A LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS

A LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS

In the Broadway show The Wiz, a re-imagined Wizard of Oz, the Witch sings, 

“Don’t nobody bring me no bad news!”

I daresay many people say that daily when they turn to the news channel.  The onslaught of bad news is not eased by the knowledge that, as a journalist once told me, it’s only news if it’s bad.  The assumption being that most things are good news. It would be hard to convince us of this when we read again that a number of people are dead because someone doesn’t like his own life.  Let’s face it bad news is just dark. 

There is a constant flux between good news and bad.  For example, the world seems a darker place when a baby is accidentally shot.  Then it brightens up when we see a child with no hair smiling as yet another doctor gives them a shot. They show a courage that makes First-responders feel inferior.  

Up and down go our emotions until we want to shut the world out altogether.  It would be a relief to say,that doesn’t concern me, but as followers of Jesus we know without doubt that we are connected to everyone else.  It may not seem so, but that idea is growing in popularity in this country despite, or perhaps because of, efforts to deny that. 

What are we to do? How do we get through each day with those dark events hanging over our heads?  We are helpless to change them.  Because of the 24-hour news cycle we can’t escape them.  We pray, but nothing seems to change. 

Human beings are not that crazy about the dark. Oh, we wax poetically about looking up at the stars, but we are more comfortable in the dark if we have the sources of light handy, like matches, or flashlights or light switches.  

We need that kind of thing in the darkness of this world and Jesus is it.  When Phillip asked Jesus, “How will we know the way?”  Jesus replied, “Iamthe Way, the Truth and the Light.”   

That Light is what we need to bear the darkness. Our prayer, when we feel overwhelmed, should be the words of this old hymn.

Longing for light, we wait in darkness

Longing for truth, we turn to you.

Make us your own, your holy people.

Light for the world to see. 

Christ Be Our Light.

 Shine in our hearts.

Shine through the darkness

Christ Be Our Light. 

Amen!

Carol Lemelin OPA

HEARING JESUS

HEARING JESUS

Imagine you are in Israel in the first century.  It’s Passover season in Jerusalem, but this year it is tinged with fear because Jesus has made some troublesome predictions.  Now is time that the mother of James and John, like any stage mother, decides to confront Jesus with her demands.  She may have misinterpreted Jesus’ mission, thinking he would become King of Jerusalem.  Be that as it may, she demanded that her sons be seated at his left and right when he came to power.   He replied, “You don’t know what you are asking.” He turned to the sons and said, “Can you drink this cup that I am going to drink?”  Of course, they replied that they could.  He told them that only the Father decides such things. Then, of course, the rest of the Apostles heard about this and were indignant.  (Matt 20:20-28)

Now, this is where I feel great sympathy for Jesus. I remember a day when my husband came home from work and said that the company was laying off men in his department. It felt like the bottom dropped out of everything.  In the next room, our boys were fighting loudly and near to exchanging blows over a baseball card!  I remember the absolute desolation I felt.  I know that’s how Jesus felt at that moment. 

But, because he is who he is, he takes an unexpected tact.  He says “The rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and the great ones make their authority over them felt. But it shall not be so among you.” 

It shall not be so among you. We should train ourselves to remember those words when we are tempted to judge, to criticize, to feel self-righteous or give in to hateful thoughts. It shall not be so among you. How easy it is to ignore those words and pretend they were only for the apostles.   It may be second only to Love Your Neighboras unheard. 

Jesus also said, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve.”   We are expected to apply that to ourselves. We believe we are true followers of Christ and yet we fail to hear him.   Lent is the time to listen better and think more about what Jesus said and resolve to follow. 

May all our good works be anonymous and unrewarded.

Carol Lemelin OPA

WHAT'S GOD LIKE?

WHAT’S GOD LIKE? 

He is a God who always repays and will give back to you sevenfold. 

But offer no bribes; these he does not accept! Do not trust in sacrifice of the fruits of extortion.  He is a God of justice.  (Sirach 36: 13-15)

This book is called The Wisdom of Ben Sira or simply Sirach. It doesn’t really matter what it is called. What matters is that its message is as valid today as it was in its time. It begins “All Wisdom is from God.”  Further on it states, “The beginning of wisdom is awe of God.”  

When I was a child and first heard of fear of the LordI decided I didn’t want to have anything to do with God.  I never wanted to be frightened. I tried to avoid being afraid by being optimistic and careful.  Then I heard them say that God was our Father.  That made quite a difference, because my father was wonderful, so I thought, God must be wonderful, too.   As my life progressed I realized it was up to me to discover who God is and how Jesus fits into the picture. 

Some years ago seminary student Phillip Yancey stopped his studies and set out to find out who Jesus really is/was.  He went to the libraries of Divinity schools and universities and asked the librarians to show him the books about Jesus.  What he discovered is that there are thousands of them.   He then wrote a wonderful book called The Jesus I Never Knew, which was the first of many I have read on the same subject.  What I discovered is that God reveals himself to people in as many ways as there are people. I learned something from every book and still reached my own conclusions.

The whole point of this is to get to know God better for yourself.  Not the God you were taught, but the one to whom you pray and in whom you place your trust. You’ll recognize him in the works of others doing the same kind of searching. Our Christian society today has whittled God down to manageable size so that discrimination and exclusion and judgment are deemed righteous.  This cannot be true for us.  We are expected to know the immensity of God and yet know he is as close as our next heartbeat.  We are expected to live our lives in imitation of Jesus who lived his in imitation of the Father.  

We should pray for wisdom. We should read Sirach and the book of Wisdom. 

The lessons therein are shockingly similar to everything we know to be right and they were written through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit thousands of years ago. More proof that God is ever present and ready to be revealed to those who seek him. 

Blessings,

Carol Lemelin OPA