Deepak Chopra in his book Reinventing the Body, Resurrecting the Soul creates three categories: reflection, contemplation, and meditation.  He expounds upon what he means by each category and what the pros and cons are for each.

Reflection “involves standing back and taking a look at yourself.” This can lead to honest and long lasting changes in your life.  It can also cause you to stay in your head too much- keeping things on a mental level, theoretical. A great idea without any thrust behind it.

Contemplation “involves holding one thing in the mind and letting it unfold.” This is more of a heart/mind connection. It moves from just thinking about something to truly internalizing it, being changed by your ruminations. It’s a releasing of energy. Contemplation is also a challenge as the gerbil wheel of our minds rapidly spins and is not easily quelled.

Meditation “involves the search for a level of awareness that isn’t conditioned.” Entering into silence and stillness, just being. It’s moving from concentrating on the “problem” to living a solution. According to Deepak, the only downside to meditation is getting stuck in a form that doesn’t fit you well.

In the Ash Wednesday service, the celebrant invites the congregation to a holy Lent and recites a long paragraph which includes the following: 

“I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God’s holy Word.”

I see the correlation between the three categories above with Deepak’s three categories. To get into our heads and lives through self-examination and repentance. An honest examination of who we are, where we are at in life, and how we are doing as human beings. Seeing ourselves with honest eyes.

Then we take a step beyond this examination into contemplation, that mind/heart connection facilitated by prayer, fasting, and self-denial. This takes us beyond just thinking about our lives and engages us in shifting our lives, putting it out there to God, getting active. Just do it, as the slogan goes.

Then comes meditation as shaped by “God’s holy Word”. “Be still and know that I am God” as the psalmist wrote. An invitation to silence, being, knowing beyond all knowledge. Letting God just be without trying to figure out who/what/how God is. To simply rest.

Blow the trumpet in Zion, Joel cried out.  The cry goes out to us as we begin this holy season of Lent, to reflect and contemplate and meditate and enjoy all the benefits these disciplines bring to us and to others.

Epiphany: the revealing of the Christ to Gentiles; an aha moment; a sudden realization about the nature or meaning of something.

The Readings continue on this track.

The Collect: “and proclaim to all people the Good News of his salvation, that we and the whole world may perceive the glory of his marvelous works….” Proclamation, unveiling. To the whole world, not just to select groups.  Very much in keeping with Epiphany.

Jonah 3: The Word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time, saying, ‘Get up, go to Ninevah, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you.’” This is the nature of Epiphany: proclamation. And proclamation of Good News, as we saw in the Collect. God’s desire for salvation, transformation, betterment. Jonah had not just one opportunity to fulfill this mission but God came to Jonah a second time. Gracious. Gracious to Jonah and gracious to the people of Ninevah.

Psalm 62: “God has spoken once, twice have I heard it…” God speaks to us, calls out to us, calls out within us. God speaks. God unveils God’s self to us, to the world, to any with ears to hear.

I Corinthians 7: “For the present form of this world is passing away.” God’s epiphany is not yet finished.  Our Not Yet has not caught up with God’s holy Now. But we are promised that it will. The unveiling will be complete, as will all people.

Mark 1: “Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.’” Once again, proclamation, the announcing of good news, the kingdom of God has come near, to all people. Let the epiphany dawn upon you and so turn and embrace this good news with your whole being.

Still ruminating on leadership style as seen in the Bible.  The parable of the talents speaks to this topic, Matthew 25:14cf .  A good manager doesn’t hover and micromanage.  You give the workers what they need as far as instructions and materials and tell them to have at it.  You go off and do loads of paperwork.  You come back and see the results each worker was able to come up with.  Some do an outstanding job, showing great productivity and are greatly rewarded for their work. Some do a good job and are rewarded accordingly.  Some don’t do anything beyond exactly what they were told to do, no more and no less.  Not very productive. These are the ones who “what they have will be taken from them”.  It’s okay to require productivity and reward accordingly.

I want to follow Jesus’ way in all I do, including being a manager. I do not want to tear people down, I want to build them up. Call a spade a spade, sure. If someone isn’t pulling their weight or does something blatantly wrong or incorrect then call them on it, that’s the Jesus way too. But it can’t be a constant tearing down, it’s just demoralizing. Jesus didn’t blast all Pharisees. Nicodemus came to Jesus with a sincere heart and Jesus accepted him (John 3). I don’t want to write performance evaluations that only accentuate the negative. If someone does their best, I believe that should be recognized. Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector. Jesus invited himself to Zach’s house… before he ever repented of ripping people off. Jesus called it like he saw it… turned over money changer’s tables even to make his point. But he did not constantly tear people down, point out their faults. The famous John passage, saying to the adulterous woman, go and sin no more. Or, which is easier to say your sins are forgiven or pick up your mat and go home. The Gospels tell us on a regular basis Jesus hung out with sinners, not to berate them or constantly tell them how bad they were.  He could have, but he didn’t.

