Sunday School, July 3, 2016 C proper 9

Sunday School, July 3, 2016                    C proper 9

Theme:  The kingdom of God is near

Imagine being born in the United States and not being aware that one is an American citizen.  What if you went to mom or dad and ask them, “Can I be an American citizen?”  Your parents would say, “Dear, you are already an American citizen.  You have been an American citizen since you were born.  Why don’t you know and believe that you are an American citizen?”

Jesus chose messengers because he knew that many people were living without the knowledge of the most important information of their lives.  Jesus wanted people to know that the kingdom of God was very near.

Since God created the world, it means that the world is God’s kingdom.  And so all people born in God’s kingdom are God’s children and citizens of God’s kingdom.  Jesus found that there were many people who did not know that they were in God kingdom.  Jesus found that many people had been tricked by religious leader to believe that God did not care for them and that God was not their Father.  Jesus gathered his friends and he taught them to go and tell people about God as their Father and about everyone living in the Kingdom of God.  He also sent his friends to tell people the truth about their own lives; to tell all people that they were children of God in God’s kingdom and that no one, not even religious leaders could tell them otherwise.

Today on 4^th of July Weekend when we remember that we belong in our country as citizens, we also need to remember that we are citizens of God’s kingdom.

Jesus told his friends that even though they did great and important things, that the best thing of all to remember is that “their names were written in heaven.”  This means that being a citizen of God’s kingdom is the greatest thing in life and this is something which we celebrate when we are baptized.

A sermon

Imagine that all of you are princes and princesses and that you live in a castle as your home.  And your mom and dads are kings and queens.

  That would be like living in a Disney Movie, wouldn’t it?

  If your mom and dad were king and queen and you lived in their kingdom, how would you find out that you lived in their kingdom?

  Well they would tell you wouldn’t they?  As soon as you could walk and talk and understand, you would be told about your family kingdom so that you would know.  Wouldn’t it be terrible to be a prince or a princess but not know that you were living in a kingdom?  If you were a prince and princess, wouldn’t you want someone to come and tell you about your kingdom?

  When Jesus came, he found that many people did not know about a great and wonderful kingdom.  So Jesus called and trained disciples and friends to go to as many places as possible and tell people about one thing:  He told them to tell all people that the Kingdom of God has come near to you.  Jesus told everyone that the Kingdom of God belongs to children.  Why did he say this?  Because you don’t have to do anything to be in God’s kingdom.  When you are born as a baby and as a child, you are already in God’s kingdom.  Why?  Because God owns everything and everything and everyone belongs to God.

  When Jesus came, he saw that people had forgotten this.  He saw that people were telling lies.  What kind of lies were they telling?  They were saying that the world belonged to the Roman Emperors.  They were saying that God’s world belonged to the people of one religious belief like the Pharisees or the Sadducees.

  Jesus did not like that the wrong information was being taught so he sent his followers to bring the correct message.  He said to tell everyone that the kingdom of God has come very near to them.

  Jesus came to remind us that even though we have parents; we are also sons and daughters of God and so we live in God’s kingdom from the very day that we are born.

  So why do we come to church?  Why do we baptize?  Why do we have Holy Communion?  We come to church to remember that we live in God’s kingdom as children of God.  We are baptized as a celebration of our membership in God’s family.  We have Holy Communion each Sunday; we eat the bread and drink the wine because we Jesus asked us to do this to remember the kingdom of God.  And we are supposed to do this until everyone understands that they live in God’s kingdom.

  So we too are to remind people that we live in God’s world and God’s kingdom.  When Jesus came, he reminded people that God’s kingdom was very near to them.  We need to remember and remind people today of that same message.  The kingdom of God is very near to us.

St. John the Divine Episcopal Church

17740 Peak Avenue, Morgan Hill, CA 95037

Family Service with Holy Eucharist

July 3, 2016: The Seventh Sunday after Pentecost

Gathering Songs:

My Country ‘Tis of Thee; This Land is Your Land; America the Beautiful; God of Our Fathers

Liturgist: Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

People: And blessed be God’s kingdom, now and forever.  Amen.

Liturgist:  Oh God, Our hearts are open to you.

And you know us and we can hide nothing from you.

Prepare our hearts and our minds to love you and worship you.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Song: My Country Tis of Thee, (Blue Hymnal:  # 717)

My country tis of thee, sweet land of liberty of thee I sing.  Land where our fathers died, land of the pilgrim’s pride.  From every mountainside let freedom ring

Our father’s God to thee, author of liberty.  To thee we sing; long may our land be bright with freedom’s holy light; protect us by thy might, great God, our king.

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People:            And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

O God, you have taught us to keep all your commandments by loving you and our neighbor: Grant us the grace of your Holy Spirit, that we may be devoted to you with our whole heart, and united to one another with pure affection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen

Litany of Praise: Alleluia

O God, you are Great!  Alleluia

O God, you have made us! Alleluia

O God, you have made yourself known to us!  Alleluia

O God, you have provided us with us a Savior!  Alleluia

O God, you have given us a Christian family!  Alleluia

O God, you have forgiven our sins!  Alleluia

O God, you brought your Son Jesus back from the dead!  Alleluia

A reading from the letter to the Galatians

My friends, if anyone is detected in a transgression, you who have received the Spirit should restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness. Take care that you yourselves are not tempted. Bear one another's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. For if those who are nothing think they are something, they deceive themselves. All must test their own work; then that work, rather than their neighbor's work, will become a cause for pride.

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Liturgist: Let us read together from Psalm 30

 I will exalt you, O LORD,because you have lifted me up *and have not let my enemies triumph over me.

O LORD my God, I cried out to you, *and you restored me to health.

You brought me up, O LORD, from the dead; *you restored my life as I was going down to the grave.

Sing to the LORD, you servants of his; *give thanks for the remembrance of his holiness.

  

Litany Phrase: Thanks be to God!

Litanist:

For the good earth, for our food and clothing. Thanks be to God!

For our families and friends. Thanks be to God!

For the talents and gifts that you have given to us. Thanks be to God!

For this day of worship. Thanks be to God!

