Wednesday Wondering - August 30, 2023

Scripture

Exodus 3: 13 - 15

But Moses said to God, “If I come to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” 14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” He said further, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘I am has sent me to you.’ ” 15 God also said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the Israelites, ‘The Lord, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you’:

This is my name forever, and this my title for all generations.

Psalm 55: 22

Cast your burden on the LORD, and he shall sustain you: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.

Reflection

I have been struggling a lot with all that is happening in the world, but it is much more personal than what is happening in the wider world right now. There are so many that I know who are struggling with so much in their lives. In the midst of all of this I often think about God and what does it mean for us to know, to understand, that God is with us. The reading from Psalm 55 gives us assurance that when we struggle we are to cast our burdens onto God, but what does it mean for us to actually know that God is with us? In the reading from Exodus God has called Moses up to the mountain and is sending Moses to those in captivity, to free them. God has heard the cries of those who are struggling. In this story we hear of God’s love for God’s people and God names Godself in a way that I believe it is important for us to remember. I read this reflection on God’s name, written by an unknown author, and it speaks to me of God’s presence even when I struggle.

“There was a moment when Moses had the nerve to ask God what God’s name is. God was gracious enough to answer, and the name God gave is recorded in the original Hebrew as YHWH.

Over time we’ve arbitrarily added an ‘a’ and an ‘e’ in there to get YaHWeH, presumably because we have a preference for vowels.

But scholars and Rabbi’s have noted that the YHWH represent breathing sounds, or aspirated consonants. When pronounced without the intervening vowels, it actually sounds like breathing. YH (inhale): WH (exhale).

So a baby’s first cry, their first breath, speaks the name of God.

A deep sigh calls God’s name - or a groan, or gasp that is too heavy for mere words. Even an atheist would speak God’s name., unaware that their very breath is giving constant acknowledgement to God. Likewise, a person leaves this earth with their last breath, when God’s name is no longer filling their mortal lungs.

So when I can’t utter anything else, is my cry calling out God’s name? Being alive means that I speak God’s name constantly. So, it is heard the loudest when I’m the quietest. In sadness, we breathe heavy sighs. In joy, our lungs feel almost like they will burst. In fear, we hold our breath and have to be told to breathe slowly to help us calm down. When we are about to do something hard, we take a deep breath to find our courage. When I think about it, breathing is giving God praise. Even in the hardest of moments! This is so beautiful and fills me with emotion every time I grasp the thought. God chose to give Godself a name that we can’t but help speak every moment we’re alive. All of us, always, everywhere. Waking, sleeping, breathing, with the name of God on our lips.”

So when we struggle, when we don’t know what to do, know that God is with us because each breath we take speaks God’s name. We know in Paul’s letter to the Romans he states that we often times don’t know how to pray as we ought to, but the Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. Even in our sighs, when words will not come, we speak the name of God and God is with us. In our constant expressing of God’s name we are never alone, God has always been with us, God will always be with us. We are not alone in our suffering and struggle, for God hears God’s name with each breath we take. As our New Creed says, “We are not alone. Thanks be to God.”

Prayer

God of life and breath and love, help us to hear your name in every breath we take. Help us to know that in the midst of our struggles, our pain, our suffering, our strife, you are with us as your name is always on our lips. Give us the courage to turn to you, knowing that your presence is here with us, always and forever. We ask this in the name of God Incarnate, your son, Jesus. Amen.

Wednesday Wondering - August 23, 2023

Scripture

1Kings 19: 11 - 13

He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind, and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake, and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire, and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

Psalm 139: 7 - 8

Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!

Reflection

I have been thinking a lot lately about how fractured this world seems to be. We live in a world that connects us to everything in an instant. We can go onto technology and find the information that we need. We can log onto social media and connect with people around the world. I have reconnected with people whom I haven’t seen in 40 years through the wonder of social media. It seems as if technology has made the world a much smaller, a much more intimate place. I wonder, has it though? This wonder of technology has also allowed us to become more isolated, as we don’t have to leave the comforts of our homes to interact with others. We can go onto our computers, interact as much or as little as we want, without physically being in the same space as others. The other thing that technology has done is that it has allowed so many to interact with others without the fear of rejection, the fear of being who they truly are because, in reality you can be anyone you want to be on the internet.

