Thursday, July 9, 2020                      (Today’s lectionary)
A room with a view
Is it hoarding to collect Kindle books I know I’ll never have time to read? They take no space in my physical world. Maybe it’s OK?
Today I bought complete works of 10 composers and 47 landscape and portrait artists, as well as several free collections of short stories, Christmas stories, ghost stories, and poetry. Everything at Delphi Classics, already very inexpensive, is 40% off through July 13. I kind of went crazy.
Delphi’s summer sale made me salivate, search, and then start clicking YES. Besides the paintings and the music, during the last few days I have acquired complete works of E. M. Forster, Zane Grey, Bret Harte, Leo Tolstoy, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Lewis Carroll, George MacDonald, C. S. Lewis, Martin Luther, Ian Fleming, Abraham Lincoln, Walt Whitman, Ralph Waldo Emerson, John Steinbeck, Dashiell Hammett, Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, Sir Walter Scott, Joseph Conrad, Willa Cather, and George Orwell, along with a collection called Dickensia. I already had the complete work of Charles Dickens. And to top it off, I couldn’t help but buy the Complete Harvard Classics, both in a single volume and in separate volumes (they call that their “Parts Edition”) for $7. Minus 40%.
So it’s not just hoarding. It’s also buying bargains because they’re bargains. I’ve done the same thing with Faithlife Logos books three times this year. Whether I’ll use them well, or even use them at all, doesn’t matter in the moment.
Thanks for letting me exult in my bargains all over the screen. Or forgiving me. Or joining me. Any verb you like.
God loves me anyway alongside my foibles.
When Israel was a child I loved him
Out of Egypt I called my son.
Anne Rice left her vampire world fifteen years ago to write two extra-biblical novels about Jesus, Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt and The Road to Cana. Like the current YouTube series “The Chosen,” those books help me imagine myself into the story of Jesus. Scripture leaves out a lot of details, and I love to fill them in, or read the fillings-in of others.
It was I who taught Ephraim to walk
And took him in my arms
And fostered him, raising the infant to my cheeks
God’s compassion for Israel is a mother’s love, mother’s milk that never dries up.
My heart is overwhelmed, my pity stirred
I will not destroy … I am God and not man
The Holy One present among you
I will never let my flames consume you.
Oh, Hosea! You accomplish this alchemy in every chapter, heating up words, burning my fingers when I touch them.
Take care of this vine
Protect what your right hand has planted
Again on a quiet afternoon, reading the words of our Lord, I know it’s true:
The Kingdom of God is at hand.
Jesus invites us to imagine ourselves into his story. What do you think? Really, we might be sitting in front of lockers before a big game, and Jesus is talking us up before we play. Just a few days after his magnificent Sermon on the Mount, Jesus sends out his disciples to do The Work.
Go and cure the sick
Raise the dead
Cleanse the lepers
Drive out demons.
Freely you have received, now freely give.
What we receive is more precious than silver, more costly than gold.
On this trip, don’t take gold or silver, not even a second shirt
Just a single pair of sandals
Everything you need will be given
By those you work with, listen to, pray for, heal
My peace I leave with you, now pass it on.
Let your peace stay with those who invite you in.
Relax. Have fun. Everybody gets to play.
What about those who turn away and turn up their nose?
SHAKE THE DUST OFF YOUR FEET. Keep moving. Let the dead bury the dead.
Ephraim was suckled at God’s breast. And now Jesus cares for his disciples through all the day and all the night.
So how is Jesus with you and me, here, now? Be still and know. Imagine. Live in the questions, live in the stories, live in the invitation.
What could Jesus be doing while his friends are off on their journey? I wonder. Sit and pray for them? Get some badly need sleep? Meet with Nicodemus? I don’t know, but I can imagine.
“Good afternoon. Our names are Bartholomew and Philip. We have come from Jesus. We want to help you with your home or your fields or your family. How can we help you meet your needs?”
Please, Bartholomew and Philip, come in. Take off your sandals, rest a bit.
“Thank you.” We come in and sit down. It feels good to take our shoes off. “Today we would like to listen to you, pray for you, even bring God’s healing right here right now.”
The suddenly silent Host smiles and begins to wash our feet. In a flash we remember when Jesus said, “The Master will always be your servant. His presence will carry you forever.”
And we become quiet too. We listen beyond ourselves, as the small town room in Galilee fills up with Love.
           (Hosea 11, Psalm 80, Mark 1, Matthew 10)
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