the church of the
ascension
in the city of
new york
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Saturday, March 28
Psalm 107:33-43 / Jeremiah 23:9-15 / John 6:60-71
What a crazy world the Lord has made. Who has the wisdom to understand it? A mentor of mine loves to call it the plane for the spiritually retarded.
In Psalm 107, David speaks of the inevitable vacillations of the physical world and says "by observing these things, we will understand the loving-kindness of the Lord." Jeremiah, a prophet himself, vehemently warns us not to listen to the prophets and priests. And finally, in the book of John, even Jesus seems to be intentionally trying to push us away with divisive, confusing and frightening parables filled with "hard sayings." He seems to say in verse 65 that we are predestined for heaven or hell.
I sat with these sayings for days waiting for some comfort and solace and only two things came to me.
When everything in Job's life had been destroyed or taken from him and he is sitting, literally on a dung heap, a passerby asks him what he thinks about God now. "The Lord God giveth and the Lord God taketh away" he says and continues, "blessed be the name of the Lord." Now there's a spiritual goal.
And when Jesus was asked, slyly, which is the greatest commandment, he responds unhesitatingly, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy mind and with all thy strength. And the second is like unto it, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these things two hang all the law and the prophets."
So I guess the goal of life isn't to acquire and hold on to things...nor is it to seek wisdom, particularly from outside oneself. And even, finally, if I'm not chosen by God, and end in hell, I will still love. Love, love, love. Easy? No. Possible? Intermittently.
— Lewis White
What a crazy world the Lord has made. Who has the wisdom to understand it? A mentor of mine loves to call it the plane for the spiritually retarded.
In Psalm 107, David speaks of the inevitable vacillations of the physical world and says "by observing these things, we will understand the loving-kindness of the Lord." Jeremiah, a prophet himself, vehemently warns us not to listen to the prophets and priests. And finally, in the book of John, even Jesus seems to be intentionally trying to push us away with divisive, confusing and frightening parables filled with "hard sayings." He seems to say in verse 65 that we are predestined for heaven or hell.
I sat with these sayings for days waiting for some comfort and solace and only two things came to me.
When everything in Job's life had been destroyed or taken from him and he is sitting, literally on a dung heap, a passerby asks him what he thinks about God now. "The Lord God giveth and the Lord God taketh away" he says and continues, "blessed be the name of the Lord." Now there's a spiritual goal.
And when Jesus was asked, slyly, which is the greatest commandment, he responds unhesitatingly, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy mind and with all thy strength. And the second is like unto it, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these things two hang all the law and the prophets."
So I guess the goal of life isn't to acquire and hold on to things...nor is it to seek wisdom, particularly from outside oneself. And even, finally, if I'm not chosen by God, and end in hell, I will still love. Love, love, love. Easy? No. Possible? Intermittently.
— Lewis White
