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Flavor of the Month
O Wisdom… tonight begins the first of the "Great Os" that lead up to Christmas Eve. I had not heard of them before coming to the community, and now, like most of my sisters, I look forward to them.
We are a sorry excuse for a choir now, and for that reason, most of the time we don't sing. But our eldest sister has been humming the opening to "O Wisdom" all week, and even though I knew it would be off key and totally out of whack, I still began the antiphon by singing it instead of saying it. It was awful. But it reminded me of the fairy tale of the monks in a small Russian community who hired a professional singer to sing on one of their sacred occasions. Afterward, the monk was praying and said, "Usually the angels come to hear us on this night, but I didn't sense them this year." The answer was, "Usually you sing. We come to hear you."
Oddly enough YouTube has no video of anyone chanting these haunting melodies. That's too bad. You sure don't want to hear me sing them, even if the angels don't mind.
A pregnant and unwed Mary… off to her cousin's. Greeted with joy, no judgement, no questions asked. Our celebrant today spoke about the amazing capacity that God has to meet us where we are.
We don't have to clean ourselves up, or clean up our house, before God can come in to meet us. We may think we do. But that is not what God asks of us.
How amazing when we cam mirror that same acceptance in each other, the way Elizabeth welcomed Mary.
May this next week of the "Irrational Season" (as Madeleine L'Engle described it) be one for welcoming and accepting and joy.
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Flavor of the Month
There's a real dark side to being flavor of the month. (I've experienced it more than once.) Look at how God treats His "chosen people" in the Old Testament. One minute they're chosen, the next a rebellious and stiff-necked generation. You can't ever believe your own press. Good to keep in mind.
Thursday, November 27, 2014
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
In the beginning was the Word.
"In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was
God."
Well, that's very fine and dandy for God to be just one
word. He/She's the only one bright enough to understand what that one word
means anyway. We, on the other hand, need lots of words. As many as we can make
up and use on a regular basis… to give us a sense of understanding, a sense of
communication.
So does that mean a culture with lots of words in its
language is smarter or dumber? Depends on who you ask. Take the word love. The
Greeks had different words to describe love: eros, agape… but in English we
only have one love so we tack on a whole bunch of adjectives to explain what
kind: romantic love, brotherly love, unconditional love.
Take infinity for a word. I guess infinity describes God-time,
but can infinity convey the awesome length of forever backwards and forwards?
Does it even describe the linear concept of backwards and forwards, or is it
about some all-in-one-at-a-time concept that only Albert Einstein could
understand?
Can the word orange describe the awesome color of a sunset? I don't
think so. Orange must be experienced with the eyes for it to be comprehended.
So saying the Word was God and God was the Word is just a whole lot of Bible-Babble.
And nobody know what it means, except the Bible-twerps, and even they don't
know for sure. Nobody does. Because it's a secret. It's a code. Part of the
mystery.
If God were easy to understand, it wouldn't be any fun. For
God, or for us. At least that's my story, and I'm sticking with it.
Saturday, March 30, 2013
Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Advent III
We are a sorry excuse for a choir now, and for that reason, most of the time we don't sing. But our eldest sister has been humming the opening to "O Wisdom" all week, and even though I knew it would be off key and totally out of whack, I still began the antiphon by singing it instead of saying it. It was awful. But it reminded me of the fairy tale of the monks in a small Russian community who hired a professional singer to sing on one of their sacred occasions. Afterward, the monk was praying and said, "Usually the angels come to hear us on this night, but I didn't sense them this year." The answer was, "Usually you sing. We come to hear you."
Oddly enough YouTube has no video of anyone chanting these haunting melodies. That's too bad. You sure don't want to hear me sing them, even if the angels don't mind.
Sunday, December 09, 2012
Advent II
We don't have to clean ourselves up, or clean up our house, before God can come in to meet us. We may think we do. But that is not what God asks of us.
How amazing when we cam mirror that same acceptance in each other, the way Elizabeth welcomed Mary.
May this next week of the "Irrational Season" (as Madeleine L'Engle described it) be one for welcoming and accepting and joy.
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About Me
- Claire Joy
- Life is short... laugh when you can, cry when you must, keep your balance and keep breathing...
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Improve your vocabulary, feed the hungry.
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Thoughts for Today:
You can no more win a war than you can win an earthquake. ~Jeannette Rankin
They are not all saints who use holy water. ~English Proverb
We teach children how to measure, how to weigh. We fail to teach them how to revere, how to sense wonder and awe. ~Rabbi Abraham Heschel
The Gospel of Jesus is not a victory dance for well-to-do Americans who want it all, including eternal life. ~Tom Ehrich
God is nothing like us, but we are God's creatures, and the divine fingerprints are all over our experience. ~Barbara Crafton
Religion is a journey into the mystery of God. It is not a system of beliefs and creeds and when it becomes that, it always becomes idolatrous and begins to die. ~John Shelby Spong
America can be great again, not by asserting military might, but by standing for something more than big cars, big houses, big-screen TVs and big walls along the Rio Grande. ~Tom Ehrich
They are not all saints who use holy water. ~English Proverb
We teach children how to measure, how to weigh. We fail to teach them how to revere, how to sense wonder and awe. ~Rabbi Abraham Heschel
The Gospel of Jesus is not a victory dance for well-to-do Americans who want it all, including eternal life. ~Tom Ehrich
God is nothing like us, but we are God's creatures, and the divine fingerprints are all over our experience. ~Barbara Crafton
Religion is a journey into the mystery of God. It is not a system of beliefs and creeds and when it becomes that, it always becomes idolatrous and begins to die. ~John Shelby Spong
America can be great again, not by asserting military might, but by standing for something more than big cars, big houses, big-screen TVs and big walls along the Rio Grande. ~Tom Ehrich
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