Through My Eyes on on Sunday Morning

This is a rewrite of yesterday's blog entry. Somehow when I was trying to get it to look better, the entire thing disappeared. So this is a quick rewrite on 1/13/14 of an entry initially written on 1/12/14. The key is that my day began at 5:30. I didn't wake Sherry up quite as early as she had hoped, but I did have a smoothie to her by 6. The, working with Daniel I had the cranberry sauce made and the start of a bread dough (was hoping for chewy rolls but it turned out to be more like focaccia) by 7 AM. Then, go ready to run and got a picture with my dog before the run. She was happy to see me ready to go outside but disappointed that I went without her.  You can see that I had my windbreaker on.  I was worried about the rain.  I took my phone with a camera with me.  I took pictures along the way, and thought about what I saw.  In short, the first picture was of the sun rising.  The second picture was just a little further along as you can see the first hints of yellow and orange at the horizon.  I originally went up Highwood, across Lake, down Chinquapin, up Northern, up the Alameda, and then across Regester.  The picture taken on Regester shows the sun hitting just the tops of the trees.  I love the contrasts.  I have written about contrasts many times.  The next picture was the end of the snow from after the Christmas season on Stevenson.  The snow fell just after the new year when some children were still on Christmas break from school.  The dirty snow represents the end of the season in one way.  The discarded tree on Gittings represents the end of the season in another way.  The next picture is a shot of the muted sunrise once I returned near home.  Mostly just a lot of gray and white.  Then my time.  A very easy run.  Then, two pictures with my dog after walking her.  One in which she surprised me and a second in which she was just showing her affection.  Then, the dough shaped into what I hoped would be rolls.  Later the rolls as they were baked.  Then, the rolls as they were served for lunch with brie and the cranberry sauce.  

The interesting thing between the completion of the run and walking the dog (the run brought me up to 72 miles from St Pius which puts me on PA 16 just west of I 81 and east of US 11 near Greencastle PA) was teachins Sunday school.  The chapter started out with Matthew 25:34-36 where Jesus talked about feeding the hungry and helping the thirsty, naked, ill, strangers, and prisoners.  We talked about that and we talked about Jesus's infancy (and being presented in the temple with Anna and Simeon recognizing him as the Messiah), then Jesus at the temple as a twelve year old, then Jesus teaching as an adult.  I got the kids to think about how they had grown in the church from infants to where they are now (singing, sitting still, paying attention, bringing up gifts) and what they might do as adults.  Some kids knew what they wanted to do.  Others struggled.  It was interesting to see what they came up with.

What a day!

Catholic Reading of the Day

Today's mass's Gospel reading (Mark 12:28-34) is interesting for a couple reasons.  A scribe asks Jesus about the greatest commandment.  Jesus mentions loving God above all else (which includes following God that I mentioned yesterday) and then loving your neighbor as yourself.  I try to use the latter as a guide for my life.  A couple years ago I was reading the Old Testament and found a similar quote, but read a footnote talking about how it was different in the Old and New as the Old was aimed just at the community of Israelites whereas the New was about everyone.  What is even more interesting about the reading as I look at it this morning is not the first and second commandments of love as Jesus stated, but what comes next in Mark's interpretation.  In Mark's interpretation the scribe interprets what Jesus said back to Jesus.  Jesus comments on his understanding and says he is not far from the Kingdom of God.  Could mean destined for heaven--although that is not what Jesus said.  Could just mean that if the scribe follows what he said, he will be closer to bringing the Kingdom of God to its manifestation here on earth, which is what we are all meant to do.  What is even more interesting is that after that no one dared ask Jesus any more questions.  On the one hand, perhaps his statement was taken as ultimately authoritative.  On the other hand, I find it interesting that a divine teacher would be described as so "overwhelming" that his followers didn't want to ask him anything.  That is certainly not how I or most teachers I know want the world to work.  I ponder why that is there, what it meant, and how to avoid that in my own teaching--both professionally and spiritually to 3rd graders in Sunday School.  This year's class has actually been particularly good at asking questions.  I hope my future classes will be as well.  There are very few times when I would want things to be "not like Jesus" (crucifixion being an obvious exception).  But this, interestingly, is one.      

