Psalm 90:1-6, 13-17
Proper 25 (30) - Year A
"Long before you brought earth itself to birth,
from 'once upon a time' to 'kingdom come' - you are God.
"So don't return us to mud, saying,
'Back to where you came from!'
"Surprise us with love at daybreak;
then we'll skip and dance all the day long.
"And let the loveliness of our Lord, our God, rest on us,
confirming the work that we do."
[Psalm 90:2, 3, 14, 17 - The Message]
In the middle of time (whenever we are)
there is the reality of nothing ("everything falls, after all" - line from Bob Franke about the bottom-feeding catfish)
the reality of love sets that nothing in stark contrast (those good old love hormones in the brain blot out every negative - seldom do we see straight while in this state)
may the resurrection of love over nothing (rather than love being a nothing tennis term) continue so strongly in your life that even if no one knows where you are buried (so they can't come and adore your past) they can still benefit from your helping to bring them thus far along. In today's world the nothingness of mud continues to manifest itself in war and rumors of war - even that needs to be surprised by your love again this morning.
This is not a confirmation of creedal language, but of lives and loves lived. So live well and surprise whatever the "nothing" is in your life by loving it.
http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2002/october2002.html
Psalm 90:1-6, 13-17 or Psalm 1
We flourish, we are renewed; we falter, we wither. In a model of times and seasons we can't simply claim one of them is going to hold sway forever. We look at a thousand days and we look at yesterday. In a model of humans having been made in "our" image, how do you pick the first day of a thousand or claim a specific most recent day to be the most relevant of all?
Loving and studying the experiences of G*D eventuates in a beautiful, multi-leaved tree. Each leaf for the healing/loving of a particular situation. To narrow all of life down to one leaf to cover all situations is to reduce G*D to a preordained outcome for every circumstance.
Even steadfast love presents a variety of faces.
http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2005/october2005.html
Psalm 90:1-6, 13-17 or Psalm 1
Deuteronomy 34:1-12 or Leviticus 19:1-2, 15-18
1 Thessalonians 2:1-8
Matthew 22:34-46
Moses, the great liberator, is shut up in foreign Moab. Ruth, the great grandmother, comes forth from Moab.
All of this disparagement and honoring of Moab, depending on time and perspective, is background to the famous "love your neighbor" dicta.
This is basic inclusionary, progressive vision. It allows Jesus to continue engaging those who would be his enemy, in this particular the Pharisees.
It is encouragement to us to keep the line open with our supposed enemies, for we may well find ourselves dying in their space and rejoicing when they bring forth a heroine of our own.
- - -
what is a millennia
what is a moment
a tension between
enlivens this present
relatives become enemies
enemies become friends
we chase one another
and flee the same
in a moment
all is lost
in a millennia
we can see today
may we prosper
in our in-between time
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2007_10_01_archive.html
Times have been tough.
Of course god has something to do with that. [wink]
We fear god will reverse engineer us into dust and mud.
So we appeal to god's patience with us.
Then we sort of blame god for having been away while we mice played.
We would rather be controlled than destroyed and we ask god to do so.
All of which ought to get us back to prosperity. [hooray! we tricked god again and live to see another day]
- - -
The above ain't very poetical but it is familiar territory as we whine and blame, blame and whine.
Given the first two passages for the week, what have we missed about "love" that goes in all directions? What have we missed about a vision larger than our disappointment?
If we could get our heads and hearts and hands and health around these questions we might not again end up rehearsing this Psalm. Blessings upon you as you live through the tough times without bargaining yourself away.
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2008_10_01_archive.html
Psalm 91:1-6, 14-16 or Psalm 146
Dwelling in the shadow of one most high is problematic. Our proclivity is to presume that means the one casting the shadow is all that much closer to the source of light and therefore has some inborn right to overshadow our casting a shadow to reveal G*D's presence in relationship to our being. Being in another's shadow undefines who we are.
Being shadowed is here taken as being in a safe place. Unfortunately it is so safe that we become passive. We have need of some direct light, even if it leads us into risky places beyond our seed stage. To come from under the shadow of the soil that has incubated us is to face the possibility of drought. Without this risk, however, the beautiful flower and fruit within us might never be seen or tasted.
- - -
those who love me
I will deliver
in fact
I will deliver
even those who don't
when they call
these lovers and others
I will answer
I will be present
to all callers
come sweet ones
let me show you
my salvation
ready to satisfy
the longest life
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2007_09_01_archive.html
“Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations.”
Translation: cellular regeneration.
What would it mean to shift the ground from some G*D micromanaging reality and thus having anthropomorphic characteristics grafted on to said G*D? Would a matrix facilitating growth and regrowth hold as much mystical presence?
A ground of being matrix begins to make more sense in fitting ourself together with ourself and others - sweeping away and flourishing - renewal processes.
May this work of generation and regeneration be manifest and may you rejoice in your part in it.
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2011/10/psalm-901-6-13-17.html