For health and for a good night’s sleep. Thanks be to God!

For work and for play. Thanks be to God!

For teaching and for learning. Thanks be to God!

For the happy events of our lives. Thanks be to God!

For the celebration of the birthdays and anniversaries of our friends and parish family.

   Thanks be to God!

For our country and the blessings of freedom that we enjoy.  Thanks be to God!

Liturgist:         The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke

People:            Glory to you, Lord Christ.

Whatever house you enter, first say, `Peace to this house!' And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the laborer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house. Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; cure the sick who are there, and say to them, `The kingdom of God has come near to you.'

Liturgist:         The Gospel of the Lord.

People:            Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Sermon – Father Phil

Children’s Creed

We did not make ourselves, so we believe that God the Father is the maker of the world.

Since God is so great and we are so small,

We believe God came into our world and was born as Jesus, son of the Virgin Mary.

We need God’s help and we believe that God saved us by the life, death and

     resurrection of Jesus Christ.

We believe that God is present with us now as the Holy Spirit.

We believe that we are baptized into God’s family the Church where everyone is

     welcome.

We believe that Christ is kind and fair.

We believe that we have a future in knowing Jesus Christ.

And since we all must die, we believe that God will preserve us forever.  Amen.

Litany Phrase: Christ, have mercy.

For fighting and war to cease in our world. Christ, have mercy.

For those who serve in our armed forces.  Christ, have mercy.

For peace on earth and good will towards all. Christ, have mercy.

For the safety of all who travel. Christ, have mercy.

For jobs for all who need them. Christ, have mercy.

For care of those who are growing old. Christ, have mercy.

For the safety, health and nutrition of all the children in our world. Christ, have mercy.

For the well-being of our families and friends. Christ, have mercy.

For the good health of those we know to be ill. Christ, have mercy.

For the remembrance of those who have died. Christ, have mercy.

For the forgiveness of all of our sins. Christ, have mercy.

Youth Liturgist:          The Peace of the Lord be always with you.

People:                        And also with you.

Song during the preparation of the Altar and the receiving of an offering

Offertory Song: This Land Is Your Land 

Refrain: This Land is your land, this land is my land, from California, to the New York Island, from the redwood forest to the Gulf Stream waters, This land was made for you and me.

As I was walking that ribbon of highway, I saw above me an endless skyway, I say below me that golden valley: This land was made for you and me. Refrain

I’ve roamed and rambled, and I followed my footsteps to the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts; and all around me a voice was sounding:  This land was made for you and me. Refrain

When the sun comes shining and I was strolling, and the wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rollinging; As the fog was lifting a voice was chanting: This land was made for you and me. Refrain

Doxology

Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him, all creatures here below.

Praise Him above, ye heavenly host. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Prologue to the Eucharist

Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, for to them belong the kingdom of heaven.”

All become members of a family by birth or adoption.

Baptism is a celebration of birth into the family of God.

A family meal gathers and sustains each human family.

The Holy Eucharist is the special meal that Jesus gave to his friends to keep us together as the family of Christ.

The Lord be with you

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts

We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to God.

It is right to give God thanks and praise.

It is very good and right to give thanks, because God made us, Jesus redeemed us and the Holy Spirit dwells in our hearts.  Therefore with Angels and Archangels and all of the world that we see and don’t see, we forever sing this hymn of praise:

Holy, Holy, Holy (Intoned)

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of Power and Might.  Heav’n and earth are full of your glory.

Hosanna in the highest.  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. 

Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the Highest.

(Children may gather around the altar)

The Celebrant now praises God for the salvation of the world through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Our grateful praise we offer to you God, our Creator;

You have made us in your image

And you gave us many men and women of faith to help us to live by faith:

Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Rachael.

And then you gave us your Son, Jesus, born of Mary, nurtured by Joseph

And he called us to be sons and daughters of God.

Your Son called us to live better lives and he gave us this Holy Meal so that when we eat

  the bread and drink the wine, we can  know that the Presence of Christ is as near to us as  

  this food and drink  that becomes a part of us.

The Prayer continues with these words

And so, Father, we bring you these gifts of bread and wine. Bless and sanctify them by your Holy Spirit to be for your people the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Bless and sanctify us by your Holy Spirit so that we may love God and our neighbor.

On the night when Jesus was betrayed he took bread, said the blessing, broke the bread, and gave it to his friends, and said, "Take, eat: This is my Body, which is given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me."

After supper, Jesus took the cup of wine, gave thanks, and said, "Drink this, all of you. This is my Blood of the new Covenant, which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this for the remembrance of me."

Father, we now celebrate the memorial of your Son. When we eat this holy Meal of Bread and Wine, we are telling the entire world about the life, death and resurrection of Christ and that his presence will be with us in our future.

Let this holy meal keep us together as friends who share a special relationship because of your Son Jesus Christ.  May we forever live with praise to God to whom we belong as sons and daughters.

By Christ, and with Christ, and in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit all honor and glory

 is yours, Almighty Father, now and for ever. AMEN.

And now as our Savior Christ has taught us, we now sing,

(Children rejoin their parents and take up their instruments) 

Our Father: (Renew # 180, West Indian Lord’s Prayer)

Our Father who art in heaven:  Hallowed be thy name.

Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done: Hallowed be thy name.

Done on earth as it is in heaven: Hallowed be thy name.

Give us this day our daily bread: Hallowed be thy name.

And forgive us all our debts: Hallowed be thy name.

As we forgive our debtors: Hallowed be thy name.

Lead us not into temptation: Hallowed be thy name.

But deliver us from evil: Hallowed be thy name.

Thine is the kingdom, power, and glory: Hallowed be thy name.

Forever and ever: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

Breaking of the Bread

Celebrant:       Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

People:            Therefore let us keep the feast. 

Words of Administration

Communion Song: America, the Beautiful, (blue hymnal # 719)

O beautiful for spacious skies for amber waves of grain, for purple mountain majesties above the fruited plain!  America!  America!  God shed his grace on thee, and crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea.

