tragedy is
somehow God’s judgment come upon us. That is utter nonsense and lies. The God
we believe in, have faith in, the God we know, does not act in this way. The
God, resident in the babe in the manger, is not a vengeful, hate-spewing,
bigoted and prejudiced God. Our God, the one resident in Jesus, is a God of
love and hope and joy. God did not cause that troubled young man to buy a weapon
and cause this grief and heartache and loss. Where we find God in this unholy
mess is in the bravery of the teachers and administrators protecting those
children. We see God in the outpouring of support for those who have suffered
this unthinkable, unbearable loss. We find God in the love pouring out <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">to</i> those people who have lost such
innocent loved ones.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">And we find God in our own honesty that we bear some
culpability in this loss. My friend Jessica’s self-reflective honesty about the
warring desires of leaving the uncomfortable behind and moving on, juxtaposed
against the knowledge that those kinds of actions are what helped cause this
tragedy is a key component to our understanding how today’s Gospel is relevant
to us right now. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">We are charged as the living members of the Body of Christ
to protect those who cannot protect themselves. Jesus says over and over again protect,
care for, do not make children stumble. We have failed at this command. We have
turned a blind eye to corporate lobbyists interested in turning profits for
manufacturers of these weapons of destruction. We must hold accountable our
elected officials who coddle and care more for the welfare of corporate
interests, than the protection of children. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">We have a choice, much like Elizabeth…The babe in
Elizabeth’s womb, who is John the Baptist, leapt in her womb at the appearance
of Mary. A more accurate translation of that word leapt is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">danced for joy</i>. That baby danced for joy at the appearance of God
in their midst, being reminiscent of David dancing like a fool before the ark
of the Covenant on its way to its new home in the Holy Land. We…all of us…must
dance with joy at God appearing in our midst as a babe…as a child. Dancing like
fools for God…and following our charge to do our best to protect all children
from threats: whether they be from guns or abuse or manipulation or enslavement
or any kind of danger.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">There are times in life when we are presented with choices.
Our actions in response to this preventable tragedy in Connecticut will be very
telling about our willingness to truly be Christ’s Body in this world today.
Living into the un-comfortableness of our sin of not protecting children from
harm is part of our journey to be genuine in the work necessary to see sane and
safe and appropriate gun control in this country. I am not attacking
responsible gun owners nor hunters. I do believe there is a difference between
hunting, hobby-target-shooting on the one hand, and the ownership of automatic
weapons capable of mass killings by the pull of one trigger, on the other.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Our harassment of ourselves for putting up with the status
quo can spur us into taking action. Our smallest acts of love, like
Elizabeth’s, can change the course of history, and bring hope and joy and peace.
Our refusal to accept the gun laws as they currently exist can be part of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">our</i> preparation this last Sunday of
Advent…our preparation to see the world turned on end by the birth of God in a
manger. We cannot let time assuage and soften the keen loss of these innocent
lives nine days ago. We need to do all we can to make the loss of these
innocent lives be the last ones lost because of the uncontrolled corporate
interests of the gun-lobby. The protection of children, the right of a child to
live, trumps anyone’s perceived right to own an instrument of such destruction.
Our Gospel is one of love, demanding that we make choices that aid and protect
children: these choices are stirred to right action by the mansions of love
resident in our hearts.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Copyright <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Lucida Grande"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">© </span></b>2012, The Rev. John F.
Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.</div>
<!--EndFragment-->JFD+http://www.blogger.com/profile/18098095765629408182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1734556098753371399.post-682489279447564202012-12-12T07:16:00.000-06:002012-12-12T07:16:26.089-06:00Daily Office Reflection: NOW, what do you say?<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIMdvf2qszPAXgv6hLVZyvpa2KYizbw-5SU7LJEH0z00IHjI1ImzGvH9bjjZeD9L8yVoTTtC4epvHfJJJavIEe7HUnE7yIaGz2s4YtHb6hJWBIicUFnRI_DLOzOGczUqTkoRMZPUy9dCc/s1600/n751718789_1143141_7657.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIMdvf2qszPAXgv6hLVZyvpa2KYizbw-5SU7LJEH0z00IHjI1ImzGvH9bjjZeD9L8yVoTTtC4epvHfJJJavIEe7HUnE7yIaGz2s4YtHb6hJWBIicUFnRI_DLOzOGczUqTkoRMZPUy9dCc/s320/n751718789_1143141_7657.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Window @ St. Luke in the Fields, NYC</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Psalms 38 * 119:25-48; Isaiah 6:1-13; 2 Thess 1:1-12; John 7:53-8:11</i></span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Pharisees and the scribes try to trap Jesus today, by bringing a woman they say has been caught in the act of adultery...<i>the law says she must be stoned to death...NOW what are you going to do about this Jesus!?! </i>We can almost hear the glee in their voices: <i>we've got him now!</i> But they don't. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">No one knows what Jesus may have been writing on the ground. Many, much brighter than I, have written and opined. I don't think that is the point of the story. An interesting side-note perhaps, but not the point. Instead of judgement, instead of selfish, self-centered righteousness, instead of rigidity and certainty, Jesus points to a loving, forgiving, present God who gives us second chances...and third and fourth and more...</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">That's the point of the story...that we keep trying to get it right, although, in all likelihood, we never will get it perfectly right...It is not the perfection, it is the effort and the intent behind that effort. Is the intent for self-aggrandizement and ego-boosting appeal? Or are we trying to make ourselves more like the image of God? This God whose birth we are preparing for in 13 days. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">It is not our place to judge those who have made mistakes if we are judging for some other purpose than to correct inappropriate/misguided behavior. A large question posed by Jesus' actions today is: what is the purpose of judgement? Punishment? Or Rehabilitation?</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">We reach for perfection and fall short almost always. We are called to continue the reaching, with the intent behind the effort being the creation of the kingdom all around us. Nothing else really matters.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>jfd</i>+</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Copyright 2012, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.</span>JFD+http://www.blogger.com/profile/18098095765629408182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1734556098753371399.post-50304328015484741372012-12-11T07:01:00.001-06:002012-12-11T07:01:54.931-06:00Daily Office Reflection:This Generation<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5gv4S76m_CCZJqfkiHpUnsSxQEHgkIwSQAjL_nbiwH2s4M3oCd7Bx0TP_ZLN9CuX7vIgCfnWIrwrgeCJzLWsxvfIuE48enDOE_xDb7PUjytYaXav-tsU2QluO8_xIXcEQbTQZFnY_PFg/s1600/2012-12-05_14-17-39_904.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5gv4S76m_CCZJqfkiHpUnsSxQEHgkIwSQAjL_nbiwH2s4M3oCd7Bx0TP_ZLN9CuX7vIgCfnWIrwrgeCJzLWsxvfIuE48enDOE_xDb7PUjytYaXav-tsU2QluO8_xIXcEQbTQZFnY_PFg/s320/2012-12-05_14-17-39_904.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Alley-Cat Comfortable in the Office</i>, 2012</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Psalms 26, 28 * 36, 39; Isaiah 5:13-17,24-25; 1 Thess 5:12-28; Luke 21:29-38</i></span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Jesus is at the end of his recorded public teachings in today's reading from Luke. Following this passage we enter the Passion narrative, beginning with the Passover supper. He is winding up his teachings today. Yesterday's frightening reading about the "end times" continue today with Jesus explaining the "signs" for which we are to look saying <i>this generation will not pass away until all things have taken place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away... </i>And then he continued preaching and teaching in the temple and praying each night on the Mount of Olives.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">That generation did see the fulfillment of God's promises to the human race, with Jesus' Passion: his death, resurrection and Ascension...followed by the growth of the Jesus Movement continuing thereafter...even unto today...One of the things we so easily miss is that <i>each</i> generation gets to learn what it means to live into this kingdom Jesus' life and ministry and Passion opened for all of us. This generation, ours, may not "see" Jesus, but we get to discern how our lives can further the development of this kingdom, this fulfillment of God's promises, here and now among us. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Jesus Movement of which we are a part has always been counter-cultural...has always been controversial...when we have been too complacent and "safe" we need to be aware that we are not leading the way into this kingdom, but stagnating into obscurity. Each of us has our part to play...and as we approach the halfway point of the Advent Season, we are asked by today's reading from Luke to reflect upon whether we really are ready for that celebration of the changing of the world 14 days from today, and whether we are living into the counter-cultural Jesus Way, or blending into society.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>jfd</i>+</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Copyright 2012, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>JFD+http://www.blogger.com/profile/18098095765629408182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1734556098753371399.post-29681342082939248092012-12-08T07:28:00.003-06:002012-12-08T07:29:03.515-06:00Daily Office Reflection: Endurance<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0wg-0kCLZeiPslYkQnTfUegQZBaXPonJce6EZpCpnBL4itfAw9ypkyt5eMYX7-C-mjuILdM49EpdU_zkKLdURST-B49YWYCLYYNYXaHWZc23tL_6JkVfd5hkPZdkyS2bo9oAnx-faMeY/s1600/Broken.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0wg-0kCLZeiPslYkQnTfUegQZBaXPonJce6EZpCpnBL4itfAw9ypkyt5eMYX7-C-mjuILdM49EpdU_zkKLdURST-B49YWYCLYYNYXaHWZc23tL_6JkVfd5hkPZdkyS2bo9oAnx-faMeY/s320/Broken.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Broken</i>, 2008 (Panel 3 of <i>Four Fold Action</i>), jfd+</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Psalms 20, 21:1-7(8-14) * 110:1-5(6-7), 116, 117; Isaiah 4:2-6; 1 Thess 4:13-18; Luke 21:5-19</i></span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">A scary and frightening reading from Luke today, with the magnificent glory of the Temple being destroyed, and wars, and earthquakes, famines, plagues, and persecutions, betrayals and deaths being presaged by Jesus.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Volumes have been written giving voice to myriad explanations: some taking things literally, others metaphysically. We know that when Luke wrote this "orderly account" of the life of Jesus' ministry that the Temple was already destroyed. We know that there was a definitive split occurring between the Jesus Way and the temple-society. But, what does this mean for <i>us</i> today? For what are these words of Jesus a metaphor for us?</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">He ends these dire warnings with <i>You will be hated by all because of my name. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your souls</i>. If we step back and try not to be literal, Jesus (Luke and his redactors) is (are) leading us to give thought to our lives, our circumstances, and how we live out the faith we profess. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">We are called to live into, have our realities shaped by Jesus' teachings - starting with the Sermon on the Plain (in Luke) and interpreting his parables told thereafter. To be strengthened by common worship and our sharing in the sacraments. Those weekly (or more) reminders can give us the fortitude to face the disbelief, and outright ignoring, that surrounds us in society. Discouragement is a natural by-product, a natural reaction to the acuteness of the ignorance to the message we believe central to our existence. Endurance, community, prayer, and the sure-knowledge of God's present love for us can help stave off the exhaustion.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">This is hard work we are called upon to do...but not impossible nor impractical...just the right and proper thing on which to focus our efforts.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>jfd</i>+</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Copyright 2012, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.