A
centurion and his slave, Jewish elders and Jesus – in the first century world
these people would have little to do with each other separated by social,
religious and political barriers. And
yet, in the biblical story for the upcoming Sunday (Luke 7:1-10), we are told
that the centurion valued highly his slave who was ill and close to death. The centurion asked the Jewish elders to seek
Jesus’s help to heal his slave. The Jewish
elders not only went to Jesus but they appealed to Jesus on behalf of the centurion
claiming that he loved the Jewish people.
And of course, Jesus went to the centurion and commanded his faith and
healed his slave.
We
are seeing the power of the currency of relationship at work in this story –
not just relationships among people who were alike, but relationships between
diverse individuals and groups. Why
should a ruler care about a religious group over whom he ruled? That’s because diverse relationships bring
diverse connections and these connections might lead us to the resources that
we sometimes require in surprising moments of need. If the centurion had not cultivated his
relationship with the Jewish community, he would not have any connection with
Jesus or his healing power. Developing a
network of trusting and respectful relationships among people from diverse
backgrounds is the backbone of a sustainable community.
Take
a careful look at your community. Do the
people of different political persuasions have respectful relationships with
each other? Do the rich and poor have
opportunities to get to know each other’s stories? Do the various religious groups do anything
together? Do the people in power know
the powerless in your community? If your
answers to these questions are no, then you got work to do to develop a
respectful network among the diverse people in order to foster a sustainable
community of healing and wellness.
Reflection Questions
for Proper 4 (Year C)
1 Kings 18:20-21,
(22-29), 30-39 How do you know
whether the God you believe is the true one?
Psalm 96 What does this psalm
teach you about the relationships among God, nature and humankind?
Galatians 1:1-12 How do you know the
gospel you believe is the true one?
Luke 7:1-10 What is faith?
Eric H. F. Law Kaleidoscope Institute For competent leadership in a diverse changing world www.kscopeinstitute.org
2013
Opportunities to Study with The Sustainist:
July 15-19 Holy Currencies: Beyond Time, Talent and Treasure Los Angeles, CA
August 19-23 Fundamental Skills for Building Inclusive Community and Holy Currencies Orientation Rainbow Lodge Retreat Center, North Bend (near Seattle), WA
Last
December I wrote a song dedicated to the family and friends impacted by the
shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School at Newtown, CT. I shared the lyrics and the score in my
January 7, 2013 post. Since then, I have
received a lot of feedback from my readers, especially when another tragedy
happened—such as the Boston Marathon bombing, and the tornado that tore through
Moore, Oklahoma yesterday. A friend of
mine, the Rev. David Clemons, wrote to me:
“Sustain
the Weary with a Word” is elegiac but it is so much more than a simple
lamentation. It outlines a strategy for
spiritual survival in the face of the most atrocious lass that human beings can
suffer.”
And in a
sermon that he preached on May 5, he said, “It has become for me a recipe for
healing inside, among, and between all members of the human family.” Inspired by the song, David also created a
ritual dance that moved with slightly modified lyrics.
I
would like to make a video using this song as the soundtrack to put on YouTube
so that it can be shared more widely. I
am inviting my readers to participate in this creative effort by sending me
photos, images and videos (no more than 10 seconds) that illustrate the words
and music, and to give me permission to incorporate them in the video. (For large image and video files, you can use
Dropbox to share them with me at [email protected].)
Here are the lyrics and a
recording of “Sustain the Weary with a Word” for those who are suffering from
unimaginable loss.
A word of grace to hold the broken;
A word so deep and wide, it can’t
be spoken
Sustain the weary with a word of
grace
Sustain the weary with a word:
A word of truth with no denying
The thund’rous roar of pain and
silent crying
Sustain the weary with a word of
truth.
Sustain the weary with a word
A word of peace in spite of
warring
Emotions claiming hopes of life
restoring.
Sustain the weary with a word of
peace.
Sustain the weary with a word:
A word of love to break the
numbness
And reach for common pain that
speaks of oneness.
Sustain the weary with a word of
love.
Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31 What did you learn
from this text about “Wisdom”?
Psalm 8 What does this psalm
say about the relationship between humankind and the divine?
Romans 5:1-5 What does this text
teach you about your relationship with God?
John 17:20-26 How do you receive
the spirit of truth?
Eric H. F. Law Kaleidoscope Institute For competent leadership in a diverse changing world www.kscopeinstitute.org
2013
Opportunities to Study with The Sustainist:
July 15-19 Holy Currencies: Beyond Time, Talent and Treasure Los Angeles, CA
August 19-23 Fundamental Skills for Building Inclusive Community and Holy Currencies Orientation Rainbow Lodge Retreat Center, North Bend (near Seattle), WA
Your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your old shall dream
dreams, your young shall see visions.
Even on my servants, both men and women, I will
pour out my Spirit in those days. (Joel 2:28-29)
This is a 2,500+ old text from the Prophet Joel recorded in the
Hebrew Scriptures. In the biblical world, the ability to dream dreams and have
visions and prophesy was reserved for a chosen few and they were usually
powerful men – Moses, Abraham, Joseph, David and the Prophets. Hebrew
scriptures identify 55 prophets; only 7 were women.
We
can appreciate the radical inclusion of Joel’s prophecy by the fact that he specifically mentioned both sons and
daughters, old and young, men and women, and even servants (in some translation
slaves) as people who would have the abilities of a prophet, a spokesperson
chosen by God to speak on God’s behalf to convey messages from God.