It is strange how the Spirit works, isn’t it? This ‘Wondering’ started out as a rather negative commentary on technology and as I began writing my perspective changed and evolved. I see this as the Spirit moving within my thoughts, my words, and my writing. To be honest I think that that is what this entire piece is about this movement of the Spirit when we don’t expect it. The scriptures that I chose speak to the presence of God with us. In 1Kings it is Elijah, who goes out to meet God. As Elijah waits, God is not in that wind, or in that earthquake, or even in that fire, God comes to Elijah in the silence. The second passage from Psalm 139 (which by the way is my favourite Psalm) speaks to God’s presence with us no matter where we find ourselves in our lives. As I think about these scriptures and I think about the world, I have come to see that there are many times when I have not been open to the presence of God in my own life. I have been quick to judge others and how they live their lives. I have been quick to judge how others connect to the world around themselves and in doing so I forget one important thing. The late Fr. Donald Cozzens, Roman Catholic priest, author, and lecturer, in his book “Notes From The Underground” stated, "At the heart of the Gospel is a subtext that whispers we are not alone, that our creator has planted in our true selves a capacity for intimacy with God, creation, others-and ourselves.” We have been created to be in relationship. We have been created to be in relationship with ourselves, with others, and with God. Who gets to decide what that might look like for each of us? I think that the challenge with the world, why the world has become so fractured, is that we have lost the ability to see ourselves as connected to each other, in whatever way that works for us, and to God. We struggle to listen for God in the silence. So many don’t see the presence of the Divine in their lives, in the world, in others, and so they feel lost and alone. This is not the loneliness of being alone, but rather a spiritual loneliness that comes from missing real connection in one’s life. We as Christians are challenged to constantly seek God in the silences, in the cracks, in the margins of life. We are also called to come into intimate, deep meaningful, relationships with the people around us. If we do this we might just model a new way of living for others so that they too might find true connection in their lives.

Prayer

God of the deep silences, give us the wisdom to seek you in the silences of our own lives. Give us the courage to reach out to others in friendship, care, and compassion, offering our presence to them so that they might feel you. Give us the strength to move beyond the comforts of our own lives and to venture into those places where we might once again find you waiting. We ask this in the name of the one who is God Incarnate, your presence with us, Jesus. Amen.

Wednesday Wondering - August 16, 2023

Scripture

Matthew 8: 1 - 4

When Jesus had come down from the mountain, great crowds followed him; and there was a leper who came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you choose, you can make me clean.” He stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I do choose. Be made clean!” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. Then Jesus said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”

Reflection

I have been thinking a lot about who, many of us, tend to gravitate towards in our own lives. Van Jones, the American news and political commentator, author, and lawyer, speaks to what he calls our ‘resistance bubbles.’ This is our tendency in life to surround ourselves with people and groups that think the exact same way that we do. It is our resistance to actually engaging with people who are different from ourselves, or those people with whom we would never engage with in our lives. This does not mean that you have to agree with them, but it is about engaging with those who have different ideas, different spiritualities, different life stories. Our scripture from Matthew is one of those stories. Jesus sees someone that everyone else in society has shunned and rather than following what everyone else is doing, Jesus does something different. Richard Beck, author and professor of psychology at Abilene Christian University, speaks to this story in the following way, "What is intriguing about this story is the sequence. Jesus touches the leper first. Then the command "Be clean!" is offered. That is, Jesus' first move is into ritual defilement. By first touching the leper, Jesus intentionally and willfully seeks contamination, standing in solidarity with the unclean. This is striking because the expected sequence would be the initial purification followed by contact. Jesus, surprisingly for the onlookers, does the opposite. Contact occurs first. Purification follows solidarity. And one can only wonder how various Christian communities approach this sequence in their own missional endeavours.” This challenges each of us to move beyond our own resistance bubbles and to become intentional in our work to engage with others who might just be different than we are, those whom others might actually shun. It is the challenge of our faith, to engage with those we see as not the same. It is the challenge of our faith to engage with those whom society might deem unworthy. It is the challenge of our faith to be with those, to include those, whom society has shunned. Jesus spent his time with the sinners, the tax collectors, those who were seen as unclean, and in doing so he surrounded himself with those who were different and they knew that they mattered. Jesus didn’t just do this once, when he was feeling charitable, he did it throughout his entire life. We are called to the same life. We are called to live lives where everyone matters regardless of where they might find themselves in society. We are called to include everyone, those whom others have shunned, so that we might truly follow Christ. We are called to include the outcast to engage with those whom society has deemed as ‘less than.’ Jesus fought against those who would continue to sow discontent, those who would continue to marginalize, isolate, and ostracize, all in the name of their own gains and their own narrow views of the world. We, in following, Jesus are challenged to be those who see the worth in the ones that others have deemed unworthy. Jesus challenges us to touch the unclean, to be in solidarity with all those who have been cast aside, not just in word, but in deed. This is what I think it means to be a Christian today.

Prayer

God of the marginalized, help us to see those times in our lives when we are surrounding ourselves only with those who think like we do, who act like we do, who believe exactly like we do, who are always included in our resistance bubbles. Give us the courage to be among those who society has deemed unworthy, ‘less than,’ unclean, and give us the wisdom and the eyes to find you there. Help us to truly follow Jesus on a life of inclusivity and acceptance. We ask this in the name of the one who ate with the sinners and tax collectors, your son, Jesus. Amen.