[Propertalk] 6 Easter a 2017 - part 2

Tue May 16 17:20:06 EDT 2017

Greetings again!
Bob

 But then, just in case, there was that famous altar dedicated to
“the unknown god”.

	 So often there are things humans don’t understand. We DO
understand the concept of sacrificial giving. We DO understand the
concepts of discipline and commitment. Yet we don’t, we CAN’T,
know everything about God, not everything we THINK we WANT to know.
We, just like the Athenians, to some extent, are drawn to worship this
God of whom we know very little and understand less. And yet, like
Paul’s audience, we DO know the basics. Our God, whom we worship, is
Love personified. Our God isn’t capricious, regardless of our
behavior. Our God doesn’t exact tributes out of fear. Our God became
a human being. Our God knows what it’s like to be exasperated, but
loves us anyway. Our God knows how much pain we can inflict on one
another and how frequently, but loves us anyway. 

	 Our God knows more, though. Our God knows that we struggle, but that
we try our best to figure out just how to fulfil the commandment to
love. Our God is incredibly patient, and waits with longing, hoping
that the penny will drop, and that we’ll actually perceive the
Spirit who not only gives courage, but helps us chip away at all the
things which divide us.

	 God the Spirit DOES work within and beside us, looking for that
moment of recognition when we can and do turn from unknowing God’s
Love to actually living in it, and living it out in so many practical
ways.

	 Jesus said, quite plainly, not only that we wouldn’t be able to
see Him all the time, but also that we cannot leave everything to Him
to do. Life here, life with our ever-increasing circle of neighbours,
life here is now in our hands. How we and everyone else interact IS up
to us. 

	 Maryann Younger, who’s pursuing a degree in theology and trying to
sense where the Spirit may be leading her, wrote, summarizing the
commandments whose centrality in our lives define what our Love is
like, “Here’s what we stand for: we stand for the dignity of every
person. We stand for loving each other, and especially those who
aren’t like us. We stand for a loving inclusive God who is all about
standing with the oppressed and the marginalized. It’s that whole
Matthew 22:37-40 statement about loving God and loving each other.

	  “But here’s the thing – we need to do more than _stand_ for
something. We need to move with it, too. It is not enough to wait for
folks to walk through our door and to make sure they have a good
experience when they arrive. (Make no mistake, that initial experience
is really important, but let’s save that discussion for another
day.)” 1

	 Maryanne admits that we all, her included, have hurt people; have
kept them at a distance; haven’t really listened. We’ve hurt
people by tying church and church life up in things that have no basis
in the teaching of Jesus. She suggests that, in trying to get back to
the basics of what Jesus and the early church were about, we need to
think about our promise to break bread, to share, to experience Jesus
in our lives through the most simple, yet deliberate acts.

	 From my reading of the past week, here are few ideas to stimulate
our thoughts.

	 “A fridge in a market in south London is offering food for free in
a bid to tackle waste. 

	 “If you're hungry, come and use the fridge. If you see something
you like, help yourself. We see a lot of food going to waste, (said
the market owner,) then we collect it from suppliers, from all sorts
of sources - markets, restaurants, lots of good food.” 2

	 How do we do more with this than simply take a stand? How do we move
with it?

	 “This woman goes to a ‘dumping ground’ (in a community in
Texas) to find abandoned dogs every day — and these are the dogs
she's saved.” 3 She doesn’t ever stop, no matter how many she’s
found and rescued and taken for veterinary care.

	 How do we do more with this than simply take a stand? How do we move
with it?

	 Ms. Florence Nasar, a twenty-seven year old “artist and a dancer,
… has recently been hosting interfaith events between Syrian Jews
and Syrian Muslim refugees, eager to explore their shared heritage.
Out of her own interest in understanding people, she had met someone.

	 “Ms. Nasar was one of about 100 guests at a series of intimate
Jewish-Muslim dinners that took place last weekend around Manhattan
and Brooklyn to build interfaith understanding. She said, ‘I really
liked the idea that friendship and common ground naturally emerges
from sharing food together.’” 4 And this is going on not just in
New York City, but across the nation. 

	 How do we do more with this than simply take a stand? How do we move
with it?