O beautiful for heroes proved in liberating strife, who more than self their country love, and mercy more than life!  America!  America! God mend thine every flaw, confirm thy soul in self control, they liberty in law.

O beautiful for patriot dream that sees beyond the years, thine alabaster cities gleam, undimmed by human tears!  America!  America!  God shed his grace on thee, and crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea.

Post-Communion Prayer

Everlasting God, we have gathered for the meal that Jesus asked us to keep;

We have remembered his words of blessing on the bread and the wine.

And His Presence has been known to us.

We have remembered that we are sons and daughters of God and brothers

    and sisters in Christ.

Send us forth now into our everyday lives remembering that the blessing in the

     bread and wine spreads into each time, place and person in our lives,

As we are ever blessed by you, O Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Closing Song:  God of Our Fathers (Blue Hymnal # 718)

God of our fathers whose almighty hand leads forth in beauty all the starry band of shining worlds in splendor through the skies, our grateful songs before thy throne arise.

Thy love divine had led us in the past, in this free land by thee our lot is cast; be thou our ruler, guardian, guide and stay, thy word our law, thy paths our chosen way.

Dismissal:   

Liturgist: Let us go forth in the Name of Christ.

People: Thanks be to God! 

Aphorism of the Day, June 2016

Aphorism of the Day, June 30, 2016

"Rejoice that your names are written in heaven."  Such points to a poetic about writing.  Writing in contrast to speech leaves a permanent trace and so it is a technology of enduring memory.  This was written before the time of the recorded voice and today one might say, "Rejoice that a DVD of your life has been retained forever."  In the Gospel, it might be a rebuke of the preachers who were enamored by the outcome of their ministry and Jesus warned them about how "temporal" such outcomes are and how wrong it is to attach the "worth" of one's life to the fame which comes from certain specific performance.  Ultimate fame=esteem=personal worth comes by being in the memory of God as the one who can retain us beyond the history which ultimately will forget us because no one lasts forever and the last/latest are always first because they make the editorial decisions regarding who is to remembered in history.  The last/latest are always changing since yesterday's last/latest persons are today's former persons.  All people of the past could be designated as "Those formerly known as the latest people on earth."

Aphorism of the Day, June 29, 2016

The world has experienced another violent attack (Istanbul) and it makes us aware of what people can do with free choices.   Using psychiatry as an analogy, one might see the major powers of the world in the role of psychiatrists in charge of the safety of the quotidian of commerce which is being disturbed by violent sociopathic events.  The agents of violence are constituted by the trauma of wars on their lands and they are angered by failed "psychiatric" treatments of the "powers that be."  The psychiatrists have the luxury of telling those who have suffered trauma to just "move on" and adjust to the present, even though losing home, life and family are not things that the psychiatrists really understand.  The "clients" are mired in the trauma of revenge and avenging the past events which define their existence.  We have the stalemate of true realities: the safety of quotidian life has to be protected no matter what the past has been for anyone and at the same time many people will remain in the throes of feeling as though they are victims of past events which leave them in desperate and violent psychopathy.  Does time heal? Will a next generation be able to climb out of the cycle of being schooled in violence as an unrealistic attempt to repair a past which is gone?  America eventually "dealt" with slavery but how long did it take and how many lives did it cost and what have been the long term after effects of it?  The "Protestant/Catholic" wars of Northern Ireland came to some resolution.  Apartheid ended in South Africa, but not without after effects.  Will Time heal the violent psychopathy and sociopathy of those in the Middle East who feel that their trauma gives them the right to inflict trauma as their form of distorted and chaotic justice?  The Hebrew Scriptures refers to the "sins" of the fathers which visits the second and third generation.  We are weary of waiting out the results of trans historical karma and in our "cum bah yah" moments we sing, "We are the World," even while we at times are not sure we want to be together in all that that might happen.  Welcome to the dilemmas of faith.

Aphorism of the Day, June 28, 2016

There is a problem for most people of the earth if Israel and the Jews are God's only favorite people and nation.  A universalization of Israel and being chosen means that God manifests particularly apparent grace to a person or group of people as an example of what can become particular for all people and groups.  If the Bible cannot be used as a book to proclaim particular experience and apparent grace for all then it would be a misrepresentation of the universality of God.  The problem with many interpreting communities of the Bible is that they interpret the Bible as a preferential ideology for their own community to the exclusion of other communities of people.  If God is truly held to be universal and not just a deity according to one's local interpretation, then one must admit that God can be transported in human language to universal correspondences among all of the language users of the earth.  If one wants to really proclaim universality=catholicity, one must humbly admit that one's apparent and particular experience of grace cannot be the defining orthodoxy for everyone.


Aphorism of the Day, June 27, 2016

As we move to Independence Day, one might ponder the biblical function of nationhood.  Israel is the privileged nation of the Bible by the fact of the building of the affirmation of national identity through the technology of memory, writing, which generated not just an earthly location for Israel but a cosmic significance of Israel.  Biblical Israel in a paradigmatic sense, is a affirmation of human location in not only a geographical place but in an corporate identity.  When control of the Israel was lost by Israelis, the corporate identity of Israel actually grew in exile and even expanded because the Hebrew Scripture is more about the myth of Israel than an actual Israel.  The myth of Israel is more portable and universal than limiting Israel to a varying set of geographical borders and the definition of citizenship for those who lived within those variable borders (remember Abraham was promised land to the Euphrates?)  St. Paul and the early church co-opted Israel and further mysticized the church as the "new Israel."  How happy could observant Jews be with such interpretive poetic license?  On Independence Day, we celebrate particular Independence even as we have to shudder deeply about how much our Independence costs our Native American peoples and the people who were brought to America as slaves.  One of the teachings of Christ is about the kingdom of God or heaven.  This is an interior state of existence through faith and it makes our status in earthly realms ambiguous in that we cannot be overly proud in an absolute sense about our "national" identity in light of what it cost those from whom we took land and the ones whose labor was forced to build it; at the same time we need to be inspired by the kingdom of heaven values of love and justice to continue to attempt a more perfect union to provide equal affirmation for all of our citizenry.