Joyce Meyer posted two Bible quotations today that I liked a lot and felt should be applied to a management style shaped after Jesus’ way:

“You will always have the poor with you.” So why bother, right?  It’s hopeless.  Jesus himself said it, we will always have the poor, poverty cannot be eliminated.  Or is this what Jesus intended by his words?  A woman poured expensive perfume on Jesus’ head, according to Mark 14.  The guests, one of whom once had leprosy, were aghast and angry at the wastefulness of the action, “Why such a waste? We could have sold this perfume for more than three hundred silver coins and given the money to the poor!”  This sounds logical, just, compassionate.  But then “they started saying cruel things to the woman.”  In the letter of James, the writer confronts this very hypocrisy: “My dear friends, with our tongues we speak both praises and curses. We praise our Lord and Father, and we curse people who were created to be like God, and this isn’t right.” (James 3:9-10)  Jesus’ hosts espoused virtue regarding the poor and at the same time cursed a woman for a seemingly foolish act.  And so Jesus confronts this hypocrisy.  There’s plenty of time to help the poor, but his time on the earth was short.  The woman honored him and there was nothing wrong with such a sincere, genuine gesture.  Jesus doesn’t say don’t give to the poor or don’t bother trying to eradicate it, he simply received the gift of honor the woman gave him and confronted the dinner guests on their two-faced reaction.

We are called to do unto even those who seem the most unimportant (Mt. 25:40, CEV).  It’s a calling.  Not an option.  Amos makes this clear in the book attributed to his prophetic ministry.  A common shepherd, an everyday guy, was called by God to confront the indolence, pride, and corruption of the Northern kingdom.

“They smear the poor in the dirt and push aside those who are helpless.” 2:7

“they showed no mercy” 1:11

“You mistreat and abuse the poor and needy, then you say…’Bring us more drinks!’” 4:1

“You twist the truth and stomp on justice.” 5:7

“you abuse the poor and demand heavy taxes from them… you rob the poor of justice.” 5:11, 12

“Everyone bows down to you, and you think you are better than any other nation… You rich people lounge around… You sing foolish songs… but you don’t care about the ruin of your nation.” 6:1,4,6

You get the idea. So we need to convert these passages, invert them. We need to empower the poor, help lift them up, show mercy, avoid exploitation, see the truth for what it is, seek justice.  I think Jesus would approve this message.

I was in the Adult Education class this morning studying Marcus Borg’s “Reading the Bible Again For the First Time”.  Today’s chapter focused on the prophetic voices, especially of the Old Testament and their call to advocacy for the poor and oppressed.  Borg pointed to the book of Amos as a prime example of a prophet who electrified Borg’s sense of Christian call to make a political difference.  Hmm, not sure if “political” is the right word.  A call to make long-term, social structural changes to benefit all people.  It came up in class, who is doing this? Who is the voice in the wilderness calling for change?  You can fill in the blank on that one if you like.  But for me, I found the finger pointing back at me.  Why am I looking for someone else to be the agent of change when I should be looking to see what am I doing to create long-term, sustainable change?  Yikes.  I felt convicted in spirit.  I did not feel damned or tainted with guilt but rather felt challenged.  Am I the prophet I’ve been looking for?

I went home and read Amos, Contemporary English Version, Poverty and Justice Bible.  Good stuff.  A lot of it sounds ultra harsh, terms of destruction and annihilation.  But then God says “it’s like…” x, y, or z. Perhaps in a separate blog I’ll go into more detail.  But the message is a challenging one in Amos and I encourage you to read it, see how it applies to your life.  While we may not be directly exploiting people, are we doing it indirectly?  Are you advocating exploitation by our passivity?  Our we content with our own lot in life and dare not infringe on that happiness by looking beyond that bubble?

Matthew 25:14-30. A particularly difficult passage. A Master who has slaves. A Master who is characterized as hard and opportunistic, benefitting from what he didn’t earn himself. The concluding aphorism that those who have much more will given, and those who have little will be stripped of what little they have and will be cast out into outer darkness. Wow. What to do with this difficult passage?

Money is entrusted to three different slaves. The first two return a profit. The third, in fear, hides the money and simply returns it to the master. Here is one way to look at it.

The third slave blames the Master for his failure. A rationalization. A deflecting of blame. It is the third slave who characterizes the Master as harsh, hard, and opportunistic. This reminds me of the Garden scene in Genesis when God is confronting Adam and Eve for eating the forbidden fruit. Eve blames the snak and implicates Adam. Adam in turn blames not only the woman but ultimately God who gave the woman to Adam. “It’s not my fault. YOU gave me the woman. She’s your responsibility.” And so the third slave blames the Master for his own failure, refusing to take ownership of it. The slave has returned the money thus dispensing any further responsibility. The Master uses the slaves characterizing words, perhaps in a mocking manner, and then calls a spade a spade, the slave is just lazy. Time to face the music. The slave does not love the Master nor even respect him. It’s a classic case of self-love and self-preservation. The slave places his own security above acts of service. The slave has no gratitude for the trust placed in him. There is no respect for the Master, just a grudging acknowledgement of power.

