Forces that Would Bring Death and Disease

 

Each week Augsburg Fortress’ resource Sunday’s and Seasons provides an introductory blip for each reading. This week’s introduction for the Mark reading says:

Forces that would bring death and disease have taken hold of a man, yet they recognize Jesus and know what his power means for them. Jesus commands these forces to leave and people are amazed at his authority.

 

I was intrigued by the words, forces that would bring death and disease have taken hold, hearing the words as a definition for ‘unclean spirits.’ I have been part of many conversations and debates about these ‘exorcism’ healing stories at Jesus’ hand. ‘Unclean spirits’ are interpreted as many things: demon possession, evil, medical seizures or a condition falling into a mental health category. This morning, let us consider the definition of ‘unclean spirits’ as forces that would bring death and disease.

 

We certainly do not have to look very far to find forces that bring death and disease. If anything pandemic has highlighted such forces, societal forces, that unjustly and inequitably have greater affect on the poor and marginalized.  In 2004 the American magazine, Foreign Policy, had an article where eight notable intellectuals created a list of the ‘world’s most dangerous ideologies.’ – an ideology being a force that can bring death and disease. The list was this: transhumanism, the War on Terror, Free money, spreading democracy, religious intolerance, climate change, and hating America. All of these have complicated arguments that go along with them, and we may choose to agree or not. The list, regardless of what we think or feel about it, each item on it does cause dis-ease, contentious debate, and calculated actions.

In recent months we have been witness to such forces that can bring death and disease.  We have been witness to explosive racism, to the minimizing of peoples’ liberties, arguments over the principles of rights and freedoms, the maximizing of state control, radicalization, the rise of violent ideologies and conspiracy theories.  There are unclean spirits alive and well in the world;  forces that attach themselves to hearts and minds of people the world over. We are not immune. We are affected by them, made unclean by them, and directed by them.  

Like the billows of dirt that form clouds around the character of Pigpen in the Peanuts cartoon, uncleanliness breeds more uncleanliness and an uncleanliness that attempts to suffocate or sully any areas that are shiny. Society’s unclean spirits get applied and translated through our living – word and deeds. I confess this morning that my reactions to the forces that be, bring death and disease.  I get plastered in mud, whether in the form of fear, anxiety, or worry. I have dust that settles as bitterness, unforgiveness, grudges, callousness, judgements.  Dust devils whirl in anger, resentment, thoughts of revenge, guilt, shame. I experience caked on dirt in moments of greed, gluttony, malice, unkindness, unhealthy self-care. All of these could be labelled unclean spirits, forces that bring death and disease.

 

Blogger Elizabeth Selin shares with her readers this parable:

An onion, a macchiato (that is a fancy coffee), and a snakebite walk into a bar.  The bar is not air conditioned.  The onion gets warm and starts shedding layers.  The overpowering scent of raw onions permeates the air, and many of the customers start to weep.  “We come to savour the pleasure of good company and drinks, and now the whole place reeks of onions. Why have you been so insensitive?” the customers exclaim.  The barista, afraid of losing tips, asks the onion to leave.  “I’m not the only one with layers,: the onion says with a pointed glance at the macchiato and the snakebite. “Why can’t you accept me the way I am?” No one speaks.  The onion leaves the bar, but the burning scent lingers.

-“The Parable of the Onion at a Bar,”-- Late Night Ramblings and Other Points of Relative Interest, on Blogger, by Elizabeth Selin.

 

We are all layered, encased in various skins of dirt – uncleanliness- all of us -onion, macchiato, and snakebite.

Since this is the case, is it not a gift that the first act of Jesus’ public ministry according to the Gospel of Mark includes addressing ‘unclean spirits?’ Everyone that Jesus meets will fall into the category of unclean: whether it is the disciples not understanding, doubting, denying; or religious leaders, scribes, and Pharisees trying to trick Jesus into blasphemy or sedition, being jealous over the authority Jesus demonstrates; or unnamed unclean spirits of those who come for healing...

