John 6:24-35
Proper 13 (18) - Year B
Thanksgiving - Year C
What is the work (external) we must do? -- The work of belief (internal). [vss 28-29]
And so we go around and around. We look for signs to come that have already come. We resist the gift of the past as we insist there is something new that will catch our attention and make a difference in our living.
To pay attention to the present moment is the switch that allows us to jump back and move ahead. This is not an on-off switch, but an on-on switch as we stand in the here-and-now and switch to the past and switch to the future - both - assisting them to be in better touch with each other and to bring a word of correction to each other.
So, what, again, is your work today? As you look at your calendar, will you be switching back and forth or just keeping your nose the to the grindstone, making work unimodal instead of multivalent? May your search bear surprising fruit.
http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2003/august2003.html
NISB has a "special note:" Eternal life does not speak of immortality or a future life in heaven, but is a metaphor for living now in the unending presence of God.
Is nothing as it seems? If we carry this formula forward, why don't we have golden streets and bejeweled walls right now? Are all those details also metaphors?
What then is the unending presence of God a metaphor for?
How deeply nested might these holy metaphors be? If we go to metaphor four have we gone past a trinity of three-dimensions?
There are those who find metaphors to be euphoric and those that find them to be profane.
For now, feed on metaphors of eternal bread.
http://www.kairoscomotion.org/lectionary/2003/august2003.html
Ah, sweet fleshpots! There is nothing sweeter than vain imaginings that something other than a worthy life will satisfy. We look for that "more" in sex and getting what we want through betrayal. We look for that "more" in "the good old days" (that really weren't). We look for that "more" in controlling unanimity using fear of the "other" to keep us in line. We look for that "more" in fullness of stomach and pocketbook.
The John passage in particular is antidote to the prosperity theology so popular these days. Always looking for one more buck, one more sign, these "theologians" continually miss life-bread in the simplicity of living oriented toward deeper meaning. As long as the Ponzi Scheme of prosperity theology holds, folks will give untold dollars for a food that perishes. In short, short-cuts bring us up short and cut us to the quick. There is no slot-machine God who will consistently pay out - it is all a ploy to pay out a little, because we remember that, in order to suck us in further and further -- all the way to bankruptcy.
- - -
our transgression
needing untold mercy
is the violence
to which we will go
to get a full stomach
no matter how we cover it over
sin is connected with violence
this is its ultimate ending place
little by little we accommodate
and fear fear enough to instill fear
a clean heart restores joy
so lacking in short-cuts
that lead to violence
so focus on joy
sustain a willing joy
joy-gifts touch us
deeper than tokens of fear
joy that sees abundance
all around
reveals the lie of violence
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2007_07_01_archive.html
What must we do
to be a practitioner
of G*D?
So many different
ways of being practical,
which way to go?
Monkey see, monkey do
is an ancient model -
show us G*D.
Practice your performance
here and now
with us and ours.
Do it again
and again
again
Hop to -
our perfection
is in your hands.
Eat bread.
Be bread.
Share bread
Trick Alert!
That's not doing,
that's being.
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2009_07_01_archive.html
[Note: This is not a sign of a restart here. Given the quote posted from Saving Jesus from the Church and a campfire last night, the following reflection was made after noting this observation from the day:
dragonfly
caught between
invisible pong paddles
Now, without further ado, a conversation hesitantly continued.]
We wake up one day missing a sense of well-being, control, meaning, fullness.
Where might it have gone? Where to look?
Having been as far away as a prodigal can get, we backtrack our GPS waypoints (noting that we had forgotten to enter some crucial data along the way) to home base. In Jesus' life home base would be Capernaum or Jerusalem or in any city or on the way to one. Having lost Prosperity Gospel Jesus, where to find him?
For a moment we had re-found a past source of present comfort and hope for perhaps tomorrow. Now we wonder how much we might have missed from its first blush to our recognition of missing it. Teacher, is there an assignment we need complete to catch up? How long had our entitled gift been waiting for us? How far ahead of us has it moved? How far behind have we fallen?
These surface concerns of greed are all too readily readable by anyone, but ourself, in our behavior. We know we are caught when we wake up to find ourselves eating our seed-corn – giving up everything for one more serving of gourmet slop – our inner-Esau showing through.
Like any kid caught, we claim our right to one more piece of pie, one more slice of jam-laden toast, one more freshly baked cookie. Manna is our perceived birthright.
May we look deeper into the present to find a willingness to stop yo-yo-ing between ancient glory and anticipated privilege.
When is now, where is here.
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2009_07_01_archive.html
Attend to G*D. - - - - - - - - - - - - - Not while survival ranks so high.
So there we have it, a basic choice or non-choice.
Is G*D not all about survival. G*D will go as far as resurrection, a second incarnation. And undoubtedly a third and fourth and so on. Choose with G*D to survive. Now, of course, we will have to define survival. How tied up with meaning is it?
Those confronted by Jesus got a twinkle in their eye after hearing about this part of G*D. So what is needful for survival, for the work of G*D?
And the non-response one might expect if a moment’s reflection was available — Trust me.
OK, comes the reasonable response to this non-response — So can we trust you for more bread, daily?
Sure, says the koanist — I’m bread and drink aplenty.
So there you are. scratching your head and thinking and pondering all the day long — This world needs a life implant : I’m here in the world : can I trust that I am also sustenance and refreshment?
Having been fed, incarnated for the umpteenth time, I feed. This is not less than — I think, therefore I am or any other search for meaning.
http://kcmlection.blogspot.com/2012/07/john-624-35.html