Phil (w)Rite

Wednesday, November 5, 2025

Sunday School, November 9, 202 22 Pentecost, C proper 27

Some ideas:

Present this Riddle and get the answer:

As I was going to ,

I met a man with seven wives,

Each wife had seven sacks,

Each sack had seven cats,

Each cat had seven kits:

Kits, cats, sacks, and wives,

How many were there going to St. Ives?

had a discussion with some other religious people and they gave Jesus a riddle.

Imagine a woman who got married and her husband died. And because there was an ancient Jewish rule, her husband’s brother was required to marry her. But imagine that her first husband had six brothers and she had seven husband who died who were all brothers. The riddle question for Jesus was this: Jesus, when the woman lives again in the , which man will be her husband?

This question was asked by people who did not believe in the resurrection or living again in the afterlife.

How did Jesus answer the question? He said the afterlife is not like this life. He said that we will be like and angels do not get married.

Jesus said that it is more important to believe in God than in ourselves because God is a strong living God and when we die and when others die, we know that we are not great enough to preserve ourselves after we die. So we believe in a very Great God who is able to preserve, but not just preserve us but make us into our angel-like selves. In our angel-like selves we will not have the same limitations that we have in our lives now.

The message of Jesus is a message of faith and hope

Why are faith and hope important?

Because we live better when we have faith and hope instead of fear.

If we always are afraid of getting hurt or if we are afraid of death, then we will not be free to try new things and to learn. Fear makes us too timid to try new things. Fear makes us sad and it paralyzes us.

When Jesus gave people the hope of the resurrection, this hope allows us to quit being fearful and so we can live our lives in an adventure of faith or always trying to do things to make our lives better.

If we know that we will continue to live after death in an angel-like life, it means that we will still get more time to work on everything that we don’t finish in this life. And this is hopeful for us. It can help take away the “fear” of death. It can help us know that God is fair to all people who don’t get to live as long as some other people because of accidents and misfortune.

The resurrection allows us to believe in fairness. There will be plenty of time for everything to be made fair.

So Jesus showed us that everlasting life will bring about fairness and because we know this we can live with faith.

The people who argued with Jesus only wanted to win an argument. Jesus was interested in giving people hope for the future so that they live with faith and adventure now in their lives.

Discussion:

What happens to you when you live in fear?

What happens when you are hopeful about good things?

Talk about the difference between living with fear and living with hope.

Sermon

Can you and I know everything there is to know in life? No. Would we like to know everything? Yes. But why can’t we know everything? We are too small. Our minds, our brains cannot collect and remember all of the information. And we cannot know some things because of who we are. I know how to be a father, but I don’t know how to be a mother. Why, because I can never be a mother. So there are some things that I can never know.

So I have to rely upon other people knowing what being a mother is. Since there is so much to know, I have to rely on other people to know some things that I don’t know. I have to rely upon a mechanic to fix my car. I have to rely upon the doctor to take care of my health. I have to rely upon many different teachers who know many different things. I have to rely upon people who know more about music than I do.

And when we add up everything that all people in the world know, do people still know everything? No we still don’t know about distance stars and planets that we have never seen. So there are still many,

many things that we do not know.

Why is every thing knowable? Because we believe that God is knowledge and truth and life itself. And God’s life is bigger and greater than our lives, so we always have more to learn about in life because God is so big and great.

One of the things that we do not have a lot of information about is about what happens to people after they die. And that is important for us because we want to know that the important people in our life are going to be with us forever.

Jesus had a discussion with some people about what happens after we die. And what Jesus says is this: Since God lives and since God is the God of the living, all people will always live on in God. Why? Because God’s life is so great that God can preserve everything and everyone in a very special way.

So if you ever begin to think about what’s after life, just remember how big God is and remember that God is big enough to preserve and keep everyone and everything that was ever made, even though we

may always be able to see everyone and everything. God is a God of the living. So all people will always live in God. And so will you and I and so will all of the important people in your life. Doesn’t that make you happy. Remember that God is a living God and all of us live in God. Amen.

for an intergeneration gathering

November 9, 2025: The Twenty-Second Sunday after Pentecost

Gathering Songs: Alleluia, Give Thanks; I Am the Bread of Life; The King of Glory

Liturgist: Blessed be God, Father, Son and .