Aphorism of the Day, June 26, 2016

The Fruits of the Spirit are the most general call to ministry which everyone has.  One needs these "spiritual assets" in all vocations, careers and occupations.  The highest ordained cleric, the gardener, the banker, the lawyer, the parent, all need the Fruits of the Spirit as their main calling in life to assist them in the articulation of Grace in every situation.  The Fruits of the Spirit are the end of "clericalism" and the affirmation of baptismal equality of all God's children.

Aphorism of the Day, June 25, 2016

Can grace, mercy and the uncanny which have attended saintly people be experienced after saintly people leave the earth?  Elisha saw a vision of his mentor Elijah leaving this earth as a personal promise that a double portion of the spirit of Elijah would reside and remain with his protégé.  Worry about the future often makes us presume to know more than God about God's continued existence, grace and sustenance.  If the appearance of God's grace seems to get unevenly manifested in the lives of the saints and the incarnate Jesus Christ, it is only apparent and not actual.  Belief in creation means that all creation is the immanence of Divine Omni-Becoming-Presence with equal grace distributed to all occasions of becoming even though difference of appearances creates the apparent uneven manifestations of grace.  Is "God with us" as much when things are "unlucky" as when things appeared to be luckily in our favor?  Appearances create the temporary experience which causes honest confession of the apparent; faith in the underlying real and actual of the dynamic freedom of God becoming and creating helps us to survive and thrive in the merely apparent.

Aphorism of the Day, June 24, 2016

St. Paul said the "Law" is summed up in one phrase, "you shall love your neighbor as yourself."  Loving one's neighbor is never finished; it requires the continuous strategies of empathy in time.  Yesterday's loving of one's neighbor is only good on one's resume if it contributes to new applications today for loving one's neighbor.  As simple as "loving one's neighbor" might seem, it is attended with the nitty gritty of interpreting the particular neighbor in one's immediate circumstance which gives rise to the occasion for manifesting loving behavior.  One can cloister and segregate one's life to fool oneself about one's obligation to the neighbors who fall into one's immediate perceptual field, but for those who are adjusting to the new global omnipresence of everyone being present to everyone, the seams of the enlargement of one's heart are ever bursting.  One should note that adult physical growth begins on the slope of decline quite soon; it should be heartening to note that growth and the expansion of the "heart" need never cease into one's late maturity.

Aphorism of the Day, June 23, 2016

Transformation of the one's life is the reason faith traditions exists.  Indeed, traditions accrue overtime so much cultural baggage, the essential goal of transformation gets lost in all of the requirements for group identity and loyalty.  How does one come to the state of knowing that one has been made "good?"  How does one deal with the reality of one's desires becoming projected and fixated upon objects and activities which compel one toward the state of not knowing oneself to be good, but rather addicted to distracting idols?  Transformation and sublimation of Life Force whether one calls it chi, spirit, prana, desire, libido, et al, is the goal of the life of faith.  Through our worded life we can come to know our life force as controlled and directed towards what is beneficial for us and expressive of love and justice in the world.  The reason that religions today are caught supporting bigoted and prejudicial behaviors is that the personal transformation kernel has been sacrificed to making cultural clones who are loyal to features of "group identity" that have accrued which embed prejudicial practices under the name of "true" religion.

Aphorism of the Day, June 22, 2016

There is a call from God beyond one's job title or particular career; it is the call to manifest the fruits of the Spirit.  The life work of everyone is to be in the process of transformation whereby the profound desire of one's life gets re-characterized as being the engine of the desire of the flesh and becomes the energy to practice the fruits of the Spirit because the projection of desire beyond all of the things which can become idol, a project on God who is the only One worthy of the profound focus of Desire.

Aphorism of the Day, June 21, 2016

Sometimes the exaggerated language of Jesus seems cruel like, "let the dead bury the dead."  The hyperbole of Jesus might be understood as, "if you think that the call of God is impossible and is bad for you and your family," then you must have the wrong image of God.  You must believe Jesus and God to be devoid of empathy (God devoid of empathy would be an oxymoron)  if you believe the call of God cannot be integrated with the specifics of the ways in which your life is.  The Call of God is everywhere and it is accessible and adaptable to anyone's circumstances.  When one says, "I can't accept the call of God, it really means, I won't accept the call of God."  The hyperbole of Jesus exposes the human "I can't" as really meaning "I won't."  So, will you accept the call of God?  You may and you can because you are so constituted to do so.


Aphorism of the Day, June 20, 2016

The call of Christ is about readiness and integration.  Some people divide their lives into compartments which don't seem to overlap or mutually reinforce.  The mystical call is an integration of everything in one's life such that nothing is competing; everything is integrated by the mystical call.  People who do not "have time" are not ready to have their lives integrated by the mystical call.

Aphorism of the Day, June 19, 2016

Exorcisms have become the humor of Ghostbusting or Horror in Hollywood.  In our scientific age we make into cinematic "art" our fascination with the weird and the strange.  What is not funny and what is truly horrifying are the actual actions of those driven by the killer demons of death by guns.  The " death by guns" ethos of America fed by virtual presentation of killing in video games and in the cinema needs some serious "ghostbusting."  We should be truly frightened by the "death by guns ethos" of our society.

Aphorism of the Day, June 18, 2016

Countries with fewer guns have fewer gun fatalities.  That is what actuarial science shows.  One of the disadvantages of strategies of prevention based upon actuarial wisdom is that harmful events which are prevented remain anonymous in "non-existence"  because the prevented event does not achieve exposure in the life experience of a person.  This means that in some realm prevention is hard to sell because it is hard to convince about what never happened to a specific person or people.  This does not prevent insurance company from basing their rates on the "negative" no-shows of events which do not happen to specific people.  Wisdom tells us to go with probability and be thankful for not ever knowing about what might have happened if preventive measures had not been taken.  What might have happened is not actual but framing what might happen as a function of probability to plan current action is wise prevention.