	 Seven-hundred and fifty years ago or more, Ibn Arabi wrote:

	  My heart has become capable of every form:
 It is a pasture for gazelles
 And a monastery for Christian monks,
 And a temple for idols,
 And the pilgrim's Ka'ba,
 And the tablets of the Torah,
 And the book of the Koran.
 I follow the religion of Love:
 Whatever way love's camel takes,
 that is my religion, my faith. 5

	 How do we do more with this than simply take a stand? How do we move
with it?

	 All of this, just like the Gospel, should be at least a bit
unsettling, as well as exhilarating. But we’ll be O.K.

	 The Holy Spirit will be checking in on us!

	 So, let’s not forget to break bread together. 

	NOTES:

	[1] _“My Dear Episcopal Church” _in _“Episcopal Café_”, 14th
May, 2017, by Maryann Younger 
http://www.episcopalcafe.com/my-dear-episcopal-church/ [1] 

	2
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiL48P6kPDTAhVO4GMKHVicCtkQFggiMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.com%2Fnews%2Fav%2F39642662%2Fhelp-yourself-the-fridge-with-free-food&usg=AFQjCNHhgPVSpbV4waW-qbynuZYjjdOvBg
[2]  

_3__ _“Dodo Impact [3]”_ __ __May 13 At 11:13am_ [4]_
__https://www.facebook.com/DodoImpact/?hc_ref=NEWSFEED&fref=nf_ [5]

	4_ “Muslims and Jews Break Bread, and Build Bonds” _By SHARON
OTTERMAN [6] MAY 12, 2017

	http://p.nytimes.com/email/re?location=pMJKdIFVI6pghfX2HXfSzxRpdoyDWYNW/jSXUIvzWmPkzwae5ZjXCElYuwNxpC7oXKjBUrmdijvJ32TohHTThOIbCZY91LHgnGQ2EfFaLmWM+RD9Bku2M7TKZerT32YR1itFwn/fS1OmWBfQbLY5rsS5oBNJLUMdYOF6hTDrmZgTDsIbRkeAOSh6zGxtSPpe/AO6eEmryMJGVypokOY2BsB1Aa3f9NPwZizsh2LF/k0=&campaign_id=61&instance_id=97358&segment_id=108091&user_id=13776d46e58cd1c84bbfacad680c03b7&regi_id=63205127
[7] 

	5  Ibn Arabi 1165-1240 for biographical information see
http://www.ibnarabisociety.org/articles/treasureofcompassion.html [8]
See also
https://www.amazon.com/Ibn-Arabi-Selected-Poems/dp/1480181536/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1494877392&sr=1-4&keywords=ibn+arabi
[9]

Links:
------
[1] http://www.episcopalcafe.com/my-dear-episcopal-church/
[2]
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiL48P6kPDTAhVO4GMKHVicCtkQFggiMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.com%2Fnews%2Fav%2F39642662%2Fhelp-yourself-the-fridge-with-free-food&usg=AFQjCNHhgPVSpbV4waW-qbynuZYjjdOvBg
[3]
https://www.facebook.com/DodoImpact/?hc_ref=PAGES_TIMELINE&fref=nf
[4] https://www.facebook.com/DodoImpact/videos/1690228767660876/
[5] https://www.facebook.com/DodoImpact/?hc_ref=NEWSFEED&fref=nf
[6] https://www.nytimes.com/by/sharon-otterman
[7]
http://p.nytimes.com/email/re?location=pMJKdIFVI6pghfX2HXfSzxRpdoyDWYNW/jSXUIvzWmPkzwae5ZjXCElYuwNxpC7oXKjBUrmdijvJ32TohHTThOIbCZY91LHgnGQ2EfFaLmWM+RD9Bku2M7TKZerT32YR1itFwn/fS1OmWBfQbLY5rsS5oBNJLUMdYOF6hTDrmZgTDsIbRkeAOSh6zGxtSPpe/AO6eEmryMJGVypokOY2BsB1Aa3f9NPwZizsh2LF/k0=&campaign_id=61&instance_id=97358&segment_id=108091&user_id=13776d46e58cd1c84bbfacad680c03b7&regi_id=63205127
[8] http://www.ibnarabisociety.org/articles/treasureofcompassion.html
[9]
https://www.amazon.com/Ibn-Arabi-Selected-Poems/dp/1480181536/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1494877392&sr=1-4&keywords=ibn+arabi

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