Everyone is unclean and thus, hindered in the ability to act on Jesus’ words, to focus on commonwealth, gratitude, love of God and neighbour; inhibited in building trusting relationships and community, and paralyzed in making desires for peace a reality.

 

The Gospel writer tells us that we are onions.

And this is good. ...  in the sense that we don’t have to pretend to be anything else but unclean ...

Jesus already knows.  The people around us already know. And we know ourselves.

Being honest -coming clean about it-  allows us to come to Jesus, peeling off our layers- and ask for healing. Immediately!

Without putting on airs – standing in a place of worship, hearing the Word of God read-

Jesus comes to the synagogue and teaches and our hearts feel it, accept it, burn with in us.

When not wasting energy hiding our foibles – letting the unclean out - Jesus won’t turn away from the unclean taunts hurled his way, rather Jesus will silence the unclean spirit and separate the spirit from the human. That is the story we hear in the Gospel of Mark.  Jesus teaches with authority and casts out unclean spirits. Jesus has spoken to everyone, offering sacrament of word and healing to all– that includes the ones’ we read about in future stories who hide their uncleanliness and those who come open and asking for healing. Jesus is present -entering people’s lives - and being in relationship, regardless of whether a person acts like a warm onion or macchiato.

Last week Jesus called the unclean disciples...  Jesus calls me. Jesus calls you. Jesus calls the community despite our uncleanliness because Jesus’ authority is the power that washes wounds, cleanses hearts, clears minds, restores balance, purifies actions, and purges forces that cause death and disease.

Jesus looks past the dirt and tarnish to the beloved creations we are. Jesus dreams of the countless possibilities that are within each of us, within this community.  Jesus continually calls out the unclean spirits so that in freedom  we take on -with Jesus authority working through us- the task of dispelling forces that bring death and disease.

 

My hands are anything but unclean; well so I think.  We have spent a lot of time being aware of not unnecessarily touching things in public, using hand sanitizer, and frequently washing our hands. We have washed away layers and layers of dirt and unseen germs, forces that bring death and disease.  And when clean, I don’t know about you, but I have noticed a need to replenish skin that is dry, tired, and perhaps even raw. The ritual of handwashing, for me, is now complete with an anointing of sorts – the use of hand cream.

When I consider unclean spirits that attach to me – when I am washed- the hand cream, the anointing, that completes the ritual are the words of hope I hear in scripture, the humming of hymns and spiritual songs, the grace of God shared in community, sharing Christ’s body in communion, the forgiveness received, and the sense of belonging. And as always the hope, faith, love, grace experienced here – compels and calls me to go into the world to wash away forces that bring death and disease and to apply healing ointment.

 

Psychologist Sherrie Campbell wrote an article for the online magazine, Entrepeneur, with the title: “The 10 Qualities of Exceptional People.” Her list included: grace, kindness, composure (described in terms of self-control), fear-less, poised (meaning self-loving), deliberate, intelligent, unassuming, truthful, and loving.     

This list of qualities sounds like healing ointment -words to be turned into words and actions – to soften hardened hearts, mend cracked ideologies, repair damaged relationships, soothe troubled spirits, relieve desperate souls.

 

Admitting and wrestling with being unclean, hear Jesus words casting out the unclean spirits that have attached themselves to you and this community; they are silenced and gone. Jesus calls you and sends you out to dispel the forces that bring death and disease. So Go, anoint a hurting world, with grace, kindness, composure; with fearlessness, poise; be deliberate, intelligent, unassuming, and truthful.  And in all things be loving. In the name of Jesus.  Amen.

Going Fishing - Epiphany 3B

 Tony Blake said, “Some go to church and think about fishing, others go fishing and think about God.”

This morning we have come to church to reflect on fishing.

Today’s reading is a story, however, for some reason this year I heard it as a parable; a parable about fishing. Now the parable isn’t written out, rather it is inferred; it is set out in tidbits of stories about fishing through the Gospels and into the Book of Acts.  Now remember, when Jesus uses parables, Jesus is often talking about the commonwealth of God, and within the parable often upsets the traditional and acceptable way to think or act on a given subject. Jesus’ parables upset the fisher monger’s cart.