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: Alleluia, Give Thanks (Blue Hymnal # 178)

Refrain: Alleluia, alleluia, give thanks to the risen Lord. Alleluia, alleluia give praise to his name.

Jesus is Lord of all the earth. He is the King of creation. Refrain

Spread the good news o’er all the earth: Jesus has died and has risen. Refrain

Liturgist: The Lord be with you.

People: And also with you.

Liturgist: Let us pray

O God, whose blessed Son came into the world that he might destroy the works of the devil and make us children of God and heirs of eternal life: Grant that, having this hope, we may purify ourselves as he is pure; that, when he comes again with power and great glory, we may be made like him in his eternal and glorious kingdom; where he 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 Second Letter to the Thessalonians

But we must always give thanks to God for you, brothers and sisters beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the first fruits for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and through belief in the truth. For this purpose he called you through our proclamation of the good news, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So then, brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by our letter. Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and through grace gave us eternal comfort and good hope, comfort your hearts and strengthen them in every good work and word.

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Liturgist: Let us read together from Psalm 17

I call upon you, O God, for you will answer me; * incline your ear to me and hear my words.

Show me your marvelous loving-kindness, * O Savior of those who take refuge at your right hand
from those who rise up against them.

Keep me as the apple of your eye; * hide me under the shadow of your wings,

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!

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

People: Glory to you, Lord Christ.

Some Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus and asked him a question, "Teacher, wrote for us that if a man's brother dies, leaving a wife but no children, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers; the first married, and died childless; then the second and the third married her, and so in the same way all seven died childless. Finally the woman also died. In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had married her." Jesus said to them, "Those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage; but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. Indeed they cannot die anymore, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection. And the fact that the dead are raised Moses himself showed, in the story about the bush, where he speaks of the Lord as the God of , the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive.

Liturgist: The Gospel of the Lord.

People: Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Sermon – Father Phil

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 .

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 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: I Am the Bread of Life (Blue Hymnal, # 335)

I am the bread of life; they who come to me shall not hunger; they who believe in me shall not thirst. No one can come to me unless the Father draw them.

Refrain: And I will raise them up, and I will raise them up, and I will raise them up on the last day.

I am the resurrection, I am the life. They who believe in me, even if they die, they shall live for ever. 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 God.”

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.

(All may gather around the altar)

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.

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,

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: Alleluia, Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

People: Therefore let us keep the feast. Alleluia.

Words of Administration

Communion Song: I Come With Joy (Renew! # 195)

1. I come with joy a child of God, forgiven, loved, and free, the life of Jesus to recall, in love laid down for me.

2. I come with Christians, far and near to find, as all are fed, the new community of love in Christ’s communion bread.

3. As Christ breaks bread, and bids us share, each proud division ends. The love that made us makes us one, and strangers now are friends.

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: The King of Glory (Renew! # 267)

Refrain: The king of glory comes the nation rejoices. Open the gates before him, lift up your voices.

Who is the king of glory, how shall we call him? He is Emmanuel, the promised of ages. Refrain

In all of Galilee, in city or village, he goes among his people curing their illness. Refrain

Sing then of David’s son, our Savior and brother; in all of Galilee was never another. Refrain

Dismissal:

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

People: Thanks be to God!

Friday, October 31, 2025

Aphorism of the Day, October 2025

Aphorism of the Day, October 31, 2025

For those shocked with biblical violence especially the apocalyptic sort found in s one can contrast it with modern cinema violence and the justification for it as being "," as a sublimated replacement for actual violence. Biblical violence associated with the divine intervention for the "good guys" who need justice served a cathartic purpose for the communities who generated such texts. One should appreciate that the Bible had to be all genres within one book in contrast with the radical separation of genre common to the modern era.

Aphorism of the Day, October 30, 2025

To make biblical writing so other-worldly as if they were somehow the direct finger of God writing is to make them unbelievable as if were not , meaning people had non-human experience of the divine. This is absurd to imply that human beings could stop being linguistic being and understand the divine as the divine understands the divine self.

