This Week and Lent at Holy Trinity

In this week, the season of Epiphany is ending, and the season of Lent begins.

For those who have never learned about Shrove Tuesday, this is a great link to a history of traditions and explanations.  For myself, growing up in Germany, we celebrated Fasching, which went from November 11 at 11:11 until Ash Wednesday - the first and last weeks being the most celebratory of the season.  In honor of this historical celebratory time - do something special just for yourself or with your family on Tuesday.

Wednesday is Ash Wednesday.  According to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, Christ spent 40 days fasting in the desert, where he endured temptation by Satan.  Lent originated as a mirroring of this, fasting 40 days as preparation for Easter. Every Sunday was seen as a commemoration of the Sunday of Christ's resurrection and so as a feast day on which fasting was inappropriate. Accordingly, Christians fasted from Monday to Saturday (6 days) during 6 weeks and from Wednesday to Saturday (4 days) in the preceding week, thus making up the number of 40 days.

Ash Wednesday derives its name from the practice of blessing ashes made from palm branches blessed on the previous year's Palm Sunday, and placing them on the heads of participants to the accompaniment of the words "Repent, and believe in the Gospel" or "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return".

Holy Trinity will be having an Ash Wednesday service at 6:00 p.m. - all are welcome.  Other services in town and in Libby will be:  Libby, Christ Lutheran's service is at 6:30 p.m.; Immaculate Conception Catholic Church will be having their Ash Wednesday service at 10:00 a.m. in Troy; and the Methodist Church will have their service at 6:30 p.m. in Troy.

During Lent, we will be doing the program sponsored by the Society of St. John the Evangelist (SSJE), watching the daily videos they provide for contemplation and discussing them at coffee hours on Sundays - or here on this blog.  Please do feel free to comment on here.

In support of Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD), we will be following their Coupon Book written mainly by the Lake Missoula Clericus, the Episcopal clergy serving the parishes of western Montana and produced in partnership with the Episcopal Diocese of Utah.

We will also be meeting Tuesdays at Noon at Holy Trinity to do the course from The Great Courses called "The New Testament."  All are welcome to join us - it's brown bag, so bring something to eat while we go through the course/video lectures and discussions.  This will begin on February 24th.

And lastly, beginning on Ash Wednesday, and continuing throughout the year, we will have daily Morning Prayer Monday through Saturday by conference call at 7:30 a.m., with the Compline being recorded daily and available anytime after 7:30 p.m.  Details on this can be found here.

From explorefaith.org:

May the Wind of God drive away impurity
and bring fresh and vigorous possibility to your soul.
May the freeing Spirit unbind those places within
held captive by hopelessness, anxious thoughts and internal discord.
And may you find a middle place of awareness,
between the blowing and the stillness,o feel and watch the movement from old to new.

Blinded by "Common" Sense

How many times are we told "pay attention" in the Bible?  Stay awake, be aware, open your eyes - so many times we're instructed to do that, and yet, we are blinded by our "common" sense.

That is completely out of the ordinary, doesn't fit our comfortable world view, and therefore, isn't real. How many times does the mild-mannered alter-ego of the superhero completely surprise us when unmasked, even when it's painfully obvious later?

Today's readings all deal with various forms of blindness - and interestingly, the only person not "blind" from the beginning was the "blind beggar" of the Gospel who "saw" Jesus of Nazareth and "knew" that he could be healed.  While his eyes could not see, his other senses and his heart led him to the one person who could make him whole again - the very manifestation of God on Earth.  There was no doubt in his heart, and as Jesus told him - "Your faith has made you well."

Today, many studies are done on the types of "blindness" suffered by Elisha, and the apostles in turn.  Paul and Timothy point out the blindness caused by God to those who do not believe:

2 Corinthians 4:3-4:  "But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4 whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them."

Expectations are often contributory to situational blindness.   We don't expect things to change right in front of us, so if/when they do, we may not actually see it.  The above video actually has 21 changes that take place through the video, and you may have caught one or two, but been astounded at just how much changed of which you were unaware - you were "expecting" a change or two, simply because of the subject of this blog, but 21?  Not so much.