 

When I go back to Owen Sound to visit family, I enjoy going for a morning run along the Sydenham River. Along the way, I see fishermen. So, when I think about fishing, I picture this river. I have an image of fishermen who take a lawn chair, a thermos of coffee, a tackle box and fishing pole, and set up a spot along the edge of a river – I picture a shady stretch of river, with lots of bugs and damp air, and wrapped in mist rising off the water in the early morning light. There is a nod of welcome from one fishermen to the next as they set up their spaces well distanced from each other. There is no talking; the only noise is the occasional  “swwwz” of a line being cast, or the “shwEtshwEtshwEt” of the reel drawing in a catch.  This is fishing: slow, quiet, solitary, peaceful, waiting ... waiting.

 

When I hear Jesus say: “Follow me and I will make you fish for people,” I apply the idea of fishing for people, to how it is that I saw fishing.  This call to follow Jesus and go fishing, has me comfortable and relaxed, willing to wait and be patient. I translate ‘going fishing’ into living a life where my actions illustrate God’s love; where I -over time- speak with friends and family about God; where I keep the door open and check-in with those interested yet not ready to commit; where I go about doing my thing, preaching and teaching the gospel and hope that the fish passing by take notice.  This is fishing: slow, quiet, one-on-one relationship building, peaceful, patient, loving.

 

When I go for a run in Halifax, at the right time of year, moored on the waterfront are a fleet (4 or 5 strong) of fishing trawlers. Boats with huge drag nets winched in place on the steel rigging. On the boats one will see a crew of people working at repairing this or that – it is a loud operation, even when at dock and not in the full swing of fishing. There is banging and clanging, the fleet creaks in the tide and bumps the pier, the fishers yell back and forth to each other, the herring gulls go nuts with squawking.

Judging by the size of the nets, one knows that a lot of fish were caught, and caught at one time. You can smell that fish were aboard, maybe still are in the holds. This too is fishing.

My first experience of the sight of the immensity of a trawling fleet, the cacophony of sound, the scale of the catch, and the overpowering smell, ... I was discombobulated and flabbergasted.

 

When I hear Jesus say: “Follow me and I will make you fish for people,” trawling is not how I envision answering this call. This kind of fishing in my mind is the mega church evangelism program; or offering a needed service that comes along with propaganda pamphlets and salvation preaching; or hiring a charismatic speaker or healer to draw in a crowd; of religion that comes with pressure and intimidation, of strings attached to belonging.  And yet, there is big sea fishing in the biblical record.  God sends Jonah to Nineveh on a fishing expedition – and hauls in a catch so big Jonah is disgusted by the sheer volume of itr; he really didn’t care for the Assyrian’s in Nineveh.

 

When I hear a Jesus’ parable, I have an expectation that if I am indeed listening with my heart, the parable is going to make me uncomfortable, challenging my perceptions, and calling me to change. Listening to a parable is like fishing;  American writer Katharine Weber wrote: ‘fishing is marvelous... there is the irresistible urge to tangle with the mysterious and unknown, to rely on intuition and hunches.’

 

Today  I tangle with the mysterious and unknown, an urge to ‘go fishing’ in my own way, in my own time, yet sensing that there is a call to fishing in other forms. In the text we heard that Jesus calls four fishermen – who leave their nets and boats, to ‘go fishing’ in a different way for a very different kind of catch. And, as Mark’s Gospel does, there is an immediacy to this fishing for people expedition. If this were not a parable it would be impossible – fishing is a slow business full of patience; except when it is not. In ‘fishing for people’ there is a tension: an individual casting of a line, or a team of disciples (four fishermen) who will cast a net. In their ministry, the fishermen will experience Jesus fishing, where he will make a little catch, the woman at the well, the man healed from an unclean spirit, the Ethiopian Eunuch; with these examples standing beside the crowds who turn up to hear Jesus preach, the groups of lepers who come for healing, the bounty of thousands who after hearing the Apostles preach turn their hearts and lives to God.