</span>JFD+http://www.blogger.com/profile/18098095765629408182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1734556098753371399.post-46599249722288955252012-12-06T07:05:00.001-06:002012-12-06T07:05:51.646-06:00Daily Office Reflection: Bamboozled<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-MXxJRroR6c4VwY13N5Q7GYeiUeAUSThnnIzZ9U8e8xW3vl692TIsV99d5qJL-fc8FkqIlNmYxn1OkAwTp9D-9X4LGadKnKhHedi8YiLej1c4a6CZlG6RmZ1eyQ8Y562nguBJE3gWovs/s1600/CIMG0498.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-MXxJRroR6c4VwY13N5Q7GYeiUeAUSThnnIzZ9U8e8xW3vl692TIsV99d5qJL-fc8FkqIlNmYxn1OkAwTp9D-9X4LGadKnKhHedi8YiLej1c4a6CZlG6RmZ1eyQ8Y562nguBJE3gWovs/s320/CIMG0498.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">SW, Washington DC, 2009, jfd+</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Psalm 18:1-20 * 18:21-50; Isaiah 2:12-22; 1 Thess 3:1-13; Luke 20:27-40</i></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">In yesterday's reading from Luke, Jesus flummoxed the chief priests and scribes when they attempted to trap him about paying taxes to the Roman occupiers. Looking at a coin with the emperor's likeness, he said "Then give to the emperor the things that are the emperor's, and to God the things that are God's."</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Today, he does the same to the Sadducees responding to their nonsensical question about a woman marrying seven brothers. He talks about the God of the living, not the dead, for Abraham and Isaac and Jacob are alive to God. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">The responses Jesus has given stunned these folks to silence, but that did not stop their plotting against him. I am struck by the juxtaposition of these individuals' silence, and we, as Christians, remaining silent about the secularization of Nicholas, who we remember and honor today in <i>Holy Women Holy Men</i>. We (and I am speaking of the entirety of Western Christendom here) have done a very bad job allowing our children to be brought up with this idea of Santa Claus coming at Christmas. Almost all of us do this. Almost all of us have been bamboozled into letting Jesus be pushed out of this holiday - this holy day.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Yes, I am being Scrooge-like today. But, what would our world be like if we celebrated the birth of Jesus by feeding the poor, taking care of the widow and orphan, visiting those imprisoned, having our children not be lied to...living out the Gospel we read and preach and study? Our silence has helped God's message to be silenced. And I am just as guilty of participating in this secularization of Jesus...of not providing a plausible alternative....It seems so big, so out of control....And yet, God's message of love still sounds all the louder, the cry of the infant and the joy at the birth is still resonant...all we have to do is look upon that infant and remember that a different kind of joy can encompass all of us...one person at a time, this message of God's love for us can change the world.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>jfd</i>+</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Copyright 2012, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.</span>JFD+http://www.blogger.com/profile/18098095765629408182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1734556098753371399.post-28479581436410741692012-12-04T07:33:00.001-06:002012-12-04T07:33:18.589-06:00Daily Office Reflection: Purposeful Rejection<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8Lxsgi3JhvqLFPUHEclA7T1dX4CoYQPDhsb8WACxD-QalUFVdL5q4JlFGYRsfc_HQHWf3LbwKw8QO8pYNftp_b6dFjcnImmQwyaCnFzYYv8c-3wwbMgbXzItmRe3yD4OOcy9UGeoCNxk/s1600/mail_2_2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8Lxsgi3JhvqLFPUHEclA7T1dX4CoYQPDhsb8WACxD-QalUFVdL5q4JlFGYRsfc_HQHWf3LbwKw8QO8pYNftp_b6dFjcnImmQwyaCnFzYYv8c-3wwbMgbXzItmRe3yD4OOcy9UGeoCNxk/s320/mail_2_2.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Four Fold Action</i>, 2008, jfd+</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Psalms 5, 6 * 10, 11; Isaiah 1:21-31; 1 Thess 2:1-12; Luke 20: 9-18</i></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">We can so easily become stuck...comfortable. And when that happens to us, we become resistant to any and all kind of change. The longer we stay in that comfortable state...in the familiar...the more intransigent we get when alterations are suggested...when our faults are pointed out...when we are told that what we are doing may seem fine for us at present, but is really no good for tomorrow, for the next day. Anything that stays stagnant, unchanging, withers, dies and is forgotten.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">We see this "comfort" argument in our government right now...on both sides of "the aisle". We can experience it in our homes, in particular around holiday times...<i>We always "do" Christmas this way</i>...<i>the Christmas tree has to go there, it has always been there!</i>...And we can experience that desire, need, and demand for comfort and familiarity in in our worship and church-land life...Jesus warns against that in today's parable of the absent vineyard owner and the sending of reminders of right-action, which reminders are ignored and abused.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">We are called as followers of Jesus to be always morphing and changing and challenging expectations of comfort. In particular in this short Season of Advent we have just entered, we need to be aware of those actions in which we participate...those expectations of seasonal/holiday traditions...that can so blind us to our true calling.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Instead of falling into the trap of familiar customs and traditions, where in our community, in our neighborhood, can we help someone in need, a family perhaps, to experience the joy of God's love given to <i>us</i> so freely? How do we break the molds of traditions and comfort that bind us, and blind us to the message of Christ's birth?</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Creating new traditions...re-creating what familiarity and comfort means by changing the lives of others, by opening our own...is part of what we are called to by today's passage from Luke.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>jfd</i>+</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Copyright 2012, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.</span>JFD+http://www.blogger.com/profile/18098095765629408182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1734556098753371399.post-25092266956658187682012-12-03T06:41:00.001-06:002012-12-03T06:41:37.306-06:00Daily Office Reflection: Authority<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcIXBlmLrD1p0MxOBJy4j2z6Xmjur4xt_y1qKJXGCJayicnF98jPjq1Sl3UZyCLplcrWGqWex5gmhC1eOiixRcSu2FYez1yPRJN8u35RJXMjHQOrZu0v2E2ADfsQd8dp9vV1Ju-lsiutI/s1600/2012-11-28_09-45-53_157.