Many have seen the video of people passing a basketball back and forth.  They are instructed to count how many times the people in white shirts pass the ball.  And as a result, they completely miss the guy in a gorilla suit walking through the middle of them.  Crime shows have emphasized situational blindness in their rush to solve crimes that have occurred right under the noses of people, and no one was even aware of it happening.

More seriously, we're often unaware of prejudices that surround us, or that we, ourselves, perpetrate.  And whether that's religious prejudice or cultural prejudice or racial prejudice or economic prejudice - it's something that can't be changed until we first recognize it, so that we can change it.  There's an excellent video on just how one can start.  Removing the veils from our eyes is just the beginning.

Christ had been preaching, performing miraculous healings, turned water into wine - and yet, the Apostles with him are completely astounded at his appearance on the Mount when he meets with Elijah and Moses, and completely in awe when God's voice speaks, identifying His Son, and commanding them to "Hear Him!" They've listened to Jesus, but their eyes are finally opened to the Christ at this point.  Jesus really is the Son of God!  

Distractions

Do you have a purpose in your life?  A direction that you choose to go? Is there one over-arching goal, or are you currently pursuing other goals that will eventually lead you to where you want to be?

Sit for a moment, and think about your purpose or your current goal.  When did you first discover it or decide on it?  Did you set up a plan to pursue it?  What was your first week like in that pursuit?

What was the first major distraction from your purpose?  Were there others involved in assisting in distracting you?  Were there any there to help you refocus on your task?  How did you handle it?

Paul's focus in his letter to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 9:16-23) is, in his words, to be "all things to all men, that I might by all means save some."  In this, he is indicating that he emulates the characteristics of the people he's preaching to, that they may be able to identify with him, and hear the truth of the Gospel.  He has to know where they're coming from before he can help guide them to salvation.  His words could easily be taken as hubris and arrogant pride, but that goes against what we know about Paul, the man.  He wants to be able to reach the widest audience possible, and to do that, he has to expand his own wisdom, knowledge and abilities so that he can start people off in a comfortable, familiar place.

So going back to the Old Testament reading (Isaiah 40:21-31) and the Psalm (147:1-11, 20c), we are reminded, repeatedly, of the strength of God, that all things come from God, that we can rely on God - that
"they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint."  Perhaps this is where Christ's mind went after His day at Simon and Andrew's house.

Hour after hour of healing the sick, driving out demons, performing miracle after miracle - and seeing his purpose on Earth being driven further and further away.

35 And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, He went out and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.  36 And Simon and those who were with Him followed after Him.  37 And when they had found Him, they said unto Him, “All men seek for Thee.”  38 And He said unto them, “Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also; for therefore came I forth.”  (Mark 1)

Long ago, I lived in Hawai'i, and for the first month or so, I was enchanted by the fact that we would see at least one rainbow a day, and a double rainbow about once a week.  The sign of God's covenant in the sky was a blessing.  After a while, though, it became commonplace, not so special anymore - just another day and more than that - normal.  I didn't have any idea that I was taking that sign for granted, and didn't think about the meaning of the rainbow as something holy, a gift from God.

It wasn't until I moved back to the mainland and didn't see them every day, that I noticed a rainbow in the sky - and traffic slowed down to appreciate its beauty - perhaps even to remember the covenant sign promised by God to His children.  And here in Montana, I was startled one day to hear a knock at the door - my neighbor was telling me to come out and see the very clear double rainbow in the sky.  All the neighbors came out of their houses to watch and appreciate the truly unusual occurrence.  It was actually the main topic of conversation in town for a couple of days.

Performing miracles on a daily basis was a distraction from Christ's true purpose.  Christ made His purpose on Earth very clear in John 6:38-40:

" For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me; 39 and this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up at the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that every one who sees the Son and believes in him should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”

And while miracles are certainly tools that can help convince people of the truth of God and constant signs provided tangible proof while Christ was here - they would do nothing to help lead those who later found the truth of God through faith.  "Everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him" means more than just those who physically saw Christ.  Christianity would not be where it is today if that were the case.

