Teacup Browsing

• Xe, Xem and Xyr in Canada.

• The ever-intriguing Pat Robertson:  "Tattoos are satanic."

• A 

• Cricket ecumenism.

• Speaking of sports, there's a theology for them.

• The new readers of scripture phenom is really not quite so new as much as it is a retrieval.

• The enduring influence of George Herbert.

• No time like the present.

• Really.  This guy's business card says, "Most Influential Person of China” and “Most Well-known and Beloved Chinese Role Model.”  But he's humble.

• The Economist says that Pope Francis is a Leninist. Nah! As I wrote in a previous browsing he's more a distributist than a communist.  There's a huge difference.

• Is an apology really an apology if it is forced?

• Frankly, I don't see the resemblance.

Things We Do, See and Say at Church: Meditations for a Eucharist Based: Spirituality: The Sign of the Cross

The Sign of the Cross

"Let us not then be ashamed to confess the Crucified. Be the Cross our seal made with boldness by our fingers on our brow and in everything; over the bread we eat, and the cups we drink; in our comings in, and goings out; before our sleep, when we lie down and when we awake; when we are in the way and when we are still. Great is that preservative; it is without price, for the poor's sake; without toil, for the sick, since also its grace is from God. It is the Sign of the faithful, and the dread of evils; for He has triumphed over them in it, having made a shew of them openly; for when they see the Cross, they are reminded of the Crucified; they are afraid of Him, Who hath bruised the heads of the dragon. Despise not the Seal, because of the freeness of the Gift; but for this rather honor thy Benefactor."    -- St. Cyril of Jerusalem, A.D. 315 - 386

The sign of the cross in Christian worship and devotion is multivalent in meaning.  As St. Cyril notes, the ritual gesture serves as a kind of seal in which we rededicate ourselves to the lordship of Christ in our lives.  It is a seal in the same way that our signatures seal our attestation or affirmation of something.  As one dictionary puts it, a seal is "a device or substance that is used to join two things together so as to prevent them from coming apart or to prevent anything from passing between them."  The sign of the cross reminds us, and others, of our convenantal relationship with God in Christ.

Performing the sign of the cross also reminds us of something that many Christians rarely think about: the trinitarian nature of God through which we participate and share in the divine life.  Moreover, the sign of the cross reminds of the atoning work of Christ on the cross of Calvary where we died to self with him and have arisen with him to live the resurrected life through baptism.  With such profound meanings, St. Cyril recommends that we perform the ritual frequently; at meals, at bedtime, when we arise, in general, in all our comings and goings and, of course, in the Eucharistic liturgy.

The problem with ritual action is that through repetition, they frequently lose their meaning and significance unless we are intentional in preserving the signification.  When we see an athlete making the sign of the cross after scoring a goal or winning a match, they probably are not entertaining these profound mysteries.  But we should, especially in the Eucharistic assembly.

Daily Meditation: In Service

Daily Reflection for Thursday June 26, 2014

Matthew 20:20-28

Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons, and kneeling before him, she asked a favor of him. And he said to her, "What do you want?" She said to him, "Declare that these two sons of mine will sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom." But Jesus answered, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?" They said to him, "We are able." He said to them, "You will indeed drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left, this is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father." When the ten heard it, they were angry with the two brothers. But Jesus called them to him and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. It will not be so among you; but whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave; just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many."

__________________________

In the wildly popular television show Downton Abbey, the domestic staff always refer to their profession as being "in service."  There are different ranks in the profession of being in service.  There is the upper staff ranking from butler to ladies' maid, and the lower staff, from first footman to gatekeeper.  While there is some occasional in-fighting and conniving among the household staff, one comes away with the sense that their service to the masters and mistresses of the family is their number one concern.  They are, after all, members of a noble profession.

What greater profession could there be than profession of Jesus as Lord?  And, the number one profession of those who profess him is being in service for and to Him and others.  No matter what the rank of the professing Christian is, whether in terms of influence, power or socio-economic location, Jesus, in response to mother of the sons of Zebedee makes one thing perfectly clear:  "whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be your slave."  As Mahatma Gandhi grasped, the best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.

How important is service in Jesus' eyes?  When Jesus talks about the final judgement, the metaphorical separation of the sheep and the goats, he has very strict criteria:

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

Our motivation to serve should never be out of fear of punishment though.  We serve out of love, the overflowing love of God that dwells in us. 

___________

“Everybody can be great because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.”   -Martin Luther King, Jr.

Daily Meditation: The Fairness of God?

Daily Meditation for Wednesday June 25, 2014

Matthew 20:1-16

"For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. When he went out about nine o'clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace; and he said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.' So they went. When he went out again about noon and about three o'clock, he did the same. And about five o'clock he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, 'Why are you standing here idle all day?' They said to him, 'Because no one has hired us.' He said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard.' When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, 'Call the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.' When those hired about five o'clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage. Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage. And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, saying, 'These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.' But he replied to one of them, 'Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?' So the last will be first, and the first will be last."

__________________________

One of the first times I heard this scripture preached the presider made the case for a libertarian approach to economics (he would not approve of mandatory minimum wage hikes) arguing that the reading was an injunction against government intervention in free markets and private corporate affairs.  Clearly, he did not get the message of the text which has nothing to do with economics or private enterprise but is rather a metaphor for how God metes out grace to newcomers--with abundant  generosity.