Aphorism of the Day, June 17, 2016

Biblical literature deals with describing how power is expressed in motivating or causing behaviors.  One can note involuntary motivation in the force of oppression.  Biblical justice means that the oppressed are set free.  Suppression involves the voluntary application of recommended behaviors, i.e., rules and laws as methods of cultural training in "probability" theory of successful behaviors within a society.   Repression are the involuntary interior forces causing one to perform harmful and unhealthy behaviors for self and society whose roots are sometimes forgotten or "repressed."  Finally there is the force of "Spirit" or participation in another form of energy which allows one to do unimaginable creative and lyrical things.  It creates the oxymoron of compulsion to perform freely excellence.  Compulsion and freedom don't seem to fit, but the sense of being so gracefully helped to do creative things is the power and force which we seek in life and can find drawn from us in the Risen Christ.

Aphorism of the Day, June 16, 2016

The "inscape" spirituality of St. Paul is presented in the "landscape" stories of Jesus in the Gospels.  In St. Paul's mystagogic cosmology, he believed in a cosmic interior, inner space battle: "For our^* struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. "  The spiritual battle of St. Paul was illustrated in the stories of Jesus' exorcisms since he is presented as one who could win the battle within the inner space of every person, which is also the place of heaven.  The Gospel present the spirituality of St. Paul's and others in the "physicality" of the stories of Jesus because "physicality" is a Gospel metaphor that means something reality "substantial" and life changing and transforming was happening in the early churches.

Aphorism of the Day, June 15, 2016

Socrates who lived long before Christ acknowledged help from a mystical personal being, a daemon/daimon, or soul guide, someone like a guardian angel acquired at birth.  Between this beneficent notion of the daimon and the demons and unclean spirits of the Gospel there has been quite some transformation of the notion of the "daimonic."  Inner personal forces causing havoc in a person's ability to control oneself came to be the unclean spirits which Jesus in three Gospels (not John) casts out of people who were tormented.  Within context of the developed purity code, one can find a simplistic binary classification system: clean or unclean, pure/impure or blessed/cursed.  Certain the description of the behaviors of those possessed with interior "speaking" entities are important in the parables of the life of Jesus as a healer.  He could not only deal with seascape issues in calming the exterior storms, he was one who whispered people and could bring order, peace and calm to their "inscapes."  Rebalancing of the interior forces of one's life perhaps expresses the essence of health and salvation in the world of time where we all are going to eventually know the unhealthy state of death.  If the Psalmist cried "Create in me a clean heart, O God,"  Jesus was the one who is presented as expelling or cleansing the "body temple" of unclean spirits as a prelude to coming to having a "Renewed Spirit" within oneself.  We need to free the Gospel from the Hollywood images of "exorcisms" and from the "ghostbusters" who spend their time looking for and finding the devil and his fiends.  People often find what they are looking for; why not just look for the "clean heart" instead?

Aphorism of the Day, June 14, 2016

The repetition of mass killings in America has brought us into the frustration with how freedom is manifested in our country.  We should not have to be "standing" eulogists who frequent the rhetoric of comfort all too often.  Even while we take comfort when people come together after great tragedy for mutual support, we acknowledge the frustrations of the conditions which force such outpourings in the first place.  We are not supposed to be in a "war zone" with chaplains doing their duty of memorializing comrades at arm during a short pause in the battle.  We are in "civilian" life.  We take for granted the "normalcy" of safety.  The repetition of mass killings reveal the protean nature of each event in that the killers arise from seeming context specific normalcy to carry out such destruction of life.  As much as we cannot predict individual events we can note common elements: mental health and personal identity issues, weaponry meant for individual battlefield efficiency placed in the hands of an individual in a non-battlefield civilian situation and an oft target group of anger for the individual.  We can remain frustrated or we could actually begin to change the wider context wherein these things happen.  If we had adequate mental health care, it might help.  If we had gainful employment for all to sublimate their life energy into, it might help.  If all would really subscribe to "all are created equal" American philosophy in their personal lives and I daresay in their "religious" lives, it would also help.  If we would acknowledge that battlefield weapons should not be licensed or sold to individuals in non-battlefield situations, the lack of accessibility to such weapons would surely limit the death.  I am afraid that most Americans are resigned to the accessibility of battlefield weapons in civilian life, an expansion of the second amendment unforeseen by the Constitution wordsmiths.

Aphorism of the Day, June 13, 2016

The repetition of mass killings in America should make us ponder how the ethos of our country has been and is becoming constituted. Is it because we value individual freedoms so highly that we are willing to sacrifice actuarial wisdom which protects the common good? Is it because we attempt in a social experience of so much diversity such that heterogeneity is harder to exert predictable controls over than in countries where more homogeneity prevails? Do we have inconsistent safety standards based upon the influence of money? Actuarial wisdom can bring safety policies about seat belt use, warnings on cigarette packages, child toys safety requirements, helmets for motorcyclists, ratings for movies and TV shows and yet we are paralyzed to act on the actuarial data we have regarding willful and accidental deaths by guns in our country. Proverbs tells us that Wisdom cries out aloud in the streets. Should not the dear lives that we have lost be a very loud cry to us from Wisdom about not only our ethos, but the resulting policies of the American ethos?

Aphorism of the Day, June 12, 2016

Forgiveness is the most poignant expression of Patience.  Forgiveness is an expression of a hopeful and personal belief in a perfectable future by the one who is more perfect.  Forgiveness is what keeps us from being expelled from the School of Jesus because of our sin.

Aphorism of the Day, June 11, 2016

Is it ironic that people seem to love great conversions stories?  Notorious sinners converting into great saints.  King David and St. Paul were known for some notorious sins; one was the model for the messiah and the other was the chief apostle of Gentile Christianity.  Sublimation of energy used once for sin and put in the cause of goodness is an epic story theme of Bible.  One wonders if "lukewarm sinners become only lukewarm Christians" if one privileges the dramatic conversion theme.  It is perhaps diagnostic of the human condition that dramatic conversion gets more attention that just being boringly good and faithful in day to day living.