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcIXBlmLrD1p0MxOBJy4j2z6Xmjur4xt_y1qKJXGCJayicnF98jPjq1Sl3UZyCLplcrWGqWex5gmhC1eOiixRcSu2FYez1yPRJN8u35RJXMjHQOrZu0v2E2ADfsQd8dp9vV1Ju-lsiutI/s320/2012-11-28_09-45-53_157.jpg" width="280" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Out of Focus, II</i>, (unfinished) jfd+, 2012</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Psalms 1, 2, 3 * 4, 7; Isaiah 1:10-20; 1 Thess 1:1-10; Luke 20:1-8</i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">An individual who worked with me at one point in my life was an incredibly good actor. This person was able to make people feel (at least for a while) that she really cared about those folks with whom she was interacting. When she was away from those people, not a kind or nice word would pass from her lips when she would describe those interactions, or those individuals in passing. The inauthenticity was stunning, and challenging to know how to counteract the harm being caused. For harm was caused when her true nature came to be known. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Inauthenticity and dishonest behavioral traits undermine true authority. Jesus knows, in Luke's Gospel today, that the scribes and priests challenging him are not able to interact with him with any degree of truthfulness. And he traps them in their own web of deceit, showing them how little authority they truly posses. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Being honest and truly ourselves to those we meet is the only way to garner any kind of true authority in any of the relationships in our lives. This first Monday of our new church year, this first Monday of this short Advent Season, our scriptural readings push us to live into our true selves and be those honest brokers in the world, perhaps not making us the most popular kids on the block, but we will be the ones with all the true authority.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>jfd</i>+</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Copyright 2012, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.</span>JFD+http://www.blogger.com/profile/18098095765629408182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1734556098753371399.post-62609238246134896552012-12-01T08:56:00.001-06:002012-12-01T08:56:58.546-06:00Daily Office Reflection: Back Again<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5AYLuYo5-lerGpjRYL3W4UxCydotVeXyZ2ZcuSj175Fu58ZMhZ07q3idplVHz9YbYxK5RTdiBnbB6fCh0WNEnga4llVEjA5I8Q0m_VIb9q5GYlqH4bgvXAOrUA2BrB_JSdxNUT1R83ak/s1600/2012-11-06_20-19-34_376.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5AYLuYo5-lerGpjRYL3W4UxCydotVeXyZ2ZcuSj175Fu58ZMhZ07q3idplVHz9YbYxK5RTdiBnbB6fCh0WNEnga4llVEjA5I8Q0m_VIb9q5GYlqH4bgvXAOrUA2BrB_JSdxNUT1R83ak/s320/2012-11-06_20-19-34_376.jpg" width="236" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Out of Focus, I</i>, jfd+ 2012</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Psalms 137:1-6(7-9), 144 * 104; Zechariah 14:12-27; Philippians 2:1-11; Luke 19:41-48</i></span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">I have taken an extended break from writing on this blog, <duh>. I needed some time to reflect and think and recharge and find if this was something that was still an important part of my spiritual journey. And I have found over the last two months that even though I still read MP (most) everyday, those readings, that time spent with holy scripture, those precious and rare early morning moments where on occasion I felt the thin places of this earth present and palpable, were missing something, and did not stay with me throughout the day. The prayer and the centering quiet time, the milling thoughts and misplaced questions, remained somehow unfocused and incomplete...so I'm back.</duh></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Part of the excess of time I found in the morning was spent expressing myself in paints and sketches - some of which may appear in the upper right hand corner of these posts from time to time. My style and expressive qualities are morphing into something else than they have been in the past...and the stray thoughts that are placed here may do the same...It feels like I have been waiting for something...I don't know what, but something...Today being the last day of our church calendar year...our being on the very cusp of the precipice that is Advent and the dawn of a new church year, makes it appropriate that I am quasi-confessional in this post. For being out of focus, seeking something that is beyond ourselves, is part of what this seasonal change is asking us to risk opening ourselves to, and to which we can be seeking some resolution. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Jesus is lamenting over the character that is Jerusalem in the Gospel of Luke in our reading today. Lamenting over its blindness, its myopia to his ministry and work and God's presence right there amongst them. An appropriate reading for this last day before we enter Advent. For what will we wait these next 24 days? What have we missed this past year that has been right in front of us the whole damn time? What in our life is lacking the love that awaits us, each of us, no matter what we think we may have done to not deserve it. Where are we out of focus and striving for something we cannot explain...Advent is a perfect time to patiently wait and explore those questions and the mysteries of God's embracing touch we so easily can ignore.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">A blessed, holy, and enlightening Advent is my prayer and request and hope.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>jfd+</i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Copyright 2012, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.</span>JFD+http://www.blogger.com/profile/18098095765629408182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1734556098753371399.post-71456334700010263892012-10-11T07:15:00.003-05:002012-10-11T07:15:51.011-05:00Daily Office Reflection: Such Love<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGhcYr24VSaZP1zRwSjK1_DIjDSj1qT0KP0acRuyUb9MwGF5ztF2YdpjzimONVDuazfkdKv8vASZQc__O851SUFOVMBoOfjV96DKSWMj2XVAIttAp27ooJIvUE2op3OQT0Y16Z773PpJg/s1600/2011-02-15_08-36-11_497.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGhcYr24VSaZP1zRwSjK1_DIjDSj1qT0KP0acRuyUb9MwGF5ztF2YdpjzimONVDuazfkdKv8vASZQc__O851SUFOVMBoOfjV96DKSWMj2XVAIttAp27ooJIvUE2op3OQT0Y16Z773PpJg/s320/2011-02-15_08-36-11_497.jpg" width="244" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Cross 23</i>, 2011, jfd+</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Psalms 131, 132, 133 * 134, 135; Micah 3:1-8; Acts 24:1-23; Luke 7:36-50</i></span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">The name variations in the Gospels, at times, does not seem vast. There are lots of Johns and James' and Judas' and Marys where it is hard to keep them all sorted out. We have a different Simon today from our usual Simon Peter. We have Simon the Pharisee inviting Jesus to his home to eat. Jesus perceives his critical thoughts about the "sinner" washing his feet with tears and using her hair as a towel to dry them. And Jesus teaches about faith and healing and forgiveness.