Jonah and Jesus

Today's Catholic church readings are confusing ones.  The first is Chapter 3 (of 4) of the book of Jonah and speaks of God's repentance.  I always find reading that interesting to grapple with, but that is not the main subject of my entry this morning.  In the Gospel of Luke reading that follows, Jesus refers to Jonah when people are looking for a sign and refers to the generation in which he is living as evil.  Pretty harsh words.  As I read the verses from Luke 11, it seems like Jesus is saying "at least people repented when they heard Jonah--look you are being exposed to something even bigger and you aren't paying attention."

While that may be an overly simple interpretation, the contrast between the reading and the Gospel brings me to my main point this morning.   How do I know when I am onto something big as compared with something small?  How do I know when I am being asked to do something big rather than something minor?  How do I know how to prioritize?  Part of it is following my conscience.  That is guided by God through the Holy Spirit.  I do not always seek out incredible things but  simply seek to understand what has come my way and make sure that I act carefully and wisely and not ignore what may be much bigger but is less flashy.  Jesus didn't threaten to have an entire city destroyed in forty days.  But should I need such flashy things to get our attention?  Perhaps meteorologists think so.  It seems like every new storm is described as "the big one" and then only a handful actually are what was predicted.  But again, the question is how to focus, understand, and react even when the signs are subtle.  No easy answers.  A lot to ponder contrasting today's two readings.

Monday Morning Reflections after the First Sunday of Lent

In today's Catholic mass readings, I'm not finding anything that speaks to me quite as much as the past few days, although in the reading from Leviticus (19:1-2, 11-18), it mentions "love your neighbor as yourself".  When I read through part of the Old Testament, it made a big impression on me that this appeared in the Old Testament as I thought it was new when Jesus said it.  I recall reading one interpretation was that neighbor meant something different in the two cases--extending from other Israelites in Moses's case to everyone in Jesus's.

I also want to share my experience playing at mass last night. I have not been asked to sing in a while, but I think that I am going to go back to practicing singing and playing my bass together on a regular basis whether I am given a microphone at Sunday mass or not.  I enjoyed singing and playing.  And I found that after the amount of time I have been back and practicing slightly more complex bass parts that while I did have to lay off the complexity in a few songs, in general, I was able to manage the same bas parts I'd play otherwise while singing.  I'll see how it goes moving forward, but in light of recent blog entries about being "all in" it seems fitting for me to focus my efforts on that as part of my participation in the music ministry.  

Even Jesus Knew We Need to Get Away

As I look at the readings for today's Catholic mass (Saturday morning), the first verse of the Gospel reading caught my attention (Mk 6:30-32, although the full reading goes on to verse 34):

The apostles gathered together with Jesus and reported all they had done and taught. He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” People were coming and going in great numbers, and they had no opportunity even to eat. So they went off in the boat by themselves to a deserted place.

He had not taken any management classes as far as we know.  But this shows that despite his divinity, he had a sense for what people need, i.e., a sense of his humanity.  

Sometimes the pressures of leadership and the pressures more generally of what we are called to do day after day suggest that we need time away. Sometimes this is in the form of vacation even away from those we work with.  Sometimes this is in the form of a retreat with those with whom we work.  Sometimes the retreat involves everyone at all levels in an organization.  Other times, it is just leadership.  But the key is that it is good for people to get away to think differently, to ponder differently, and to be able to see what things look like when they are able to remove themselves from the day to day.

Unfortunately it didn't work out that way for Jesus and his apostles as people figured out where they had gone and he taught them anyway.  But for those of us who manage in the world today, the use of this type of tool is important.  I have seen different people above me make a variety of decisions about retreats recently.  It is interesting to see the relative value that leaders perceive that individuals who work for them put on the opportunity to step out and experience and think differently.  When we barely have enough time to get work done anyway, we rarely see the value here.  But I think that the value remains.