Untangling the line, - looking for Mystery- , the parable casts the calling of the fishermen after a reference to John the Baptizer being arrested – arrested for fishing in the Jordan – a reversed fishing of sorts, where John as fishermen casts the word, ‘Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand,’ and people -lots of people, fish out of water- from all around Judea take the bait and come to the river for a baptism of repentance.  John is fishing in the desert. John is fishing publicly and openly-  his fishing is making powers that be angry and uncomfortable.  Fishing gets John imprisoned and later executed; fishing is unpredictable – even dangerous.

 

Through the years, in conversation with fishermen, I have learned that fishing is second nature to them. Each has their preferred way – or only way- to fish, with specific bait and tackle to be used in their secret spots, at a particular time. Fishers are comfortable in their skills and often set in their routine and ways – until they are forced to do otherwise.  The church is similar.  As fishers we fish comfortably, using the same ways and routines we have for decades, and choose to remain in our favourite waterholes where it is safe and we feel at rest.  ... that is until something challenges us or forces us to spread the Gospel  -to fish- with new tools, in new ponds.  Pandemic has certainly been a catalyst for changing how we answer the call to go fish for people.  We have a new piece of tackle – well not really new, just used to its fuller potential – the inter-NET; tackle that spreads a large net beyond the known fishing holes. Gospel by internet, indiscriminately casts the Word to anyone seeking food for thought or soul.

It has become clear over the past months that fish – people- like to nibble on ideas of faith, come to the surface to catch a glimpse of the Mystery, to feel momentarily part of a school of fish, to protect themselves from a bigger fish out to eat them – all this without having a fear of being caught. Caught by the nets of well-meaning Christians. You know what I mean, the church who tries too hard with someone who walks in their doors --- we’ve heard the stories of desperate congregations who see new blood  and pounce, smothering. 

Fishing is an art, a skill.  And we have learned that the skills are adaptive. There are people that fish and those who just disturb the water – we are called to be fishers indiscriminately casting the net. When considering the text for today, as a parable of fishing, we are directed to tangle with the Mystery and the how-tos of sharing the Gospel and casting a line to invite others to come and follow. Pandemic fishing has changed everything, not to ever go back to what was. As stated earlier, Jesus’ parables are always about challenging one’s perspectives, causing discomfort, and affecting change for the healing of the world.

Today I feel like Jesus is calling me to fish in the style least comfortable, with activity, noise, using large /diverse/and new tackle, and do so indiscriminately and with immediacy.

 

Finally, no conversation about fishing is complete without the mention that all fishing trips do not  put fish on the table that night for dinner. Just because you go fishing does not mean you will catch something. A colleague reminded me this week, that it is not about the catch; we are not called to catch people, we are called to go fishing. In the fishing, I have learned and continue to learn about myself, others, creation, God – and my relationship with each- tangled in this net, I continue to wrestle with the Mystery and in the how of sharing God’s message- a Gospel of love, peace, forgiveness, commonwealth, and acceptance.

John Buchan, once Governor Genera of Canada wrote – ‘The charm of fishing is that it is the pursuit of what is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series of occasions for hope.”

 There is hope – for me as a fishermen – for us as we answer the call to go fishing – for fish not yet swimming in community.  Thanks be to God we are held in a vast ocean where the Mystery swirls in every drop of water.

A Snapshot of Beautiful

 

Hic sunt dracones that is Latin for ‘here be dragons.’ On early maps, particularly those from the 1400s, cartographers included labels, like ‘here be dragons,’ and drawings of fantastical creatures. Dragons, sea monsters, serpents marked unexplored territory – the wilds- and areas of experienced or potential danger.

The Bible does mention God’s creation of ‘sea monsters,’ but nowhere says in a text, ‘here be dragons.’ Although, this would certainly be an interesting rabbit hole to go down, but you will have do that on your own later.  The focus this morning is on the geography -void of dragons- that the Gospel text draws our attention to.