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">No one invited this woman, whose wanton sinfulness is not explained, but is obvious to the characters in this account. She came herself, attending to, loving Jesus, although she was acting in what would have been considered a scandalous and inappropriate manner. Simon the Pharisee, seemingly being appropriate, is proven otherwise by Jesus. Who's in? Who's out? How are we supposed to act?</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">There are times in our lives when our actions can come from a place deep within us - calling us to do something, say something, go somewhere that is unexpected. This woman attending to Jesus had a faith she may not have even known existed within her, but was brought up and out of her by her instantaneous decision to go and do something for Jesus. "Your faith has saved you, go in peace," Jesus says to her at the end.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Where is our faith taking us today? From what do we need to seek forgiveness? Healing? Jesus invites us to open ourselves to him, allowing our faith to save and heal and protect us...allowing us to go on in peace. Are we ready for that?</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">jfd+</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Copyright 2012, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.</span>JFD+http://www.blogger.com/profile/18098095765629408182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1734556098753371399.post-62405940542803063512012-09-29T08:22:00.004-05:002012-09-29T08:22:49.842-05:00Daily Office Reflection: St Michael & All Angels<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAD_-649vYoB3-2kA4bVnEzcPXh1xIRh-NYC78dckNXguoO8qhxv8xZdwdyj_pB7GMHgSsk6MYhdAQaagWffMgen8_tsKv4r8hoibgLHWVMV9F4F1kSUUfXAN00hYIcglhC6EGJoswgaU/s1600/P1120043.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAD_-649vYoB3-2kA4bVnEzcPXh1xIRh-NYC78dckNXguoO8qhxv8xZdwdyj_pB7GMHgSsk6MYhdAQaagWffMgen8_tsKv4r8hoibgLHWVMV9F4F1kSUUfXAN00hYIcglhC6EGJoswgaU/s320/P1120043.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Eros</i> (right-most panel), jfd, 2005</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>MP: Psalms 8, 148; Job 38:1-9; Hebrews 1:1-14;</i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>EP: Psams 34, 150 or 104; Daniel 12:1-3 or 2 Kings 6:8-17; Mark 13:21-27 or Revelation 5:1-14</i></span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Holy Women, Holy Men: Celebrating the Saints</i>, says this (in part) about this Feast Day:</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>The scriptural word "angel" (Greek: angelos) means, literally, a messenger. Messengers from God can be visible or invisible, and may assume human or non-human forms. Christians have always felt themselves to be attended by healthful spirits - swift, powerful, and enlightening. those beneficent spirits are often depicted in Christian art in human form, with wings to signify their swiftness and spacelessness, with swords to signify their power, and with dazzling raiment to signify their ability to enlighten. Unfortunately, this type of pictorial representation has led many to dismiss the angels as "just another mythical beast, like the unicorn, the griffin or the sphinx."</i></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Of the many angels spoken of in the bible, only four are called by names; Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, and Raphael. The Archangel Michael is the powerful agent of God who wards off evil from God's people, and delivers peace to them at the end of this life's mortal struggle....</i></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><u>Messengers from God</u></i>...something to think on today.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>jfd</i>+</span>JFD+http://www.blogger.com/profile/18098095765629408182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1734556098753371399.post-78314651652556984292012-09-26T06:28:00.001-05:002012-09-26T06:28:49.686-05:00Daily Office Reflection: Tempting<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkmOxJfs-3tzAoQbi_KEWL6EnLBbXek9j2G1je1lpIdwbi9z6vD_PalOza8iYhH77PvwiAxmHrCk0Kb0frHN-QqsvwbemVAW_usurU9GA8Stj2tvj1ti1Sa9-egA0hkUAkhkiRy-EoWFQ/s1600/CIMG0023.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkmOxJfs-3tzAoQbi_KEWL6EnLBbXek9j2G1je1lpIdwbi9z6vD_PalOza8iYhH77PvwiAxmHrCk0Kb0frHN-QqsvwbemVAW_usurU9GA8Stj2tvj1ti1Sa9-egA0hkUAkhkiRy-EoWFQ/s320/CIMG0023.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sunrise in PTown, jfd+ 2008</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Psalms 119:97-120 * 81, 82; Esther 6:1-14 or Judith10:1-23; Acts 19:1-10; Luke 4:1-13</i></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Jesus is identified by God yesterday, <i>You are my Son, the Beloved; with whom I am well pleased</i>. This happened after Jesus was baptized and was busy praying. Immediately following this we have today's selection from Luke, where Jesus, filled with the Holy Spirit, entered the wilderness for 40 days, being tempted while he was starving himself. Jesus battles back saying: we don't live by bread alone...worship and serve only God...don't test God, trust in God...</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">All of us are tempted, daily, by people and things that can (and do) distract us from truly being Christ's Body in the world: from "that person" over there causing us duress; to the siren call of the newest fall fashion; something to which we are addicted calling our name so strongly. Perhaps it is revenge for a perceived (or real) slight. Whatever takes our attention from creating this Kingdom Jesus opens for all us is that which we should put aside, move beyond or around. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">We live in a society, a world, where no matter the direction we look, there are temptations. It is how we respond to those provocations that can determine who we are, as the people of God. Sure, we all make mistakes. How we face those temptations the next time, and the time after that, is what we are asked to consider today.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">God's loving embrace...the Holy Spirit's prodding, are ever-present to help us in those decisions. How will we respond today?</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>jfd</i>+</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Copyright 2012, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.