Aphorism of the Day, October 29, 2025

represents a variety of writings of people in different places within the during the first and second centuries who were drawn because of mystical experience co-extensive with exposure to a significant social and personal identity paradigm which centered around the charismatic person of Jesus, who became better known in different ways after he was gone. In the afterlife of Jesus, was celebrated as a patron deity for the or local clubs/guild which gathered around a sacred meal and committed themselves to promulgating how they had become constituted by their Christ identity. Being like other such guilds would account for how Christ-guilds could interweave with existing social practice. The growing diversity of the Christ clubs threatened the social political coherence for the further success of the movement necessitating the rise of leaders to declare what was "right" or orthodoxy and what could not be accepted, or . The Emperor saw the necessity for the church leaders to gather and standardize the teachings of a pan-Church with conforming local churches. The plan for an Empire wide orthodoxy took over a century to become "mostly" successful.

Aphorism of the Day, October 28, 2025

Becoming comfortable with the ALL of BEING being a Person, means that one has the experience of knowing such a Person as seeming to be a stranger and aloof from the specifics of one's own existential and dark nights. If God is one's Person, such a Person, might have to suffer being in the role of being one's stranger.

Aphorism of the Day, October 27, 2025

When people respond to new textual or by saying this "confirms" the Bible, they usually mean it "confirms" the specific way in which I find the Bible as the only meaningful way for me. The Bible does not need to be "confirmed; its existence as a textual document in many various forms and use in many different communities over the centuries is its own confirmation. And many people and communities have confirmed varied meanings of the biblical words in different ways without needing anymore "proof" to be discovered, however interesting they might be for .

Aphorism of the Day, October 26, 2025

as all texts should be understood , not literally since everything humanly and socially meaningful does not have to be something which can or could have been .

Aphorism of the Day, October 25, 2025

Should mercy be felt toward the people who are greedy and powerful and who rob the people of the earth of the needed for this world? Is it a reverse justice to feel sorry for those who "have" to be in evil roles, and admire those who are good and kind but oppressed. The transvaluation of experiential values of the seems to an implication that it is better to terribly wronged in life than to be "cursed" to be in the role of the oppressor. The ethics of doing what can to survive can be reconciled with the ethics of for the practical cause of realized justice.

Aphorism of the Day, October 24, 2025

"," seems to be a familiar trope in the Bible. Such probably could be retranslated as "waiting for coming to a sense of favorable providence in the circumstances of one's life," because in writings like the the actions within nature itself seem to be attributed to the Lord, and human waiting means that we are not getting our preferred outcome yet.

Aphorism of the Day, October 23, 2025

or story is a participatory and indirect way of teaching forcing the hearer/reader to project one's own meanings on the elements of the story and then having to assess the motives which drive those projections.

Aphorism of the Day, October 22, 2025

needs to be distinguished from where seems to the unhealthy response to life. Contrition needs to be based upon "" and not "" where one seems to be perpetually apologizing for existing.

Aphorism of the Day, October 21, 2025

Every criticism of the Bible or any piece of is really a judgment about the mostly unknown writers in their writing situations, or it is a critique of the many readers and interpreters in their settings in how they have used the ancient words to constitute their own personal and social subjectivity.

Aphorism of the Day, October 20, 2025

The tax collector of the who in self contempt did not list his accomplishments vis a vis others but merely said, "," was the recommended model of contrition. recommended the humble mode of always looking in the direction of what is left yet in the future in lives always on the path of perfectibility. Such a posture does not allow one the luxury of quitting the path because one is too bad nor does it allow one to gloat for being too good, or at least good enough to berate others for not being good in the way that one is.

Aphorism of the Day, October 19, 2025

as the continual request for justice in a world that is often unjust is the holy nagging that we are called to.

Aphorism of the Day, October 18, 2025

Christians should ask themselves if the ideals of the are more inclusive than the kind of love which their own Christian group proclaim and live.

Aphorism of the Day, October 17, 2025

The is life is so vast and historically the rise of became a better statistical predictor for how to live with better prediction of future outcomes than did . However the preponderance of the influence of myth and religion has become part of the equation in the field of probability in determining future human actions. can live in such a way as to guarantee their own outcome even though it may just end up being in compliance with the all too natural of global death.

