2 Corinthians 5:20b - 6:10
Ash Wednesday - Years A, B, C
Paul claims to put no obstacles in anyone's way. Except, of course, claiming that commendation of pride that comes by coming through difficulties. It seems these hardships were not temptations to stop what Paul was doing but competitions urging him to victory. I wonder what Paul would acknowledge as an obstacle and whether he would be a good judge of what others experienced as such.
In some sense we do put obstacles in each other's ways. Sometimes we call them temptations and sometimes they are simply a desire to be ultra-meaningful, to have a corner on meaning.
This all ends up with an appeal to have an open heart. It is that characteristic of Jesus that we continually are being tempted away from. We will put up with almost any difficulty but the difficulty of vulnerability. Almost anything can tempt us away from open-heartedness. So we focus on alms and charity rather than living with the current poor in such a manner that they won't continue poor. We focus on praying for folks without ever thinking of living with them through challenges to oppressive structures. We focus on formal seasons of fasting, whether for a meal a week or a lunar month of Ramadan or 40 days of Lent, rather than fasting for justice, and pay attention to little fasts avoiding chocolate when we could better fast in order to purchase and distribute Fair Trade Chocolate.
What obstacles do we want to put in the way of others that will open their hearts and what obstacles do we not want to put in the way of others that will harden them? This is a worthy investigation by which we begin another Lenten season.
http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2005/february2005.html
Entreating someone on behalf of Christ may have some power, if there is a relationship with said Christ to begin with. For someone outside the fold, this doesn't carry much weight. Sort of like an Ayatollah imploring President Bush for the sake of Muhammad to be reconciled to Allah the Merciful that he might become righteous.
Then we get to the personal entreaty of what I have had to deal with. Because of my faithfulness, you, also, ought to be faithful. Again that has some strength or is rather weak, depending upon the relationship.
Seldom, it seems, do we entreat on behalf of a joy to come. Usually we are operating out of the past and trying to make the present conform to it. On Ash Wednesday we may want to simply have space for folk to remember their fondest dream of how life might work well for all concerned, what has gotten in the way of that, and how this might be a moment to shift gears by practicing that which move them one step closer to a better future. Nearly two months of practice might get us ready for an Easter, Transfiguring, Transforming, Resurrectional reality.
This practice is based not only on what others have found helpful down through the year (that's a pretty wide spectrum of spiritual disciplines) but which of those best corresponds to the person's experience and tendencies. If it doesn't touch some base inside, all the appeals to external authority will simply be appeals that don't appeal.
- - -
gee, mom, you have done so much
have I learned enough that we can talk?
this guilt of not measuring up is pretty strong
do we go to our respective deaths this way
hey, dad, you know so much
have I done enough that we can rest?
this regret of not measuring up is pretty strong
do we go to our respective deaths this way
Jesus, Paul, you have done so much
have I obeyed enough to be righteous?
this accusation of not measuring up is pretty strong
do we go to our respective deaths this way[second lines based on a song by Greg Brown, Driftless on his CD The Poet's Game]
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2007_02_01_archive.html
Even after Ash Wednesday it will be appropriate to work on what it means to be reconciled with G*D, with Neighbor, with Self, with One Another, with Enemies. What was behind our separation? How do we analyze the situation? Where is the fulcrum point that will break the cycle of harm?
Even after Ash Wednesday it will be important to add an eternal insight about, When do we trust grace as a major tool of reconciliation? Again and again we will find the background to a day of salvation, of reconciliation, is this day, this moment, this time - even if it is not obvious; particularly if it is not obvious.
Even after Ash Wednesday we might wear a sign of how seriously we take the whole reconciliation business - from simply recognizing there is a break to investing and commending our every resource to fundamental healing.
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2012/02/2-corinthians-520-610.html
Try this: the opposite of hypocrisy is reconciliation.
Pretending to be something one is not does have the potentially redeeming factor of a recognition of who one would like to be. This can at some point be built upon to move in that direction in actuality, not just fantasy. Hypocrisy is not an out-and-out lie.
Not only do we seldom deal with an ideal falsehood, but we seldom deal with some universal truth or righteousness. Reconciliation lives in the imperfect world but chooses the slightly better as a step toward even more better.
While it is comforting to consider that a full-blown righteousness is within our grasp, we are more realistically always in a process moving toward greater reconciliation with ourselves and others. Simply acknowledging we are living in a gray zone and hopefully moving toward a healthier, wholer way is a helpful move.
Intending to put no burden on another is a wonderful intention even if it doesn’t work out that way. Paul’s list of his endurances does become a burden for those of us who may be able to deal with an affliction or two but not for dishonor or beatings. How can we live up to Paul’s level of commitment much less Jesus’? Reconciliation will lie between so we can take one step further while holding our integrity of our particular experience and gifts.
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2014/03/2-corinthians-520b-610.html