</span>JFD+http://www.blogger.com/profile/18098095765629408182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1734556098753371399.post-26856659502494603502012-09-24T06:42:00.002-05:002012-09-24T06:43:09.762-05:00Daily Office Reflection: Fairness<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOYKL1zrQbs0wHJmakR5MgJIRTXdn5rGS0juE-_aSvaATAB12maATupxCWmSPsDBLnQ2rpW_VNJB7vlF8opdpMo2cYHPF3c4jnCEVe60haWEXY8t3ZKl_vEuTDvrdXvuCGEhz6TdvziJY/s1600/mail_3_2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="178" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOYKL1zrQbs0wHJmakR5MgJIRTXdn5rGS0juE-_aSvaATAB12maATupxCWmSPsDBLnQ2rpW_VNJB7vlF8opdpMo2cYHPF3c4jnCEVe60haWEXY8t3ZKl_vEuTDvrdXvuCGEhz6TdvziJY/s320/mail_3_2.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lake Calhoun, 2012</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Psalms 80 * 77 (79); Esther 4:4-17 or Judith 7:1-7,19-32; Acts 18:1-11; Luke 1:1-4,3:1-14</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">I decided to take some time off from this blog, kind of like a vacation, but more like a time of discernment, wondering and praying about the purpose of these reflections on the Daily Office I have been posting these past number of years. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">I have not come to any dramatic decisions in the last six weeks. I have missed this time of sitting with readings from the D.O. and jotting down stray thoughts that are stirred up in my by having read them. I found that the readings did not stay with me as long during the day, as they do when I have spent the short amount of time it takes to write one of these posts....and so, I begin again, hoping to throw thoughts to the wind of the web, with the prayer that the Holy Spirit do something with them for the benefit of her purposes. Perhaps her only purpose is to allow me to have these texts stay with me longer during the hubbub of the day, and that is sufficient. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">The adult John the Baptist is introduced to us in the Gospel of Luke today. After we read the heady prologue, John the B appears, threatening dire consequences as usual, droves come to be baptized, and many ask "but what (in all practicality) should we do differently in our lives?" He says:</span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">(to the tax collector) <i>Collect no more than the amount prescribed to you</i>.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">(to the soldier) <i>Do not extort money from anyone by threats of false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages</i>.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">(to the crowds) <i>Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none, and whoever has food must do likewise</i>.</span></li>
</ul>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Simple acts of kindness. Plain and ordinary fairness. Treatment of those who are less fortunate, down on their luck, mistreated by society, with generosity. A clear-eyed self-evaluation of what we actually need in life, and what is, quite simply, unnecessary fluff.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Such direct and simple steps we all could take that would make the world so different, such a better place. There are times when those steps can be felt as "useless"..."the problems are too big, why bother"...The bigger picture is important to keep in mind...but paying attention to the context in which we are blessed to be placed and doing something for those with whom we live can and does make a difference.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">A good question to reflect on today: "how can I live into these instructions of John the B, to have a more clear-eyed understanding of fairness in the bubble of the world in which I presently roll around?"</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>jfd</i>+</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Copyright 2012, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.</span>JFD+http://www.blogger.com/profile/18098095765629408182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1734556098753371399.post-47363243720411721182012-08-16T05:45:00.001-05:002012-08-16T05:45:17.235-05:00Daily Office Reflection: Shock Value<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4NtKkGzG5Pu-4X5yuVAXpN8yTdO5OROJhMaRsGiglM4x45RJDwCFMp00xYn3CM-b1KziUHgeFS9HBO1-024n8hmsJeIkzwQh-hHv1xWQ5eYlXPl3epygekmh1mec-UUpnsYPLqEOxhE4/s1600/CIMG0541.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="165" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4NtKkGzG5Pu-4X5yuVAXpN8yTdO5OROJhMaRsGiglM4x45RJDwCFMp00xYn3CM-b1KziUHgeFS9HBO1-024n8hmsJeIkzwQh-hHv1xWQ5eYlXPl3epygekmh1mec-UUpnsYPLqEOxhE4/s320/CIMG0541.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Wet Feet </i>(In Progress), 2010, jfd+</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Psalms 105:1-22; 105:23-45; Judges 14:1-19; Acts 6:15-7:16; John 4:27-42</i></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Today, we have the second part of the account of Jesus and the Samaritans in John's Gospel. This story was meant to shock people, have us look at Jesus in different ways, and understand his mission and ministry in a new light. With the passage of time, that shock value has faded.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Samaritans were a much maligned people, maligned by the ruling temple authorities. They were thought of as unclean, impure, to be avoided. Compounding the shock value of this story, Jesus is talking to a woman... alone...and a Samaritan at that.This would have caused the initial hearers of this Gospel to have their jaws drop open. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Where the Samaritans resided was directly between two major areas. Most people would travel days out of their way to avoid coming in contact with these outcasts. Jesus took the direct route to his destination, taking him directly through "enemy" territory, bringing him into contact with this Samaritan woman.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">One of the many things this account is meant to make us contemplate is whether or not we are taking a direct route in helping to create the kingdom Jesus opens for us, or if we are taking the long way around in order to avoid contact with undesirable and uncomfortable situations. Do we avoid going to certain places so that we do not have to encounter a particular individual who makes us uncomfortable?</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">God's kingdom is for everyone...those we like and those we would prefer to avoid. Our job is to welcome everyone, not exclude people by avoiding contact with them, ignoring them...At the same time, and as Jesus' interaction with the Samaritan woman illustrates, we are not called to be "patsies" and be bullied. Being direct with people about inappropriate behavior is not the same thing as being unwelcoming. Pointing out what is appropriate conduct is not the same thing as exclusionary avoidance.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Lots to think about in this Gospel of Jesus, the Samaritan woman, the Samaritan community and the well.