Aphorism of the Day, October 16, 2025

are constellations of which are inherited because we are taking advantage of the pollination of traces of the past that we have access to now to engage in what we think probably will occur with hope of influencing outcomes with our agency while remaining vulnerable to what we don't know and can't control.

Aphorism of the Day, October 15, 2025

The Bible is a collection of writings with the varied experiences of people in different times and places including agony, ecstasy, losses, triumphs, successes, and failures, kept for the ritualizing of human experience vis a vis their relationship with as the of the .

Aphorism of the Day, October 14, 2025

There is no visible way to count the number of interior whatever for aid, intervention, and comfort. The parable of presents prayer as something like an interior energy of "power votes" to influence the toward what is just in a visible world where even those who have the office of justice are unjust.

Aphorism of the Day, October 13, 2025

Big questions like the remain in our modern context as they did in the many various , though the cultural context shape how the question are framed and answered. The truth is that many are permanently "deleted" for us today which leaves us often presuming to know too much when we don't have the humility to say that we really don't know what was meant.

Aphorism of the Day, October 12, 2025

in practice did not mean people worshipped many gods because people would choose one or be born into the area which had a "contractual" relationship with a certain god or goddess. In the , really means that people were choosing other deities beside the one which the were at the time calling the , namely, the one for us to build our identity around. One could note that the has made so much information available that one is face with such a smorgasbord from which to consume an "identity," while also having the freedom of so many choices, it happens that one travels and slides on a . One can note a clash between those with more settled identities and those who find the more fluid.

Aphorism of the Day, October 11, 2025

There is an arrogance of saying that all our stuff is original and we have . It is also arrogant to say we have updated the past in original revelatory and inventive ways thus surpassing the significance of former stuff still held in respect by others. Can we not just humbly admit that we repurpose the entire field of in the now and be thankful that occur for us that can contribute to the metaphor pool for the future.

Aphorism of the Day, October 10, 2025

Being well and healthy is regarded to be what is supposed to be "normal" about life and when "abnormal" conditions of "not feeling oneself" occur, the quick or gradual return to "feeling more of oneself," seems graceful. were often associated with the .

Aphorism of the Day, October 9, 2025

Perhaps the central point in the presentation of the healings of is the . Those who are sick are not to be socially shunned but sought after by the community. is presented as the seeking healer of those who individually and communally might feel isolated by their affliction.

Aphorism of the Day, October 8, 2025

Sometimes it seems as though any notion of is but one group saying that they have the best version of the beyond words, even while they are limited to word products to be able to make their claims.

Aphorism of the Day, October 7, 2025

Briefly speaking for humans, might be called the finding of the most appropriate generation of for life situations.

Aphorism of the Day, October 6, 2025

How might a person or humanity as a group be related to what in is called a ? A person or the entirety of humanity does not have the capacity to access the vast collection of data which is and will be stored by even though human production of language products have created the very possibility of AI's . Since no human or community is capable to collate the vast collection of human data, is the timely advance to help limited humanity navigate in targeted ways the vast amount of human data that has accrued and been collected for public use, and potentially for human creative advance to live and hopefully survive the complexity of problems which face the people of our planet.

Aphorism of the Day, October 5, 2025

When claiming that the endures forever, perhaps this is descriptive of the fact that mercy might be the endurance of some kind of life forever. The continuing sustenance is proof of mercy.

Aphorism of the Day, October 4, 2025

Believing that is not valid for the even in one event which occurs in space and time, means that one is vulnerable to lots of in .

Aphorism of the Day, October 3, 2025

means that to feel safe and unthreatened by so many contrary views, many people are choosing to live within which effectively censors what they want to know about their lives.

Aphorism of the Day, October 2, 2025

is used most often as a book to guide assuming that the way that I understand the can provide me and others with insights for how to live well.

Aphorism of the Day, October 1, 2025

The textual origins of is like the discovery of an old with pieces of scrapes from many the clothes of family ancestor but without adequate knowledge of the family member and when and where they wore the item of clothing which eventually provided scrapes for the quilt.