The Gospel writer uses a number of specifically named places:

Jesus decided to go to Galilee. Philip was from Bethsaida. We have found the one, Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth; including commentary about Nazareth. That is a lot of places to be named in a few short verses.

At first glance the naming of these places doesn’t really add to the story. Such detail might draw in hearers who love facts or maps, but otherwise ... ?

 

I have a pen pal who, in regular times, travels all over the world, often taking ‘quick’ trips, meaning a long weekend in one city to which she can fly. Once she visited Halifax and I was able to meet her for an hour over her scheduled lunch, so between sites on her must-do list.  I had offered dinner on our veranda, volunteered to be a sightseeing guide – to share some of the places off the beaten track. This is not how she travels.  She picks a city to check off her list: within the city she has a check list of the sites and a schedule to follow to catch a bit of all of them.  Halifax, the city, has been done.

When I go to a city – let’s say Toronto- my story is not, “I have been to Toronto.” Check.

The story is: riding the escalator 10x in one afternoon at the Eaton Centre; it is riding the full length of subway in the forward car- then doing it again in the back car; it is the company and conversation had in a hole in the wall Greek restaurant located off a dubious ally; it is the big bin full of blue jeans (or other clothing) at Honest Ed’s department store; it is the smell and the humidity of the exotic flowers in the Allen Garden.  The story is not Toronto, it is the places discovered within the city, and through those experiences and moments of joy, wanting to follow up, to go back to re-discover the places that warmed my heart, engaged my senses, to seek more of the sentient moments.

 

The Gospel text reads a bit like this to me:  if my pen pal had lived in 1^st century Judea, her list of places to visit and check off would likely have included Galilee, Bethsaida, and Nazareth.  My traveling on the other hand would have included a story of the enjoyment of watching people pass while eating lunch under a fig tree. I would want to follow up the visit with another in the future because somehow this moment was a snapshot of beautiful.

 

Our text after referencing the places on a map, has Jesus speak to Nathanael, “I saw you – before Philip called you – I saw you under the fig tree.”  This is very different than Jesus saying, I saw you in Bethsaida, or Galilee. To say, “I saw you under the fig tree,” is personal, specific, and intimate. If Jesus saw Nathanael under the fig tree – what did Jesus see him doing? That is quite a thought isn’t it.  Good heavens, if someone said that to me I would start to go back in my mind to that moment when I was under the tree and think about what I was doing or not doing – yes, my mind would go first to the embarrassing whether I was picking spinach out of my teeth, or not so delicately blowing my nose.

 

Jesus sees Nathanael under a fig tree.

In Jesus’ time, to be under a fig tree, was to be in a significant place.  One could expect to have an experience of some sort. Fig trees were a common place where people would go to pray, or sit together with a rabbi and learn scripture. Fig trees offered fruit and offered shade at the heat of the day.

In 1 Kings 4: 25, as one example of many, ‘to sit under a fig tree’ was used as a description for a time of peace and security:  During [King] Solomon’s lifetime Judah and Israel lived in safety, from Dan even to Beer-Sheba, all of them under their vines and fig trees.

In Micah 4: 4, a similar sentiment but used as prophecy, a possibility of what could be/will be– and they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees, and no one shall make them afraid.

The peace, security, ..... leisure.... of being able to sit under a fig tree is imbued with a spirit of repose, contentment, expectancy, possibility, and hope. It is on so many levels a snapshot of beautiful.

 

Once a week Tim and I connect with a group of friends via Zoom to play Dungeons and Dragons.