About
500 years later during Pentecost, a Jewish festival celebrated 50 days after
Passover, a small group of Jews who followed a teacher named Jesus claimed that
this prophecy was fulfilled. A few days
before, Jesus had left this small group (the Ascension) leaving them leaderless
and powerless. Certainly no one would expect this small group of people to be
spokespersons for God. But on that Pentecost day, they prophesied. But the real miracle was that the crowd who
had come for the Pentecost feast was there and they heard this small group of
people speaking in their own native tongue about God’s deeds of power. Many
changed and became believers as a result. Christians recognized that day as the
beginning of the Church.
We
are living in a world dominated by the voices of the powerful and rich. They
can buy TV ads and influence our media to spread lies and make people believe
that their lies were the truth. They can manipulate the political system to
make us believe that the rich should stay rich because the systems that they
created are too big to fail. Their influential voices are moving us away from a
sustainable future for all. We need a Pentecost soon if we are to turn this
tide of unsustainability.
Where
are the prophets for our world today? The prophetic voices of our time have to
come from the powerless ones in our midst. They will tell us where resources
are not flowing and recirculating. They
will tell us where in our network are the places of unsustainability because
they are the ones who are suffering in them. But even if they are prophesying,
are we listening?
With
the internet and the World Wide Web, we are more likely able to hear the
prophetic voices of the powerless. Youtube.com, for example, offers everyone
who has a computer with a camera, free of charge, the ability to broadcast
his/her voice and image to millions. Social media allows people to network
globally with each other, thus by-passing the system controlled by the rich and
powerful in our societies.
A
sustainist listens to the powerless voices. A sustainist assists the powerless
to network with others locally and globally to find their voice together. A sustainist provides the powerless access to
technologies that empower and amplify their voices. The fact is there are more
powerless people in the world than there are powerful ones. There are more poor
people than rich. If we can network and hear each other, support each other,
and let our voices be amplified and circulated through our connections, then
there is hope for a Pentecost in which the power would finally listen. When the dreams, visions and prophecies of
the poor and powerless are listened to, perhaps there is hope for a sustainable
future where everyone is sustained and not just a powerful few.
Reflection Questions for Day of Pentecost (Year C):
Acts 2:1-21 Was this more a miracle of the tongue or miracle of the ear? What has been your own experience in communication?
Genesis 11:1-9 What was the purpose for God to confuse the language of the earth?
Psalm 104:25-35 What will happen if we let God send forth the spirit to renew the earth?
Romans 14-17 What does it mean for us to be children of God?
John 14-8-17 (25-27) How do you receive the spirit of truth?
Eric H. F. Law Kaleidoscope Institute For competent leadership in a diverse changing world www.kscopeinstitute.org
2013
Opportunities to Study with The Sustainist:
July 15-19 Holy Currencies: Beyond Time, Talent and Treasure Los Angeles, CA
August 19-23 Fundamental Skills for Building Inclusive Community and Holy Currencies Orientation Rainbow Lodge Retreat Center, North Bend (near Seattle), WA
I saw the movie Disconnect
last week. In the movie, we met a
couple whose identities had been stolen through cyberspace, a young sex worker
making a living using the internet, and two teenagers using social media to
play a cruel trick on socially isolated youth. All these stories were heading
toward a disastrous climax at the end of the movie. While I really appreciated
the movie for raising up the concerns about the danger of digital media, and though
I would recommend people to see it and have a dialogue about issues of our
digitally enhanced era, I couldn’t help but notice the danger of the audience
leaving the movie with their digital media phobia reinforced.
We are living in a time when individuals are powerfully expanded
by digital media in two directions.
First, a person, who has access to electronic gadgets such as a
computer, tablet, or smartphone, etc., can reach deeply into another’s personal
life. Second, a person, with the same
gadgets, can also have the potential to reach millions of people. Not since the impact of the printing press in
the western world, have we experienced such a significant shift in personal
power. This is reality and no amount of
phobia will make it go away. The
question for me is how can we use this power responsibly? As Uncle Ben, a character in another movie, Spiderman, said, “With great power,
comes great responsibility.” How do we use this digital power, not to control
but to empower, not to isolate but to connect, not to spread fear but to build
trust, not to propagate hate but to share compassion, not to break down
community but to build sustainable communities?
I have seen how this digital power, in the form of social
networks, supported constructive revolutions, transforming governments. I have seen how this digital power allowed
the sharing of images that enhanced the capture of terrorists. I have seen this digital power empower
communities to raise needed money for good causes. I have experienced how this
digital power brought people together, from high-tech to high-touch, raising
consciousness on social issues and strengthening global and local
networks. So go and see Disconnect and engage each other in
conversations about the dangers of these powerful media, but more importantly,
explore how these digital media can be gifts that foster networked sustainable
communities.
Reflection Questions
for 7th Sunday of Easter (Year C):
Acts 16:16-34 What does this story
teach you about doing ministry in the hostile world?
Psalm 97 What does this psalm
say about your relationship with God?
Revelation 22:12-13.
16-17, 20-21 How do you access the
water of life?
John 17:20-26 What does it mean to
be one with Jesus?
Eric H. F. Law Kaleidoscope Institute For competent leadership in a diverse changing world www.kscopeinstitute.org
2013
Opportunities to Study with The Sustainist:
July 15-19 Holy Currencies: Beyond Time, Talent and Treasure Los Angeles, CA
August 19-23 Fundamental Skills for Building Inclusive Community and Holy Currencies Orientation Rainbow Lodge Retreat Center, North Bend (near Seattle), WA