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>jfd</i>+</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Copyright 2012, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.</span>JFD+http://www.blogger.com/profile/18098095765629408182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1734556098753371399.post-56961877301224917992012-08-11T06:23:00.000-05:002012-08-11T06:23:34.214-05:00Daily Office Reflection: Bookending<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitEVWKNxW57jav9NP_DVw_g3zsNam-JY7nnLAvCtUkGZmkIXYwM-2BPCMdGJP3PTHnQTjou8kq91mLNOQh33tJsjRvZBEVGNvSj2i5veBZr6d21bIdUV1VYUdV0V044Aq4-CHBhvl3tG0/s1600/mail.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitEVWKNxW57jav9NP_DVw_g3zsNam-JY7nnLAvCtUkGZmkIXYwM-2BPCMdGJP3PTHnQTjou8kq91mLNOQh33tJsjRvZBEVGNvSj2i5veBZr6d21bIdUV1VYUdV0V044Aq4-CHBhvl3tG0/s1600/mail.jpeg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Johnny & Bryan's Wedding</i>, 2010</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Psalm 87, 90 & 136; Judges 9:22-25,50-57; Acts 4:32-5:11; John 2:13-25</i></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Gospel of John presents us with such a different Jesus, a different flow to the story of Jesus' life and ministry. Jesus marches into the narrative with authority and certainty of who he is and where he is going. The Gospel writer we call John bookends this long account: what happens toward the end, the things Jesus says and does, are mirrored toward the beginning.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Yesterday, we had the wedding feast in Cana (the first portion of Chapter 2), where water is turned into wine on Mary's request. That Chapter begins, strikingly, with the words "<i>On the third day</i> there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee..." This comes right after (at the close of Chapter 1) Jesus telling Nathanael that he (Nate) will see far greater things happen than Jesus telling him where he had been sitting under a fig tree. So, the "on the third day" reference stands out as something that does not flow with what has just gone before - the third day of what? John is setting forth the importance of "the great three days," the Passion that is to come later in the story, where at the beginning of that Passion narrative, Jesus has wine (and bread) become something else entirely.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">In today's continuation of Chapter 2, Jesus cleans out the market place area of the temple. When challenged by temple authorities on this action, who demand a sign that gives Jesus authority, Jesus says "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." There are those three days again. There is no mystery in this Gospel, for the author tells us that his disciples understood this after he had been raised from the dead. A deliberate march, from Galilee to Jerusalem, back out again, and eventually back to Jerusalem. A deliberate life and ministry.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">How are we supposed to mimic this kind of determination, this kind of deliberateness and certainty? This very high-Christological-Jesus makes him seemingly unapproachable, remote, challenging for us to make these accounts of Jesus relevant to the everyday hubbub of our lives. I find it helpful to remember the other Gospels in comparison to this one, combined with looking at the human elements the Gospel writer puts in these accounts of Jesus' ministry. He is a bit cranky with his mother when she asks him to do something about the lack of wine at the wedding...a typical child being unhappy with being told by a parent what to do, saying no at first, and then going ahead and doing the thing asked for....Jesus shows anger/temper in the temple in today's portion of Chapter 2 - a whip of cords, a raised voice. There's no teaching, just "zeal" and physicality at trying to right a wrong. This can be very balancing when set against the more remote-certainhood of John's Jesus.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">A challenging and often misunderstood Gospel. Yet, it is one that continues to speak and guide and invite us to be in conversation with God. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">jfd+</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Copyright 2012, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.</span>JFD+http://www.blogger.com/profile/18098095765629408182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1734556098753371399.post-52735122519791244822012-08-08T06:35:00.002-05:002012-08-08T06:35:43.414-05:00Daily Office Reflection: Seeing...Knowing<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEZFqBbaEb5KomOMgzI1hb6y7EqD8CMp8HH4tCfy1LP1IRgQymq1OVo24f1S6Ty1fdUBmTC64wSR1424tEXkiMEaZuE-eAeip9s5A-EzFXgEAS7EDROw0Yv3gvEGLHSdCT1HQmu4Vitfc/s1600/mail_2_5.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEZFqBbaEb5KomOMgzI1hb6y7EqD8CMp8HH4tCfy1LP1IRgQymq1OVo24f1S6Ty1fdUBmTC64wSR1424tEXkiMEaZuE-eAeip9s5A-EzFXgEAS7EDROw0Yv3gvEGLHSdCT1HQmu4Vitfc/s320/mail_2_5.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>St Christopher's</i>, 2011, jfd+</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Psalms (83) or 145 * 85, 86; Judges 8:22-33; Acts 4:1-12; John 1:43-51</i></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">There are times when we just know something. We don't have to be told...we just know. Trying to articulate why we know can be challenging, and can cause us to start to doubt, but that seed of knowing stays put, no matter how much we try to intellectualize it away.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">We can know when we love someone. Not everyone has experienced love at first sight, of knowing <i>this</i> is the person, but those who have understand this un-intellectualized knowing. We know when we are being stared at...we just instinctively look. It is not (often) something we can make happen, but we just know.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">In response to a question of where he is going, Jesus invites two of John's disciples to "come and see." He doesn't teach them, he doesn't preach at them. He shows them, and they know. <i>This is the one</i>. And off Andrew runs to get his brother Simon, who Jesus names Peter. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">One of the things we Episcopalians say, frequently, is that if you want to know what we believe, come and worship with us...<i>come and see</i>. We are what we pray. We try to live and be what we pray. Quite often, people will feel something during a service that makes them want to stay, to learn more...<i>but they know, this is the place.</i> With all its warts and humanness...this is the place. Seeing it helps make us know...