To play, one creates a character and with the other characters interacts in a world created by the game’s Master. It is a game where dice are used to determine one’s abilities when working through situations that arise on the quest. There are certainly maps used in the game, some labelled with place names, and perhaps the words ‘here be dragons.’  One never goes to a place on the map to check it off the tourist list – one goes to investigate. The fun is in using one’s creativity and imagination to discover what is in named places, investigating whatever suits one’s fancy with the purpose of moving along in the journey.  Within the search, there is even the ability to create scenarios outside of the Master’s original storyline or intended outcomes.  It is in the seeking out of the finer things, exploring the details, where one discovers new worlds, knowledge, experiences,  truths, and mystery within a temporal space. The game has players learning ‘to be’ in a space – in a relationship kind of way- rather than just passing through.  One hones their skills of paying attention to the seemingly ordinary, for it is the ordinary that can have great significance. Perhaps one will find the Mystery present.

 

In Dungeons and Dragons one works as a team or at least has relationship with the other characters, each with their own abilities and gifts. Kind of like the group of disciples Jesus is gathering: Peter, Andrew, Philip, Nathanael.  In other Gospel stories we know that Peter likes to talk before thinking, is solid and committed. He and his brother Andrew are hard workers and skilled fishers. We see that Philip is excitable – probably an extravert- going around collecting his friends to bring them to Jesus “Come and see, come and see!” Nathanael is under the fig tree, perhaps more of an introvert, one who takes time to meditate and to pray. It takes a community, a team of characters, for the journey quest the disciples follow. In their following, some of the characters will be more adept at paying attention, or seeking out knowledge, or experiencing the Mystery, or engaging others that they encounter to come along too: come with us on this journey, follow us as we live into the mission – which is some form of saving or healing the world.

 

Following the story of Philip and Nathanael, whether extroverted or introverted, there is a place for all of us to participate in meditating and praying under a fig tree, and in getting excited enough to invite others to come along. Living with the intent of seeking, finding, and experiencing Mystery, is being aware and helping open windows for others to grasp and experience the same Mystery.  This week Pastor David Maginley sent a note from the hospital requesting homemade quilts for the ICU as their stock was running low.  I took over all the quilts and afghans the church had, along with some prayer shawls. Pastor David told me that when a person is dying in the ICU they are wrapped in handcrafted cover, after their passing the family takes home the covering for their continued use. Over the year 150 love-blankets are given out from the VG’s - ICU. On the day I took the blankets to David he had tears in his eyes as he spoke about the beauty of the gifts – the rich colours, the love, the Mystery in each.  He was going -instantly, after my departure- to wrap people in the beautiful; our love, God’s love.

For many the ICU is the place marked on the map, ‘here be dragons.’ Yet, if you look the Mystery is present -bigger than life, greater than death- in the care of the nurses, in the love of family (present or beamed in via smart phone), in the words ‘I will miss you,’ ‘I love you,’ in the beauty of the colours of a quilt/afghan/or prayer shawl; the Mystery weaves in and around and through any fear, sadness, grief, dragons of any shape or size.

In the middle of a ‘here be dragons’ kind-of-place, as followers of Jesus we can seek out a metaphorical fig tree, and sit under it. In prayer, in giving our attention, in searching the details, in being open to experiencing the Mystery ---there in that place we rest in peace, safety, and leisure; a place imbued with a spirit of repose, contentment, expectancy, possibility, and hope. Following Jesus – seeking Mystery- we live into being this snapshot of beautiful.

STEEPED - Water and Word

 

My truth was articulated so well by Joseph Campbell when he wrote,

“the psychotic drowns in the waters that the mystic swims in with delight.” 

In the beginning – well, in your understanding of beginning—when darkness covered the face of the deep, I was a drop in the deep. In the deep, there was no concept of time, just an endless ocean with mighty currents slowly swirling,  lapping in the vibration of one water particle to the next. In your beginning, a wind from God swept over the face of the waters, God’s breath surged through us -across the surface every water particle touched, swelled in the spirit, and it rippled down through all of us – none of us was unaffected by the wind from God.

Void  and chaos drowned to a current bringing purpose and life. Creation of the heavens, the earth, creatures,  -- began--- in the waters where the mystic swims with delight.

 

The psychotic drowns in the waters that the mystic swims in with delight. 

In the desert – in the still waters of a pool in the river Jordan- we were troubled, the water pushed aside by the burly feet of John the baptizer. He was a force to be reckoned with.  Lapping around his ankles, his waist, we felt the torrent of power in his words proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.  

