Peace, all. Here's a translation-turned-paraphrase of this week's lectionary reading. On your phone?
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Peace, all.
Tom
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On Lifting Up the Words of the Heart
It came to be that Jesus was praying in a particular place.
Words from the heart ascending, Jesus finished,
returning the space to its silence–though, not for long.
For, in a similar manner, a learner who followed Jesus
lifted up words of his own.
“The teacher known as ‘God is Gracious’
[which is often translated as John] taught his learners
who followed him how to pray,”
said this learner.
“Jesus, could you do that for us?”
Is it possible this learner didn’t realize that,
in the form of a question,
his words were also a prayer?
Perhaps.
And yet, it was a prayer that Jesus was happy to oblige.
From the one who asked of him, Jesus widened his frame,
speaking still to the questioner,
but now also to everyone.
And this is what Jesus said.
“When you lift up your words as I have lifted mine,
begin at the beginning,
and affirm:
‘First Ancestor, Great Great Grandparent,
Father & Mother [πάτερ] & Love Who Birthed All;
Even your name is sacred.
Special. And set apart.
Distinct. Uttered in Holy of Holies alone.
Only known fully in the realm of the Most High One.
‘May that realm–your reign–the Presence of Love arrive
here.
And now.
As bread:
a gift–earned not by blood or sweat of brows,
but by tastebuds longing and bellies’ desires to be made full.
As release:
from wrongs done by us,
wrongs done to us–the dissolution of chains,
of bonds; by loves’ paralysis fractured, shattered,
stomped into the ground; amends made freely;
oxygen’s return as mighty rushing Wind
when heart’s fire lies gasping strangled
beneath blankets soaked through,
drenched in guilt, in shame.
As renaissance. Rebirth!
The New.
Dawning Day. Crowning & cries. Beloved arriving.
Holy and One. Debt and debtors are no more.
No more.
Yes! May it be so!
That this realm, this reign, arrives among us.
Here. Now.
And may we be kept from the realms that would lead away from it
as we lie in wait.’”
~ ~ ~
On Shutting Neither Up Nor Down
These words ascended. When they were gone,
silence again took place.
Again, Jesus turned to them all.
And this is what Jesus said.
“Can you imagine a friend, one you know and trust,
one to whom you might turn in your time of need?
Can you imagine arriving there?
At midnight, hungry and knocking?
‘Could you give me three loaves?’ You ask.
‘It’s not just for me. Some guests have arrived where I stay.
And I’ve got nothing to set on the table–
to meet the longing of their tastebuds
or the desires of their bellies to be full.’
The door shuts more tightly. And locks.
‘Don’t fill my space with your pain,” says the friend.
‘Shop’s closed. Kids are in bed. Nothing for you here, bud.’”
“I’m telling you,” Jesus said,
“Friendship won’t get this guy out of bed.
But you know what will?
Keep on him.
Bang on that door until your knuckles bleed.
That ‘friend?’
He’ll rise up.
And you know what?
Keep on him.
And he’ll give you as much as you need.
This is what I’m saying:
Ask. And it will be given.
Seek. You’ll find.
Knock. And the door will be opened for you.
For those who unite their hearts and voices,
demanding in such a way,
often find their lack, their need, their hunger, their absence
met with fullness, grace, and greater good.
Those who seek in this way are often surprised.
Or they are happened-upon
by something quite beautiful
which has been seeking after them.
Those who nearly knock the door from its hinges?”
Jesus continued.
“They often discover an opening, a passage,
a pathway Not Yet seen or known:
into banquet halls, tables filled with food,
a feast for all who hunger.”
Finally, Jesus took a Breath.
And this is what Jesus said.
“Now. Think about yourself.
And about your kids!
If, hungry, they asked you for a fish,
would you instead give them a snake?
What if they asked for an egg?
Would you bring them a scorpion?”
They were nearing an end.
“If you,
who have been pushed down and twisted into the earth
by the pain and weight of the world,
know how to give good gifts
to those you call your own,
imagine:
How much more will our First Ancestor,
the Great Great Grandparent,
the Father & Mother & Love Who Birthed All
gift the the Spirit–
the Breath, the Wind, the Fiery Flame Dancing
that is Holy–
to those who come to be,
praying at a particular place?”
Next, Jesus was liberating someone from a demon that was oppressing him.
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