Quiz of the Day, October 2025

Quiz of the Day, October 31, 2025

a. a shorten form of saying

b. a Druid Celtic phrase

c. the Day of the Dead

d. All Saints Day

Quiz of the Day, October 30, 2025

Who was present at the dedication of the Second Temple?

a. Ezra

b. Nehemiah

c. Zerubbabel

d. Malachi

Quiz of the Day, October 29, 2025

What city is located on the site of the ancient ?

b. Shiraz, Iran

c. Shush, Iran

d. Hamadan, Iran

e. Baghdad, Iraq

Quiz of the Day, October 28, 2025

In certain church history traditions, in what country was saints and martyred?

a. Babylon

c. Persia

d. Syria

Quiz of the Day, October 27, 2027

The two tax collectors called by Jesus in the are

b. Joseph

c. Bartimaeus

d. Levi

e. a and c

f. a and d

g. b and d

Quiz of the Day, October 26, 2025

Which of the following was not a king of Persia?

c. Xerxes

e. Artaxerxes

Quiz of the Day, October 25, 2025

was written to

a. condemn slavery

b. make a free man

c. to reconcile Onesimus with his owner

d. establish a Pauline church in Philemon's house

Quiz of the Day, October 24, 2025

What biblical figure would scholars believe to be most responsible for the formation of the , the , and the ?

Quiz of the Day, October 23, 2025

Why was there a need to be ?

a. to be consistent with their being

b. to be consistent with their being

c. to be consistent with a claim of the church being the new Israel

d. all the above

Quiz of the Day, October 22, 2025

is about the destruction of by what invading country?

a. Babylon

b. Persia

c. Assyria

Quiz of the Day, October 21, 2025

Who is credited with writing a book of the Bible given the title of a word that is synonymous with weeping and crying?

a. Solomon

b. David

c. Jeremiah

Quiz of the Day, October 20, 2025

The Phos Hilaron is

a. a reference to the

b. appointed open hymn for

c. opening hymn for

d. Latin for "funny light"

Quiz of the Day, October 19, 2025

Scholars are certain of the authorship of which Gospel(s)?

a.Matthew

b. Mark

c. Luke

d. John

e. c and d

f. a and c

g. not certain of any authorship of Gospels

Quiz of the Day, October 18, 2025

A river flowing from the Temple is found in what book of the Bible?

b. Isaiah

c. Ezekiel

Quiz of the Day, October 17, 2025

Of the following, who would be considered an architect of the "monarchial episcopate?"

Quiz of the Day, October 16, 2025

The Psalm about being sunk in the "" could be by or about the experience of what person's literal experience?

a. Moses

b. David

c. Joel

d. Amos

e. Daniel

f. Jeremiah

Quiz of the Day, October 15, 2025

Who was held captive in a ?

d. Jeremiah

Quiz of the Day, October 14, 2025

What did Jeremiah do after his scroll was burned by the King?

a. he rewrote them

b. he added more words to a new scroll

c. he did not remember what he had written verbatim

d. Jeremiah did not write; he dictated to

Quiz of the Day, October 13, 2025

What king burned the writings of the prophet Jeremiah?

Quiz of the Day, October 12, 2025

In the , people of a certain location were so impressed with the speech of Paul, they gave him the name of what god?

Quiz of the Day, October 11, 2025

Which of the following books of the New Testament does not mention "?"

a. Mark

b. Acts

d. 1 Corinthians

Quiz of the Day, October 10, 2025

Which countries stole gold and furnishings from the ?

c. Medes and Persia

d. Assyria and

e. Babylon and Persia

Quiz of the Day, October 9, 2025

Which is not a female deity mentioned in the ?

a.
b.
c.
d.

Quiz of the Day, October 8, 2025

The earliest account of the would be found in which writing of the ?

Quiz of the Day, October 7, 2025

What king showed the gold of the Temple to visiting emissaries from Babylon?

Quiz of the Day, October 6, 2025

What would characterize 's advice to those who were sent into exile?

a. resist the oppressors

b. blend and inter-marry

c. maintain yourselves as a community in exile

d. become spies for the opposition

Quiz of the Day, October 5, 2025

What was used in a poultice to cure a boil of ?

a. garlic

b. pomegranate

c. figs

d. dates

Quiz of the Day, October 4, 2025

Who is responsible for the ?