Aphorism of the Day, June 10, 2016

We are told that Mary, called Magdalene was one from whom seven demons had gone out and was one who is mentioned with other women and the 12 disciples as being with Jesus.  In psycho-spiritual terms one could understand that Mary Magdalene had become dissociated into seven foreign "inner persons" due to the trauma that must have happened to her.  Christ as a healer in the mode of a "people whisperer" was able to be the one on whom Mary could project her own wholeness.  This meant dispelling of the seven "defense mechanistic" personalities that arose as the way to cope with trauma.  Mary Magdalene found in Jesus, finally, a Man whom she could trust, since it is likely that the trauma of her past life was caused by abusive men.  One can hardly imagine women of her time having the power to abuse.

Aphorism of the Day, June 9, 2016

The good aspect of excess is that it can be the expression of a compelled desire to achieve excellence in a skill of living through practice.  Excess can follow the magnet of desire to achieve the kinds of repetitions of practice which later can take the wings of lyrical creativity.  The bad aspect of excess is that the magnets of desire can get fixated to compel the continual repetition in practices which we call addiction and addictive habits have a way of taking over one's life and spoiling life propriety and balance.  Learning to read honestly the projections of one's desire and developing the spiritual practice of direction of that desire towards projection upon God as the only worthy "object" of desire is the task of life.

Aphorism of the Day, June 8, 2016

Probably one of the most excessive acts of devotion is the account of a woman or women in the various Gospels, anointing the feet of Jesus with perfume or tears and wiping them dry with her hair.  Certain cultures regard touching the feet of a "significant" person such as a guru or royalty to be an act of devotion or respect.  In a culture where women did not touch men, the Gospel makes it stand out as noteworthy.  In such a culture of segregation between men and women, it has scandalous overtones.  The woman in one passage was called a "sinner" (though not Mary of Bethany) which meant that due to her lack of condition of life support left her to support herself by being one who was forced to earn her living by "sinning" with "male sponsors."  The event also highlights that women were prominent friends and followers of Jesus though the egalitarian habits of Jesus in sharing his ministry with men and women gets diminished as the Gospels and the Pauline writings get edited makeovers in trying to make the Christian message fit the highly patriarchal household codes of the Roman Empire.

Aphorism of the Day, June 7, 2016

We as humans are often more interested in trying to dwell at milestone markers rather than being on the journey.  Time means our life journey never stops and language provides us with illusion that we can stop time with a phrase, but even language submits to time because there will be some more time, some more occasions, some more milestones, and many more phrases which can seem to freeze time (until they don't).  Milestones are human arbitrary communal designations and such celebrations are appropriate if they do not delay our continual orientation to the new terrain of life's journey now.  Let us not camp out at milestones too long; the road is before us.

Aphorism of the Day, June 6, 2016

The New Testament notion of sin is really a positive notion.  We should learn how to be "rightly" related to our sins.  Sin is metaphor derived from Greek archery and it means "missing" the mark.  Each day of life is filled with targets onto which the arrows of our desire can be projected.  Some of those targets are unworthy targets which are not good for our own health (salvation) or the health of our communities.  Other targets are good and excellent and yet elusive because they remain for us the next day as surpassing targets of excellence.  These are the targets of love and justice and we do not fail if we strive to reach them even though we always fail because love and justice is never complete, since both have a future.  Analyze today, your relationship with sin?  What are your targets?  Are you enslaved to desire getting attached to addicting objects and habits?  Or do you have the glorious failure towards love and justice because you know that you have to do them better tomorrow?

Aphorism of the Day, June 5, 2016

Scholars have looked for the models which characterize the actual ministry of Jesus.  Two of the prominent ways of seeing him has been as a Wisdom Teacher and an Apocalyptic Prophet declaring the imminent end of life as we know it.  He is presented as a "Wonder Worker" in his role as a Healer.  He accrued other titles, Messiah and High Priest though he was not a Levite nor was he a Davidic conquering king.  The versions of Jesus in the Gospels are revealing of the phases of teaching within the early Christian community and Jesus as the Risen Christ could be all things to all Christians depending upon the needs of the community.  The Risen Christ could be accessed as an oracle in the Christian communities and the early church treated the oracles of Risen Christ as though they were uttered by him when he was physically present to his disciples.  I would assert that Gospels are an incorporation of the oral traditions of Jesus as a vehicle for the secret mystagogy of the early churches.  In this method, the "physicality" of the life of Jesus is actually a medium metaphor to emphasize the profound and real substantial spiritual transformation of the lives of the people in the Jesus Movement, or more properly, the Movement of the Risen Christ accessed through a Transmitting Spirit.

Aphorism of the Day, June 4, 2016

The child motifs, the healing of the child and the raising of the young to life are prominent in the Gospel program of uniting original birth and new birth in the spiritual-psychical event of activation of one's birth lost in one's memory because of pre-lingual being of infancies and because harsh experience of becoming adult "beats" original blessing and joy out of us.  The Gospel hid this recovery of "original joy" within the narrative of the life of Jesus who initiates us into the program of Abundant Life which is also the recovery of one's birth when the meaning of birth was not yet clouded with the imperfections of how we became coded by our environments.

 Aphorism of the Day, June 3, 2016

St. Paul expressed the human condition as "being dead in one's trespasses and sin." For Paul, the Gospel of Christ through the Holy Spirit brought one into the state of new life.  When the Gospels illustrated the theological metaphors of Paul within a presented narrative of Jesus, people who come back to life after an encounter with Jesus instantiate the experience in "story form" the reality of being brought to life from the condition of "being dead in one's trespasses and sins."  All the more reason to read the Gospel mystagogically as the writers continually use the metaphors of "physicality" to reinforce poignantly the substance of spiritual transformation occurring in the lives of those who encountered Christ.

Aphorism of the Day, June 2, 2016

The Gospels are the art of Christian mystagogy as the method of inculcating the mystery of how the Risen Christ is known and experienced in the life of the initiate.  The Gospels fool our chronological logic since we believe that Jesus came before Paul.  But in the New Testament writings, the theology and mystical practice of Paul came before the writing of the Gospel.  The Gospel writers buried within the narrative of the life of Jesus the mystical theology of Paul and the other early church mystagogues.  So the versions of the life of Jesus in the Gospel are read by "chronological literalists" as eyewitness journalism, but they are read by the initiates in the mystagogy of the church as Christian mystical experience in a story program format.  The Jesus "oral tradition" is blended with the mystagogical oracle of the Risen Christ who according to Paul "shared his mind" with them even after he was no longer visible.