As people came to wade in the water – the call to repentance changed the tide of their hearts-  a dumping of sin, guilt, shame; a cleansing shower where the self, the ego, the I-can-do-it-alone attitude swept away in the stream: the psychotic drowned in the waters.

Plunged into the deep by John, Jesus was entombed by us, millions of drops of water - in water older than time, regenerated again and again, God’s spirit moving in our molecules in the spaces between hydrogen and oxygen, vibrating the elemental connection, being in our created relationship, filling our being with grace --------entombed in this water – Jesus became at one with us, where he let go of everything, for a moment:  hopes, dreams, promises, expectations, self, a place where one entertains their own death; to rise out of the water reborn. As the water dripped off Jesus, the heavens tore apart and a voice from heaven spoke over the waters, ‘You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.’ And once again God’s breath surged, swelling in the spirit, and rippling through all of us; none of us was unaffected by the voice of God,  ---- God continued to be--- in the waters where the mystic swims with delight.

 

The psychotic drowns in the waters that the mystic swims in with delight.

In the city of Ephesus – and in many other towns, villages, and cities- rivulets of Word cascaded down on the hearts of people. Paul the Apostle preached, wave after wave, of good news, of grace, of belonging to Christ.  People were called and dipped their feet and in baptism there was water running over the hands of Paul; the Holy Spirit flowed in the waters and agitated the wells of the heart such that people spoke in tongues, prophesying.  

Drenched were peoples hearts, peoples lives; drowned were the old ways, past loyalties, gods-that-weren’t-gods, and self-living; in a whirlpool moment the baptized lived with one heart, belonging to -working for -the community.

--- God continued to be--- in the waters where the mystic swims with delight

 

The psychotic drowns in the waters that the mystic swims in with delight.

In the waters of life – you live and move and have your being.

The droplets of stories I have shared this morning are to impress you with a Mystery beyond comprehension, an interconnectedness so vast it began way before time, way before my recollection. The droplets are a continuing and growing story of water and Word being steeped together. In baptism you have been and continue to be immersed in water that has been saturated by God – God’s wind, God’s spirit, God’s voice, God’s grace- from before time as you understand time.

Water flows over you and through you.

I pray this is of comfort to you. At the beginning of a New Year, it is good to bathe; wash away the past year and dive into 2021 giving praise and thanksgiving as you swim with the Holy. Steep yourself in scripture, prayer, worship.

Remember your baptism. In using water – connect to the Mystery within- holy water, a holy well: to wash away your tears; to swamp fears brought on by outside circumstance or a doubting of oneself. Holy water, a holy well – to soften places of unforgiveness, grudges, and boastful egos. Holy water, a holy well – to rush upon you showering you with Word: you are my beloved.

You are a child of God; you are okay. You are lead by still waters. Washed in the waters of baptism you are given new life and  belong to Christ, to a community, you are not alone.  You have new birth - cleansed from sin, raised to eternal life- you are more than okay.  You are splashed with a cascading of spirit: the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and fear of the Lord, the spirit of joy in your presence. Nothing can separate you from this spirit, this love, this holy water, this holy well – from the waters where for you and with you the mystic swims with delight.

 

As you swim through the week ahead, be overwhelmed by the delight of the mystic, ripple with joy and may your ripples of God-presence, swell to flood the world with the mission of the baptized “to give thanks and praise to God and to bear God’s creative and redeeming word to all the world.”

 

Let us pray:

Together we pray that your never-ending stream of grace may flow over us like healing water and shape our lives.

The yearning in our hearts has grown and been strengthened by the continuous, abundant, net pouring of God-self manifesting in so many wonderful and diverse ways. Our learning, our living will always 

be restless until we rest in the infinite, original spot of universal wholeness-- God-self.

                    ---Verse from: Celtic Spiritual Pilgrimage website, “Hymn of Gratitude’ by Phil, Madeleine, Marcia, Carmel B.