“Christianity is, by its core nature, more akin to folly than it is to the Pope’s massive corporation. The central dictate of Christian doctrine is humility, in imitation of Christ’s ultimate self-humbling. Christians are mocked, persecuted and small: the powerful so-called Christian empires are the real perversion of the Gospel, not the Holy Fool.” p. 127 to Play the Fool by Laurie R. King
Let it be known that I am pairing this week’s scripture (of which I am using 1 Kings 19: 9-15, John 12:27-28)
with 1 Corinthians 13:1-3….
Saints, Prophets and Love, oh my!
If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Something about the sound of Love, and Silent presence, Silent Love are among my musings…I feel like this ties it all together…
So I am doing THREE readings for Sunday (how unpresbyterian of me boowahahahahahah)
Something to consider as you sermonize!
PS Hallows not Horcruxes might make its way in there too!
Solomon built a temple, because he knew he couldn’t contain God.
Ironic as it is….
The Temple is empty, except for the 10 commandments, so that all the priest, and elders and leaders and everyone important can come into the temple for its dedication.
And the moment they call on God (we would call this the Prayer of Illumination) God’s Cloud fills the entire temple
And when the priests came out of the Holy Place,a cloud filled the house of the Lord, 11 so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord. 1 Kings 8:10-11
God is all that is in the temple! The temple wasn’t big enough to hold God, yet God filled it! That’s why it wasn’t about limiting God, but noticing how infinite God is.
This is (one) story of how God came to dwell on Earth.
Another is Jesus
Another is Communion
Another is baptism
Another is us–the people, the body of Christ, Christ’s promise that whenever we gather in his name, he’ll be present.
With Christ, God was invited to be present in church, but not just in the building but in our very relationships.
Faith is work, its communal, its varied, it contains all our varied beliefs and doubts.
Belief is us reaching towards God
Faith is God reaching towards us
In order to have faith, you must have community. Its different than asceticism or belief, it is more than the individual spirituality.
Spirituality is how we practice our beliefs.
Faith is RELATIONAL, its about our relationship with God and therefore is about our relationship with each other.
Our relationships with one another help us to understand God- hence God gives us Faith.
Have Faith!
Yea, though I walk through the valley of Mordor, I will fear no Sauron: for thou art with me; thy Dwarf and thy Elf they comfort me.
Eddie Izzard explains how we like to lay claim on things, instead of say, naming things (which I think is our Biblical Calling), we take them over and call them as our own. Or worse, say that God prefers us to own this instead of someone else..
How do we do this? with flags of course
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTduy7Qkvk8
Or in church’s its with keys. The number of conversations, wranglings, making, processing, changing of and trying to account for keys is amazing.
Keys to the Kingdom, right? That is what its really about!
But, to me, the doors to church should be wide open..
I guess I should come out…I am anti-key
I know there are safety concerns and I understand why congregants (esp. older ladies) don’t want to be alone in an unlocked building in the middle of town..
But, I don’t know how we can build trust if we don’t practice it…how can we make people responsible for God’s Kingdom if we can’t hand them responsibilities? How can we work together better?
We give each other space–both figuratively and literally, to make mistakes.
Some may call this idealistic, I call it practical faith…
I don’t know how we are going to unlock all the doors we put between each other….but Itrust that God will show us the way!
PS watch the link 🙂
“Here is your life. You might never have been, but you are because the party wouldn’t have been complete w/ you.” // Buechner
Party People into the Kingdom
“Where true inner freedom is, there God is. And where God is, there we want to be…When we meet a truly free person there are no expectations, only an invitation to reach into ourselves and discover there our own freedom.”
Henri Nouwen
We have been practicing breath prayer of “Freedom, in Christ” some thoughts for that…
hesychasm in tradition has been the process of retiring inward by ceasing to register the senses, in order to achieve an experiential knowledge of God. It is often repeated continually as a part of personal ascetic practice, its use being an integral part of the eremitic (hermit) tradition of prayer known as Hesychasm (Ancient Greek: ἡσυχάζω, hesychazo, “to keep stillness” stillness, rest, quiet, silence). The prayer is particularly esteemed by the spiritual fathers of this tradition (see Philokalia) as a method of opening up the heart (kardia) and bringing about the Prayer of the Heart (Καρδιακή Προσευχή). The Prayer of The Heart is considered to be the Unceasing Prayer that the apostle Paul advocates in the New Testament. St. Theophan the Recluse regarded the Jesus Prayer stronger than all other prayers by virtue of the power of the Holy Name of Jesus.
“Harry — I think I’ve just understood something! I’ve got to go to the library!”
And she sprinted away, up the stairs.
“What does she understand?” said Harry distractedly, still looking around, trying to tell where the voice had come from.
“Loads more than I do,” said Ron, shaking his head.
“But why’s she got to go to the library?”
“Because that’s what Hermione does,” said Ron, shrugging. “When in doubt, go to the library.”
― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
I also love the quote where Ron comments that it would take about two seconds for her to explain what she was doing, BEFORE she goes to the library…
“Just tell me the Bible story. I know it sounds simple enough, but it’s amazing how complicated this can get. Honestly, I don’t need gimmicks, flash, fluff. If I want entertainment I’ll ask my parents to take me to the movies. I don’t need a Vacation Bible School that “takes me on an Amazon expedition” or involves surfing, camping or clowns. And please, don’t let some random B-rate Bible cartoon video do it for you. I want you to tell me the Bible story. You. Me. The Bible. That’s it.”
katyandtheword 