Aphorism of the Day, June 1, 2016

The history of the generation and reading of the Bible is a history which exposes the over-magnification of textual elements.  The enforced and preferred reading of the Bible means lots of mental energy has gone into finding functional meanings for the lives of many people in many times and life situations even though there is a great textual chasm between the original contexts and the contexts in the lives of people in different times and places.  The Bible is full of "forgotten contexts" because people cannot find functional relevance for such obscure context save arcane academic study of the same.  Does saying that the "Bible is the word of God" mean that every single text within the Bible gets an equal hearing and equally functional application?  The reading of the Bible is always edited and censored; and the traditional translations have been censored to fit the modesty codes of the time of translation.  The belief that the Bible is the word of God exists within communities of people who continually collaborates determining how it is so. Only the naïve believe that final meanings of the Bible have been attained.

Quiz of the Day, June 2016

Quiz of the Day, June 30, 2016

According to St. Paul, the Council of Jerusalem decided what?

a. Peter was the Apostle to the circumcised
b. Paul was Apostle to the Gentiles
c. that Titus should be circumcised
d. all of the above
e. a and b

Quiz of the Day, June 29, 2106

A title for Jesus was "Son of Man;" which prophet in the Hebrew Scriptures hears the voice of God often refer to him as "son of man?"

a. Isaiah
b. Jeremiah
c. Ezekiel
d. Daniel


Quiz of the Day, June 28, 2016

For which of the following is St. Irenaeus not known?

a. certifying the Gospel of Thomas as canonical
b. establishing the four canonical Gospels
c. defining the "future" orthodoxy of the Christian Church
d. defining heretical views

Quiz of the Day, June 27, 2016

What prophet in the "Old Testament/Hebrew Scriptures" heard a donkey talking to him?

a. Micah
b. Amos
c. Balaam
d. Obadiah

Quiz of the Day, June 26, 2016

The bronze serpent on a pole crafted at the order of Moses became a symbol of what?

a. the symbol of AMA
b. resurrection because of the snake skin regeneration
c. the cross of Jesus
d. the defeat of the devil in the book of Revelation

Quiz of the Day, June 25, 2016

Who was Aaron successor as High Priest of Israel?

a. Caleb
b. Joshua
c. Zadok
d. Eleazar

Quiz of the Day, June 24, 2016

What prophet wrote about a messenger from God who would be "like a refiner's fire and fullers' soap?"

a. Isaiah
b. Obediah
c. Jeremiah
d. Malachi

Quiz of the Day, June 23, 2015

How did God verify the leadership of Moses and the house of Levi after the rebellion of Korah?

a. by dampened fleece
b. by causing the staff of the house of Levi to bud and bear almonds
c. God spoke to Moses through a burning bush
d. God caused a rock to gush with water at Moses' command

Quiz of the Day, June 22, 2016

What was the life calling of St. Alban, first martyr of Great Britain?

a. bishop
b. priest
c. blacksmith
d. soldier

Quiz of the Day, June 21, 2016

In the New Testament, who is known as the father of faith?

a. Jesus
b. Paul
c. Peter
d. Moses
e. Abraham

Quiz of the Day, June 20, 2016

What happened when Korah and 249 co-conspirators rebelled against Moses?

a. they were afflicted with leprosy
b. fire consumed them from heaven
c. the ground opened up and swallowed them
d. they were made priests in the tabernacle

Quiz of the Day, June 19, 2016

What is the Gospel reference for living in the state of "celibacy?"

a. there is no marriage in heaven
b. some are made eunuch for the kingdom's sake
c. John the Baptist had no wife
d. Jesus had no wife

Quiz of the Day, June 18, 2016

What was the punishment for the children of Israel who did not believe that they could conquer the "giants" of Canaan as reported by the spies?

a. they were sent back to Egypt
b. they were consumed with fire
c. they were not allowed to enter the Promised Land
d. they formed a rebellious tribe

Quiz of the Day, June 17, 2016

What did these twelve do?

1. Shammua 
2. Shaphat 
3. Caleb 
4. Igal 
5. Hoshea (Joshua) 
6. Palti
7. Gaddiel
8. Gaddi
9. Ammiel
10. Sethur
11. Nahbi
12. Geuel

a. served with Aaron as priest in the tabernacle

b. received the spirit of prophecy to help Moses in leadership

c. represented each of their tribes at the councils led by Moses

d. were spies who scoped out the land of Caanan for Israel

Quiz of the Day, June 16, 2016

Why did Miriam oppose her brother Moses and as a punishment became leprous?

a. she thought Aaron should have been the leader of Israel
b. she thought he was gone too long up Mt. Sinai to receive the law
c. she opposed his marriage to a Cushite
d. she followed the rebellion of Korah who she thought the rightful leader

Quiz of the Day, June 15, 2016

Of the following English writers, who made the term "mysticism" respectable and definitely "non-heretical?"

a. Charles Williams
b. William Law
c. Jeremy Taylor
d. Evelyn Underhill

Quiz of the Day, June 14, 2016

What spice was manna said to be like?

a. cardamom
b. coriander seeds
c. poppy seeds
d. chia seeds

Quiz of the Day, June 13, 2016

Who said the following?  "The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried."

a. C.S. Lewis
b. George Bernard Shaw
c. G.K. Chesterton
d. Oscar Wilde

Quiz of the Day, June 12, 2016

Which of the following is not recorded in the Gospel about Mary Magdalene?

a. she had seven demons cast from her
b. she had the first post resurrection appearance of Christ
c. she was a known prostitute
d. she witnessed the crucifixion of Jesus

Quiz of the Day, June 11, 2016

Barnabas, the name of Paul's missionary companion means what?

a. son of peace
b. son of his father Nabas
c. son of encouragement
d. son of a prophet


Quiz of the Day, June 10, 2016

Why did Jesus say to Peter, "Get behind me Satan?"

