Monday, March 06, 2006
From AscensionNYC
Monday in the First Week of Lent
Psalm 44
Genesis 37:1-11
1 Corinthians 1:1-19
Mark 1:1-13
Have you ever looked around your home and wondered why some parts of the construction are slightly off? Why is some of the alignment off? Or by now have you gotten so used to it, perhaps camouflaging the imperfection with something so your eye doesn't go there?
Imagine attempting to draw a straight line without the use of a ruler or some other straight edge device or attempting to hang an exhibition of paintings or photographs without a leveler. And for those of you who use any of the Photoshop or similar software packages, you too know how difficult it is to get a straight line or cut out an image with the use of a mouse or a stylus. If you are using a plastic ruler, sometimes there is a nick in its surface. Sometime your grip loosens and the ruler moves ever so slightly. Or perhaps the paper is slightly off.
For the chorus of you naysayers out there babbling "but I have a steady hand or my eye is pretty accurate," these readings for today seem to suggest "take another look." God realizes we cannot travel our individual and collective journeys without Him. He is there for us as we cope with the "freight of life."
In the appointed Psalm for the day, God drives out foes through the use of various tactics and comes to the aid of those in distress demonstrating the power of love. In the Genesis reading, God appears to Joseph in a sequence of dreams indicating what lies in his path and his family has some different reactions -- the brothers are jealous and suspicious, the father is not particularly comfortable, but learns something about the interaction among his sons. Perhaps the mother is in the background saying to the father, "I'm not surprised about the brothers' reaction to Joseph. They've always been jealous of him."
The one-upsmanship of the congregation in Corinth and those going to be baptized by John in the Jordan are legendary. The back and forth about who baptized whom seems to be endless. The fashion statement of John the Baptist could probably compete with today's creations on the haute couture catwalks of New York, Paris or Milan. These are all pointless.
God is with us wherever we are on the path in our journey -- in the caverns of our minds and spirits, in the wilderness, as ambient music or a boombox in the forefront of our minds and being.
Genesis 37:1-11
1 Corinthians 1:1-19
Mark 1:1-13
Have you ever looked around your home and wondered why some parts of the construction are slightly off? Why is some of the alignment off? Or by now have you gotten so used to it, perhaps camouflaging the imperfection with something so your eye doesn't go there?
Imagine attempting to draw a straight line without the use of a ruler or some other straight edge device or attempting to hang an exhibition of paintings or photographs without a leveler. And for those of you who use any of the Photoshop or similar software packages, you too know how difficult it is to get a straight line or cut out an image with the use of a mouse or a stylus. If you are using a plastic ruler, sometimes there is a nick in its surface. Sometime your grip loosens and the ruler moves ever so slightly. Or perhaps the paper is slightly off.
For the chorus of you naysayers out there babbling "but I have a steady hand or my eye is pretty accurate," these readings for today seem to suggest "take another look." God realizes we cannot travel our individual and collective journeys without Him. He is there for us as we cope with the "freight of life."
In the appointed Psalm for the day, God drives out foes through the use of various tactics and comes to the aid of those in distress demonstrating the power of love. In the Genesis reading, God appears to Joseph in a sequence of dreams indicating what lies in his path and his family has some different reactions -- the brothers are jealous and suspicious, the father is not particularly comfortable, but learns something about the interaction among his sons. Perhaps the mother is in the background saying to the father, "I'm not surprised about the brothers' reaction to Joseph. They've always been jealous of him."
The one-upsmanship of the congregation in Corinth and those going to be baptized by John in the Jordan are legendary. The back and forth about who baptized whom seems to be endless. The fashion statement of John the Baptist could probably compete with today's creations on the haute couture catwalks of New York, Paris or Milan. These are all pointless.
God is with us wherever we are on the path in our journey -- in the caverns of our minds and spirits, in the wilderness, as ambient music or a boombox in the forefront of our minds and being.
Janet Fisher
