[Propertalk] proper 18 a 2017 - part 2

[Robert P Morrison]

	Part 2 for Sunday.

	Bob

	Savall’s thoughts play into this too, no matter that they may seem
to be contradictory. The musician speaks to examining what’s really,
REALLY in the centre of our being. Savall suggests that we may need to
question what we thought was unchangeable.

	By all means, go back to the music that speaks of our ancestors, but
look to see how this integrates us with the present. It’ll be
different for each one of us. The music through which God speaks may
not be the same, even for two people growing up in the same community
or family. They may find strength in different melodic strains.

	No matter – we look at the hearts of our lives and, without fear,
we begin to discover how what gave comfort at onetime may be
integrated, drawn together, into the new lives we enter each day.

	Has the geography changed? Has the climate changed? Has the natural
world brought to us frightening realities?

	Think about the melodic spark planted by God as part of the way that
we image and reflect God. Think about how God’s gift of music helps
us reharmonise in ways we might never have imagined. And DON’T be
afraid. I am with you, God says, every evening, every morning, no
matter what. You and I will be together in the concert of life.

	Or are we afraid of having to risk giving up what Jordi Savall
suggests is so important to us? So much presses in on us every day,
yet God speaks through such signs as roasted lamb and unleavened
bread; so much presses in on us every day, yet God reaches out to lead
us through water that might well drown us, and desert heat that may
dry and suffocate us. God reaches out, night after night and day after
day, to implant soothing lullabies of hope, and speak to what is most
important, most necessary for us.

	It’s been incredibly hard for some of us to get up morning after
morning to see and smell that almost-suffocating blanket of smoke, and
the persistent heat. Or to turn to any form of news dissemination and
hear about Harvey, and Irma, and Jose, and Katia – and who comes
after Katia? Who will the “L” visitor be who fragments our lives
and makes us afraid that everything is changing, being destroyed?

	Weather used to be something about which we could joke and laugh, or
occasionally vex, if we were trying to get the hay in.

	Now it means thousands upon thousands, both across this land and
around the world, have to put themselves in danger to make sure that
others may be safe.

	There’s SO much that troubles us that it can become too easy to
forget what lies at the core of our being, the melody of life itself.

	I can’t remember all of it, but I heard, the other day, a
philosophical speaker talk about the fact that in the deepest part of
each of us lies what are our core values, our core memories, and this
will ALWAYS be there. No one can take this away from us. No one can
change or spoil this, unless we ourselves. It’s simply a matter of
accessing this which is central to the lives of each of us.

	Of course, it may look and sound different to you compared to what I
and others experience But this is natural. We all process things
differently. If there’s one thing we remember about The Episcopal
Church it’s that no two people are compelled to think alike or else
be driven out.

	Yes, there ARE a few basics – belief in God as Trinitarian; belief
in Jesus as God, the second person of the Trinity; belief in the power
and will of God to forgive and renew, and to be vitally present to us
in our lives.

	Of course, we are invited to take part in the same worship, listen to
the same stories, share, above all, share in the same meal. But the
hymn we all sing may resonate with our inner melodies quite
differently. Even the Bread and Wine which we eat and drink, the same
chemical composition for all of us, may touch us and assure us of the
experience of Love in quite unique ways.

	This is as it should be. Jesus said, This Bread, this Wine, is for
all. But He was astute enough not to try to define it any further than
that, other than that it was His Body and Blood, knowing how much all
of us need different things on different days. The only constant we
require is the rooted memory of Love.

	Whenever we become knocked out of balance, by what we see out of the
window, or what we hear on the news; whenever we feel our hearts
beating faster because so many people are at risk for just as many
different reasons; whenever we seem to withdraw within ourselves
because of craziness, or insensitivity, or natural and unnatural
disasters; whenever we are taken aback by the self-less offering of
their lives and resources of all those who step in to protect, to
serve, to rescue those for whom life has become in credibly difficult
and hazardous; whenever any of this happens, you and I, along with
everyone else, must remember that we CAN access that melody of Life
which is at the centre of our beings. We can all listen and be calmed,
be reassured, be reconnected, as God said to the Hebrew people, that
this day, that every day, will be a day of remembrance, a festival to
the Lord, a celebration of Love and compassion; that a piece of lamb,
a scrap of flat bread, contains within it the power to awaken hope in
the Presence of God.

	I talked of the fact that this is neither a society nor a culture
that is Christian. This isn’t an invitation to rush out as
hot-headed crusaders, though. As Brother David put it, “It is as if
we are on a moving walkway. If we do nothing, we will simply be
carried along by the materialism and consumerism of our culture. We
have to be willing to turn around, to walk against the flow of the
culture, to push back against the assumptions and values of a nation
that refuses to see that its actions are having and will continue to
have severe consequences for the entire world.” 2

	Remember that difficult comment in the midst of the prayers at the
Seder, when the Festival to the Lord is celebrated as the people were
commanded. Remember when the leader says words to the effect, “But
our safety brought about the death of others. Our lives are bound up
with others, even our most cherished beliefs.”

	Listen to the music in our faith. Listen to the music in the words of
scripture. Listen to the promises given and to the responsibilities
inherited at our baptism. In the midst of every storm, listen and know
that our music is still playing.

	NOTES:

	1 _“Jordi Savall: The James Naughtie Interview”._ BBC Music
Magazine, January, 2014. Page 36.

	2 _“Turn Around”_ from _“Brother, Give us a Word”_ 30th
August, 2017, by Br. David Vryhof, SSJE, https://www.ssje.org/word/
[1]  

Links:
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[1] https://www.ssje.org/word/

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