Quiz of the Day, October 3, 2025

is a patron saint of what country?

Quiz of the Day, October 2, 2025

Who said, "Thus you shall know them by their fruits?"

Quiz of the Day, October 1, 2025

Which of the following is not an mentioned in the Bible?

Thursday, October 30, 2025

The Bible as a Record of Exemplars

21 Pentecost, Cp26, November 2, 2025
1:1-4; 2:1-4 :137-144
2 Thessalonians 1:1-5 (6-10) 11-12 Luke 19:1-10

Lectionary Link

The Bible is a book of presentation of human exemplars in various life situations and the life of those exemplars are assessed vis a vis how the various assessors regarded their relationship to the divine.

Our appointed readings provide us with a variety of exemplars. The first being the prophet Habakkuk who understood himself to be a seeming helpless oracle in times of distress and trouble for him and his people. The troubles were so pronounced and so out of his control, he could only know himself as being a watchman, a spectator looking for the purpose and meaning that might arise from his dire situation.

And this is true to the human experience which comes to every human in life; the situation of needing courage to accept the things that one cannot change. And what is the active response during the event of required courage? What am I learning from this for myself and the community of people with whom I dwell? How can I live better and how can this experience of distress create grooves of ministering empathy for people who will face loss in the future and need someone to sit with them in a sensitive befriending presence?

The Psalmists were poetic exemplars who provided hymnody in poetic form for the community to express their woes and to express joy and support for their highest community values. And one of the highest values for the Psalmist of the 119th Psalm is the supreme place of in the life of the community. The entire purpose of the law and the precepts was to teach the approximation of justice in human living. The Psalmist is a communal teacher of the singular importance of justice, and as an example for us, we should let our lives wax as poetic as possible with lives of lived justice.

The stated writers of were who were companions and leaders in the . As leaders, the example that they provided for their community was giving encouragement and positive reinforcement to the people of their churches. There is a difference between manipulative flattery and the mentoring art of helping people be better through words of encouragement, and words of appreciation. Letting people know how important they are to you comes from the maturity of egoless leadership. When people are freed from the narcissistic or childish tendency of needing praise and able to wield words of encouragement in the genuine mentoring of students and people with less experience, we can find the examples of what good leadership is.

The last example provided from our readings today is the example of as he came under the influence of . Zacchaeus is the example of someone caught in dilemma of identity. He was a , but he was also Jewish. He really had no accepted status from either community. He was used by the Romans to collect taxes from his fellow Jews, and therefore despised by his fellows for being a "sell-out" to the oppressors. The message of Jesus was that everyone needed to be on the , no matter what their personal circumstances were. Jesus is presented as the example of the one who did not pre-judge others because of their circumstance; rather he saw every person as sheer potential for becoming better, and so he was the one who offered Zacchaeus and everyone to take new steps on the path of transformation.

What have we learned from our biblical exemplars in our appointed readings? First, sometimes we might be like Habakkuk and caught between a rock and a hard place, and we must merely watch, and learn, and survive the experience of loss so that we might become more sensitive companion mentors of the bereaved.

From the Psalmist, we learn that we are called to be poets in praise of the supreme value of justice for ourselves and our community. We are to live justice, sing justice, teach justice as our way of life.

From the witness attributed to Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy, we are to be leaders in providing encouraging mentorship to those who need to assisted in their life towards excellence. To be mature in leadership means that we have known a high degree of inner esteem such that we have an abundance of good will and good words to dispense to those who need providential words to help them progress in the spiritual growth.

Finally, we need to learn from Zacchaeus in his encounter with Jesus, that no situation is helpless from the offer of personal transformation. We need to rise above the stereotypes that others have about us or that we may have internalized ourselves and accept the fact that though not perfect, we are always already, perfectible.

Jesus, is the supreme human exemplar of God inviting everyone, everywhere to continually surpass ourselves in excellence, because the image of God on our lives means that we always already have the hope gene within us for perfectibility. Jesus Christ is the witness to God's continual welcoming lure and empowerment for all to be on the path of transformation in human excellence. Amen.