Friday, March 17, 2006
From AscensionNYC
Friday in the Second Week of Lent
Psalm 73
1 Corinthians 7:1-9
Mark 4:35-41
The readings for the day present three perspectives: in the Psalm, our general relations to others, in Corinthians, our relations to our partners, and in the Gospel our relations with ourselves.
"Wickedness" has often seemed to me to be an odd idea. I imagine a wrinkly-faced school marm dressed in black, casting spells from her dark, dusty flat. "Wicked" is now even a popular musical on Broadway. It's seems culturally almost faddish to be prickly and snide these days. Northeasterners often decry something intense as "wicked!" Here the Psalmist presents a description of the wicked, their eyes swelling out with fatness, with boastful pride worn as a necklace and violence as a garment. Sound like anyone you know? I'm sure we all have such images of people in our lives, people who enjoy playing the role of spoiler and mischiefmaker. Their sense of identity seems to depend not on themselves, but parasitically attached to intrusion on the lives of others. And yes of course, they are enormous pests! The Psalmist finds refuge in God as the only real alternative.
The reading from Corinthians is more problematical. Paul's presentation of guidelines regarding moral matters often seems patriarchal and even naïve. "It is better to marry than to be aflame with passion." What does this tell us of the unmarried Paul, who reports this "by way of concession, not command." And what are we to make of his apparent interest in giving our partners "authority" over our own bodies? This certainly does not jibe with blustery cultural notions about the rugged "Uh-mericun" individual. Perhaps the translation of the word "authority" is awkward. I wonder if what Paul is trying to articulate is that in order to live an undreamed-of, rich, and fruitful life one should live with one's partner with deference, commitment, and responsibility -- where even ownership over one's body is not for ourselves but ultimately through our partner's love to God.
The Gospel is very interesting, with Jesus performing an apparent act of magic. He is calm in the heart of a storm, the eye, as it were. I wonder if Jesus reinterprets the storm for those around him. He rebukes the storm, yet his fellow riders also heard his stern "Peace! Be still!" Perhaps his calm and subsequent admonishment imposed a change of consciousness on those fellow riders in the boat, as if saying "Excuse me, are you working on your faith?"
1 Corinthians 7:1-9
Mark 4:35-41
The readings for the day present three perspectives: in the Psalm, our general relations to others, in Corinthians, our relations to our partners, and in the Gospel our relations with ourselves.
"Wickedness" has often seemed to me to be an odd idea. I imagine a wrinkly-faced school marm dressed in black, casting spells from her dark, dusty flat. "Wicked" is now even a popular musical on Broadway. It's seems culturally almost faddish to be prickly and snide these days. Northeasterners often decry something intense as "wicked!" Here the Psalmist presents a description of the wicked, their eyes swelling out with fatness, with boastful pride worn as a necklace and violence as a garment. Sound like anyone you know? I'm sure we all have such images of people in our lives, people who enjoy playing the role of spoiler and mischiefmaker. Their sense of identity seems to depend not on themselves, but parasitically attached to intrusion on the lives of others. And yes of course, they are enormous pests! The Psalmist finds refuge in God as the only real alternative.
The reading from Corinthians is more problematical. Paul's presentation of guidelines regarding moral matters often seems patriarchal and even naïve. "It is better to marry than to be aflame with passion." What does this tell us of the unmarried Paul, who reports this "by way of concession, not command." And what are we to make of his apparent interest in giving our partners "authority" over our own bodies? This certainly does not jibe with blustery cultural notions about the rugged "Uh-mericun" individual. Perhaps the translation of the word "authority" is awkward. I wonder if what Paul is trying to articulate is that in order to live an undreamed-of, rich, and fruitful life one should live with one's partner with deference, commitment, and responsibility -- where even ownership over one's body is not for ourselves but ultimately through our partner's love to God.
The Gospel is very interesting, with Jesus performing an apparent act of magic. He is calm in the heart of a storm, the eye, as it were. I wonder if Jesus reinterprets the storm for those around him. He rebukes the storm, yet his fellow riders also heard his stern "Peace! Be still!" Perhaps his calm and subsequent admonishment imposed a change of consciousness on those fellow riders in the boat, as if saying "Excuse me, are you working on your faith?"
Jeffrey Johnson