<i>I want to be a part of whatever is going on here. </i></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Understanding is a different thing all together. The knowing we hear about today is different from understanding. Living into that mystery is the challenging and hard part. Not losing that initial, <i>yes, this is it</i>, is the hard part. Today's Gospel is asking us to remember and stay with that initial knowing...reminding us to put up with the other "stuff" that comes along with intellectualizing...balancing that knowledge with the inner knowing.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>jfd</i>+</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Copyright 2012, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.</span>JFD+http://www.blogger.com/profile/18098095765629408182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1734556098753371399.post-53565004708527004992012-08-07T07:26:00.003-05:002012-08-07T07:26:58.111-05:00Daily Office Reflection: Who Are You?<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKqUjGjrmw_pEzeLZttKdVl8yJc-yL_iCGE4YjaEkRiVZ7Q_ug-o5mPchXceRUDRNZYnzl2lNTJdsGZ1aisJXPjBEGQI_6lxmVPunBL4WttDe-nO7nrjOu6RqWOQYpZ6PMC0qjI5ZI12g/s1600/mail_3.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKqUjGjrmw_pEzeLZttKdVl8yJc-yL_iCGE4YjaEkRiVZ7Q_ug-o5mPchXceRUDRNZYnzl2lNTJdsGZ1aisJXPjBEGQI_6lxmVPunBL4WttDe-nO7nrjOu6RqWOQYpZ6PMC0qjI5ZI12g/s320/mail_3.jpeg" width="166" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Alley</i> - in progress, jfd+ 2012</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Psalms 78:1-39 * 78:40-72; Judges 7:1-18; Acts 3:1-11: John 1:19-28</i></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">John the Baptist is asked by the leaders of the Jewish community, <i>Who are you</i>? They are rather indignant and impatient, as John is baptizing and preaching, and criticizing the cultural structures that leadership had labored hard in creating. The undertone of their questions is: <i>Well, you have some nerve sticking your nose in to these matters about which you have little understanding</i>! John tells them they <i>ain't seen nothin' yet! Wait until the one whom I am announcing makes an appearance</i>! </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Who are you</i>? We are asked this self defining question quite often in our lives. And we all may have differing answers for the audience to whom those answers are directed. I was recently filling out an application for a "church-appointed/elected position" and one of the questions was "how do you define yourself?"...another way of asking: <i>Who are you to put your hat in the ring for this position</i>? And my answer was along these lines: "I'm a rector (with all that entails), a son, a brother, a brother-in-law, an uncle, an artist, a writer, a friend, a lover of people, a child of God, a small part of the Body of Christ in the world today." I don't think I'll be appointed/elected to this position, but that question, "how do you define yourself?" (a/k/a "who are you?") has stayed with me. (To parishioners and friends in MN: I am NOT looking for a new call/job - this is a volunteer position within the larger church.)</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">How do we define ourselves when asked <i>Who are you?</i> How do we answer? Is being part of the living Body of Christ in our answer? Does the inclusion of our faith/belief system shape our answer? Does it depend on to whom we speaking? Good and challenging questions, requiring us to think about where our faith fits into our life.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>jfd</i>+</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Copyright 2012, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.</span>JFD+http://www.blogger.com/profile/18098095765629408182noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1734556098753371399.post-24244243118783817792012-08-03T07:20:00.000-05:002012-08-03T07:20:20.760-05:00Daily Office Reflection: Do Not Be Afraid<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi18eQteF51TOqNw1EOVm4agGl7IPnXAYqAbYC8fBZXvqde0Xiris4zA_j__xLPygJo2MPeiDz6PX9YvZpbq1kOO6BAoih5ftUskyOKWNYj_5Xj8IRzpfrZ4ve_4ImYf6hT8c4w9wtoPuo/s1600/CIMG0275.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi18eQteF51TOqNw1EOVm4agGl7IPnXAYqAbYC8fBZXvqde0Xiris4zA_j__xLPygJo2MPeiDz6PX9YvZpbq1kOO6BAoih5ftUskyOKWNYj_5Xj8IRzpfrZ4ve_4ImYf6hT8c4w9wtoPuo/s320/CIMG0275.JPG" width="199" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Cross 21</i>, 2009, jfd+</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Psalms 69:1-23(24-30)31-38 * 73; Judges 5:1-18; Acts 2:1-21; Matthew 28:1-10</i></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Do not be afraid</i>, Jesus says to Mary Magdalene and one of the other Mary's that populates this narrative. He appears to them as they are rushing back to the others to tell what the angel at the tomb told them: <i>Jesus is risen, do not be afraid</i>.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Fear is such an innate part of all us. Some are better at hiding it than others. Some are better at "dealing with it" than others. But fear resides in us and manifests itself in a myriad of different ways: small and large, overwhelming and with minimal impact at different times in our lives. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Being afraid can take many forms. We can be fearful of someone's reaction to some news we have to break to them. We can be fearful of having enough money to pay the mortgage or rent. We can have fear about having enough money to buy food so our family can eat something nutritious. We can be fearful of becoming unemployed. Of losing friends. Of being alone. Of dying.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Do not be afraid</i>, Jesus says. The angel appearing to the Marys says it too. Fear can be a motivator to some, pushing us to do that which we think we cannot, for fear of what will happen if we don't.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Jesus, and that God-sent angel, is asking us to trust: the opposite of fear. To trust in God. To trust that no matter what happens, whether we become unemployed, or lose a friend, or cannot afford what we think we should be able to afford, or that we will die...trust that no matter what happens to us, we will be alright. That no matter what comes our way, because of the love we see exuding from Jesus to the Marys, (who are exemplars of us), no matter what happens, we will be okay. For God's love is greater than all our fears, and can, and does, bring us through all that we face in life.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">Fear will always be with us, a part of us. Trust is something we have to work on quite a bit harder. But when we allow that trust to rule our lives, and not the fear, we are forever changed for the better.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>jfd</i>+</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Copyright 2012, The Rev. John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.</span>JFD+http://www.blogger.com/profile/18098095765629408182noreply@blogger.com0