The point is that whether one has been a Christian for a lifetime or for mere minutes at the end of one's life, the extravagant love of God is not based on seniority, nor merit, but rather, on the free-will response to the call of God to a covenantal relationship with him.  Some may say--along with the workers who came early--"That's not fair!" but when it comes to the unfathomable love of God it's never about "fairness" but rather about mercy and compassion.

That's instructive for us.  When we treat others exclusively on their merits or contributions we become spiritual utilitarians; very much unlike God.  It's not about what they can do-it's about what we can do for them.  When we snub others for their lack of spiritual maturity we engage the sin of pride and eschew the virtue of humility.  When we juxtapose ourselves against those who are new to the faith in a statutory or legal way, we impose our human limitations on God and limit God in our own estimation of his greatness.

If we re-read the text in this context, we will praise God for his "unfairness" and be thankful for his unlimited grace.





Follow Never Deny by email ------------->>>>>>
Comment and share below.

Daily Meditation: Preparing the Way for The Lord

Nativity of John the Baptist 

The principal ministry of charism of John the Baptist was "preparing the way" for the person and ministry of Jesus as messiah; savior of the humanity.  What exactly does that mean and why is that important for us?  

John's mission of preparing the way meant that his ministry was to create the favorable conditions for Jesus preaching and ministry.  He  announced the coming of the messiah, preached conversion (metanoia), provided mentorship and as an example, surrendered himself to the Lordship of Christ.  John the baptist was creating a favorable environment and making it easy for Jesus to enter into and operate in the lives of the people.

John's mission becomes our mission.  How do we create favorable conditions for Christ to enter into and operate in our lives?  For example:  Do we spend time in private prayer, meditation and devotions?  Are we learning more about Jesus and the Kingdom by studying the scriptures?  Are there things that we need to eliminate that impede our conscious contact with God or which devalue my relationship with Jesus.

John the Baptist shows us that when we prepare the way of The Lord in our own lives, we are better equipped to create favorable conditions for for God to operate in the lives of friends, family, coworkers and neighbors.

Teacup Browsing

• While overall, charitable giving is up, giving for churches is on the decline.

• And job opportunities for professing members of those churches are way down, especially if you're. "Wallonian." 

• NYT's short on ISIS.

• The woman (yes, the woman) who invented Iraq.

• Soccer or football?

• CofE's soccer prayers.  It didn't help, them.

• Canterbury and Rome on the (very long way).  According to ENS, "The burdens of division continue but the opportunities for new collaboration and much deeper understanding between the two world communions are compelling and timely."  Just not in cricket.

• Catholics Hilaire Billoc and G.K. Chesterton (following traditional Catholic social teaching) as well asmany Anglican theologians including Phillip Blond and John Milbank have offered an alternative to Piketty-mania: namely, Distributism.  Which is not what it sounds like. FAQ.  Plan to hear about more about it in response to Piketty's blockbuster NYT best seller, Capital in the Twenty-First Century.

• Il Papa excommunicates the Sopranos...

• And Maureen Dowd and Francis are seeing things closer than they seem.

• Rolheiser on Living without fear of God.

• Greg Boyd on legalism and more legalisms.

• Inspiration:  this woman works 2 jobs so that she can do this for lunch.

• The dedicated life of Ann B.

• Monasticism moves to Disney.

• Five most visited holy sites.

• You've heard of the running of the bulls?  Here's the Thai version.

• Another art critic.

• Two church signs this week:

Daily Meditation: The Matthew 18 Approach to Resolving Conflict

Daily Meditation for Thursday June 19, 2014

"If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.' If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector."  Matthew 18:15-17

_______________________________

Jesus' Matthean teaching on reconciliation is beautiful in its simplicity and it works, not only in the church but also at home and in the workplace.

1.  Go to the person you have the problem with.  That seems intuitive.  The problem is that when we have a problem with someone, we often go to anyone and everyone who will listen, except the person we're in conflict with, dragging in unnecessary parities and often engaging them in gossip.  The triangulation that takes place between spouses and their in-laws during a marital argument is a good example; when the spouses make up, the in-laws may remain incensed. Go to him or her first; and go alone!  

2.  Bring an impartial person with you if the first meeting was unfruitful.  We don't want to bring someone whom we've already influenced but rather a person of reconciliatory abilities who will help shed unbiased light.  The person is not a tag-team partner but rather a person who can see strengths and weaknesses in both parties and navigate a course toward reconciliation.

3. Treat him as a pagan or a tax-collector.  Sometimes, especially when there is serious injury, immediate reconciliation may not be possible (although reconciliation remains the goal).  Jesus is not saying here, "Okay, the write them off!"  On the contrary, Jesus' own personal attitude toward tax-collectors and other "offenders" is instructive:  he loved them, desired their good, and remained in their midst as an instrument of reconciliation.  In Matthew 11, for example, Jesus is accused of being “a friend of tax collectors and sinners” and Jesus quotes them in affirmation.  You can almost hear Matthew say under his breath “You bet, he sure is!”

The restorative justice of the Kingdom of God doesn't seek revenge or punitive measures, it, above all      seeks the good of the other, even when the other is someone who we profoundly disagree with.