Jeremiah 2:4-13
Proper 17 (22) - Year C
Jeremiah 2:4-13 or Sirach 10:12-18 or Proverbs 25:6-7
Hmm, "Pride was not created for human beings, or violent anger...." "Our ancestors went after worthless things."
Perhaps we might finally acknowledge that pride and violent anger are worthless to our growth, spiritual and otherwise, both as an individual and as a community, however small or large.
At this point we move from Sirach and Jeremiah to Proverbs and be welcomed further. Imagine the restraining of these temptations being a vehicle to being welcomed forward. Interesting how ceasing becomes a movement. I am reminded of John Wooden's proverb to "be quick - but don't hurry."
And finally, if pride wasn't created for us, for what or whom was it created? Is it only a result of creation or a part of creation?
http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2004/august2004.html
Jeremiah 2:4-13 or Sirach 10:12-18
G*D still "contends" with us, but we fail to stretch with G*D when we slack off on the question, "Where is G*D today?" This is a larger question than "Where is Waldo?" Sometimes G*D is off the page on a Sabbath retreat or on to another picture than we thought we were looking at.
When we don't keep up with this living G*D, it might be said that sin localizes and becomes pride. We insist on G*D staying put and get angry when this is not the case. Our anger causes us to hew out a meaning of life that is cracked and broken, unable to hold living water. From here it is a short step to anger begetting anger and being even less able to ask where G*D might be and even more able to restrain G*D from being anywhere other than on our side.
- - -
changing gods
when there are no gods
to change to
is one of the more intriguing
human traits
we take some characteristic
associated with ease
and look to repeat and repeat it
for our profit
even as prophets decry us
worthless god
to worthless god
we bounce along
refusing to look around
for flowing fountains
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2007_08_01_archive.html
If G*D were domesticated we would be wrong to stray. A tenting G*D, however, both wanders away and intentionally moves on. In such an image we also wander away, when we are not intentionally moving on.
While G*D's complaint about those G*D brought on Exodus has some legitimacy of folks no longer being on the same page, a question must be asked about who has wandered and who has stayed the same.
Imagine a Living G*D who has moved further down the line and a people who are still reacting out of the rituals of the past. Might the people be considered to have "moved far from G*D" simply by staying still? This can be seen as a difficulty of our being able to keep up.
One reason for looking at things this way is that G*D is described as a fountain and the people as leaky cistern diggers. A fountain is moving, a cistern is still.
So, from the other side, our danger is not hewing to past movements of G*D, but failing to keep on moving with G*D. Courage friends. It is time to strike out again for promises larger than can be held in today's hands.
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2010/08/jeremiah-24-13.html