Christ knew that the miracles would become legend in time, but His preaching, His Word would live eternally.  

Time and Faith

One of the brothers from SSJE had a conversation with one of the members of the Society of Ordained Scientists regarding Time.  Brother Geoffrey Tristam and Rt. Rev. Nick Knisely, Bishop of Rhode Island, sat down to discuss time, relativity, space, mathematics and possibilities.  That fascinating discussion can be found here.

Speaking With Authority

Today's Gospel reading from Mark talks about the "new" authority with which Christ speaks.

The thing is, while Christ spoke with authority, as we learn in a later chapter of Mark (Chapter 4) "If any man have ears to hear, let him hear. And He said unto them, “Take heed what ye hear. With what measure ye mete it shall be measured to you; and unto you that hear shall more be given."

We also know from Chapter 29 in Deuteronomy, "Yet the Lord hath not given you a heart to perceive and eyes to see and ears to hear unto this day."

Interestingly in Mark, all heard what Christ had to say in the temple - but they heard it in different ways.  The demon driven out recognized Christ's authority and fled in fear.  Many of the Pharisees heard and feared for the challenge to their own authority and more importantly - the challenge to their power.

And then those that had ears - and perhaps the heart - to hear, heard the authority in Christ's words and voice, and recognized that God had indeed sent them the Messiah.

In today's world, we are often taught that we should "question authority", and our society does so, sometimes to their own detriment.  However, what so many don't recognize in those who walk the talk of the Christian Faith is that we have chosen to submit our will to that of God's, and the authority with which Christ spoke is heard by the ear, and felt in the heart, even today.

Authority is only effective when those who hear the voice of authority choose to submit.  And certainly, there are consequences to making other choices - we simply have to decide what authority is worthy of our respect, admiration and love.  That choice should be conscious, every single time - but in case you've fallen into a bit of a rut, each time you say the Lord's Prayer, emphasize the word "thy".  It's interesting how much more aware we are of our choice - and the actions that should reflect it.

Songs for the Book of Luke lists "The Authority of Christ" as the first song that's quite worth listening to.

Selah

Today's Psalm uses the word "Selah."  Apparently, no one really knows what it means, but by the best guess, it means to pause and praise, to give value.  This is apparently one of the root words in Hebrew (and it’s not like there are a lot – 323 at last count) that scholars disagree about.  However, it being in the Psalms 71 times and in Habakkuk 3 times, means that it is something relatively important.

So then the question becomes, when you’re reading those passages in the Bible and you come to the word “Selah”, do you actually say Selah, or should you say something in praise of what you have just heard?  Or should we pause and think about what we’ve heard, giving it the respect and careful consideration it apparently deserves?

So look at Psalm 62:8:

Trust in Him at all times, you people;
Pour out your heart before Him;
God is a refuge for us. Selah

Is this a time to exemplify what you just read?

Moving Forward in the New Year

Holy Trinity has had its annual meeting, and we're in for quite a bit of work, change and growth.

The Bishop requested that we raise up a member of the congregation to attend seminary and serve as our priest.  We now have a candidate for that, and the discernment process will be moving forward.

We'll be getting a bit of a face lift with new carpets and repairs being made under the altar.

The Prayer Shawl Ministry is contacting all the churches in the area to enlist the assistance of knitters, crocheters, organizers and hoarders of unused yarn - as well as names of people who need prayer shawls, caring covers, hats, scarves, etc. so that we can serve the broader community.

We have many ideas for utilizing the space in Parish Hall, from movie nights to game nights to seminars on a variety of topics to help the community.  We're also working with the other churches in Troy with the assistance of the ERD on setting up a workshop for Pastors and Disasters to organize the spiritual community in Troy for dealing with disasters from small to large.

So, keeping this (Philippians 3:13-14)in mind:

Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended it, but this one thing I do: forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

We move forward...