a. he did this when he predicted Peter's denial
b. he did this when Peter wanted to call heavenly fire on non-receptive towns
c. said this when Peter challenged him about a suffering Messiah
d. he did this when Peter lost his faith to "walk" on the water

Quiz of the Day, June 9, 2016

Which of the following is not of the Pauline list of fruits of the Spirit in the Epistle to the Galatian church?

a. self control
b. generosity
c. kindness
d. courage
e. love
f. joy
g. peace
h. faithfulness
i. gentleness
j. patience

Quiz of the Day, June 8, 2016


Where can the following harsh invective be found in the Bible: "I wish those who unsettle you would castrate themselves?"

a. Paul's letter to the Galatians
b. Jude
c. Ecclesiastes
d. Jeremiah

Quiz of the Day, June 7, 2016
Who was Hagar?

a. a wife of Noah
b. a wife of Samuel
c. a wife of Abraham
d. a wife of Samson

Quiz of the Day, June 6, 2016

The most often music composition associated with the Psalm phrase, "How lovely is thy dwelling place" is what?

a. Slane
b. Winchester
c. Brother James' Air
d. Londonderry Air

Quiz of the Day, June 5, 2016

How was Simon Peter convinced that the Gentiles were worthy of the Gospel?

a. Paul forcefully convinced him
b. Simon the Tanner taught him
c. He had a dream in which God declared profane foods, clean
d. His brother Andrew convinced him

Quiz of the Day, June 4, 2016

Which pope was regarded as a saint in the Episcopal Church before he was canonized by the Roman Catholic Church?

a. John Paul I
b. John Paul II
c. John XXIII
d. Gregory the Great

Quiz of the Day, June 3, 2016

Where can one find the following: "God is in heaven, and you upon earth; therefore let your words be few?"

a. Psalms
b. Proverbs
c. Ecclesiastes
d. Ecclesiasticus

Quiz of the Day, June 2, 2016

What did Herod say about Jesus?

a. He was king of the Jews
b. He was John the Baptist raised from the dead
c. He was the biblical messiah predicted in Isaiah
d. He was the baby Jesus the wisemen had sought

Quiz of the Day, June 1, 2016

Where can one find the following familiar phrase: " For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die?"

a. Psalms
b. Proverbs
c. Job
d. Ecclesiastes

Fruits of the Spirit

6 Pentecost C proper 8 June 26, 2016
2 Kings 2:1-2, 6-14  Psalm 77:1-2, 11-20 b

Galatians 5:1,13-25  Luke 9:51-62

Lectionary Link
  Mom made some bread dough for her children one day.  She left it in the kitchen before she went to work and told her husband, who was working from home, "Please tell the children that I have surprise in the kitchen for them to use today."  So, mom went to work and when the children woke up, dad told them that mom had left a surprise for them in the kitchen.  The three children went into the kitchen and saw three zip lock bags with their names on them: Dora, Matthew and Jeremy.  Dora said, "Mom left us a summer activity.  I know what to do with this piece of dough.  Do you want me to show you?"  Matthew said, "No way!  I am going to use my dough in a better way than you."  Dora said to Jeremy, "Jeremy, do you want me to help you with your dough?"  Jeremy said, "I can do my own thing with my dough."  So each of the children took their dough to use for the day.
  When mom came home, she gathered the children and asked, "What did you do with your dough today?  When she saw Jeremy, she asked, "What is that red bruise on your cheek?"  Jeremy said, "Well Michael used the dough as a baseball and he threw it to me and I missed and it hit me on the cheek."  Mom asked Michael, "Did you use your dough as a baseball?"  Michael answer, "I did and I also tried to use it as play dough but it was too sticky, so I just threw it in the trash."  Mom asked Jeremy, "What did you do with your dough?"  Jeremy went to his room and brought back his dough and it was a big, dirty, ball full of dead ants, rolly polly bugs, sand, leaves, small sticks, stones, candy, gum and a marble.  Mom said, "That's interesting Jeremy.  You collected lots of things in your dough ball but we're going have to throw it away soon because it is getting really yucky."  And now Dora, what did you do with your dough?"  Dora said,  "Mom, you can smell my dough.  I let my dough rise and I made a loaf of French bread and I put it into the oven, and it is now ready to take out of the oven."  Dora took the bread out of the oven and showed her mom.  And mom said, "Wow, this is perfect for our supper tonight.  Dora, you sure found the very best way to use the dough."
  Our lives are like the piece of dough in the story.  There are many things that we can do with our lives.  Dora found the best thing to do with her piece of dough.  And we have to find the best thing to do with our lives.
  St. Paul wrote about finding the best thing to do with our lives.  Our life is made up of our bodies, and things inside of us called desire, feeling, thought and the power to choose.  And we have to decide how we are going to use our bodies with its desires, feelings, thoughts and choices.  St. Paul warned us that we can make some very bad choices and do some thing which harm us and other people.  But just as Dora found the best use for the bread dough, St. Paul said that we can find the very best things to do with our lives.  Just as bread dough has hidden yeast within it which makes the bread puff up and become tasty bread to eat, St. Paul said that we have the Invisible and Hidden Holy Spirit within us who will help our lives become like trees which produce wonderful fruit.  St. Paul wrote that the fruits of the Spirit are: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
  St. Paul and Jesus remind us that we have to find and choose the right things to do with our lives.  What are the right things to do with our lives?  To love each other.  To find and express joy.  To practice peace with one another.  To be patience and forgiving.  To be kind to one another.  To be generous and share with those in need.  To have faith and act with hopefulness.  To be gentle and not cause harm.  To be our own heroes by being strong enough to practice self control.
  The fruits of the Spirit are available to everyone, you don't have to be a bishop or priest or pastor or monk or teacher or prophet to express the fruits of the Spirit.  They are given to us by God as we allow the energy of the Spirit of God to live through us.
  So, if mom leaves you piece of dough for your activity of the day, what are going to do?  Let it rise and bake some bread, right?
  If God has given you a body, full of desires, feelings, thoughts and choices, what are you going to do?  We are going to let God's Spirit grow the fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.   Amen.