So, based on this interpretation, what are we supposed to do with this story, what response should we make in our lives? We’ve been entrusted with God-gifts, God within us. We have a responsibility to act on those gifts for the good of others and not just ourselves. We must be willing to take ownership of our God-gifts. We must catch ourselves when we blame God or make negative characterizations about God. Why isn’t God doing more to fix the ills of the world, we say from our armchairs, as we are unmoved to do something ourselves to address the problems. We must be careful about seeking security at all costs, even to the point of giving away important freedoms. We must be careful to not bow down to power. The Herodians did this, played along with the Roman powers in order to blend in and simply survive it. Jesus was an example of someone not playing into the Power’s hands, circumventing it through a different way of living and acting on his beliefs. Jesus had God within, God-given gifts and he acted on them, took responsibility for them, took ownership. Jesus used these gifts to benefit others although it was often in unexpected ways. Jesus didn’t box God into a tidy package. We are called to follow Jesus’ example.

I’ve been ruminating on last week’s Gospel Reading all week. Matthew 10:40-42. Reverend Beverly Elliott preached it pertained to hospitality: “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me.”

Jesus prays for workers for the harvest field. In turn, Jesus summons twelve disciples and immediately sends them out into the harvest field. “This Gospel is ultimately for the entire world- that’s the big picture- but it has to begin somewhere. So, for the time being…go to the lost, confused people right here in the house of Israel….”

The Gospel message is simple…the kingdom of God is at hand (or Brian McLaren likes to say, the Commonwealth of God is at hand). As an expression of that, the disciples are empowered to bring health, raise the dead, touch the untouchables, set people free. “You have been treated generously, so live generously; freely you have received the Kingdom, so freely you should give it away!”

Jesus then goes into detail about the particulars- what to bring, what not to bring, what to do if you’re well received, what to do if you are rejected. Jesus doesn’t glamorize it, he tells them how tough it’s going to be, even to the point of possibly being flogged because of the message they bring.

How fascinating that a message so simple and so welcoming would lead you to conflict and harsh confrontation if not outright punishment. Why is that? I have no easy answer to that question. People’s fearfulness or rigid beliefs. Perhaps people see the message they believe in, whatever that might be, as being exclusive, only the select are welcome. This message of radical welcome, this message of WHOEVER welcomes is in turn welcome was too uncomfortable for so many, uncomfortable enough to crucify the Man who originated the message. Jesus anticipates how violent the backlash will be and doesn’t sugarcoat it.

After all this dire warning, Jesus tells the disciples, “But, at the end of the day, none of that stuff even matters. So have no fear; take your cues from Me and refuse to be intimidated by any of it. Eventually, everything that needs to be revealed will be revealed, and truth will triumph!” He tells them to shout the message from the rooftops, to be that open and bold in their proclamation of the Good News of God. God is here, God is now, God is for all.

“But here’s the payoff for walking in such loyalty to Me: It will give you a place of honor in the Kingdom that will create a new reality…” A reality of radical welcome. That what you sow you will also reap. As you offer radical welcome to all, so a radical welcome will ultimately return to you. Even doing something as simple as offering a cup of cool water to someone considered insignificant will be “openly and permanently rewarded.”

Practice radical welcome. It’s simple but not easy. Jesus makes that clear. It means getting involved with sinners, untouchables, outcasts. It means risking feeling uncomfortable yourself. But as Father Matthew Linn says, when you are where God wants you, the more you give the more you get.

* thank you to Bishop Jim Swilley for his version of this passage in “Matthew In the Now”, quoted extensively here.

The first reading today is the famous passage in Ezekiel 37 about the valley of dry bones and how God restores them to life. It’s a vision. This is not a passage about zombies. I like how God addresses Ezekiel, “Mortal, can these bones live?” A contrast between the living and non-living, but also a reminder that being mortal we’re headed toward the same fate, becoming dust and dry bones ourselves. And yet God illustrates that our fate doesn’t end there, that is not the end of the story. New life is breathed back into us. Life triumphs over death.

So many times I turn the question on God, can these dry bones live O God? When my life feels so dry, a valley of death, forgotten. I feel as if I’m not living into my calling, that I’m not living into the fullness of the life meant for me. Why has God let me linger in this dry valley? God does not snap cosmic fingers and change the situation. Ezekiel is called upon to do his part- prophesy. And the change is incremental. The bones came together, then the sinews, then the flesh, “but there was no breath in them.” God applies the vision to immediate and real circumstance: “Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.’” I can relate. It’s how I feel so often. I feel dried up, visionless, without hope, cut off from anything that is life giving. God goes on, “I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves…. I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live….” God has the last say. God will act on our behalf. Even if it means we go all threat down to the point of despair, becoming dry bones, God will intervene. God will bring life. Don’t give up hope.

The second Reading is Romans 8. “To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace… You are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you.” So this passage also talks about death and life and brings it on to a spiritual plane. Annie Dillard spoke of cutting wood in Washington State. She had a hard time splitting the wood evenly, it was more like chipping away at it. Then a bemused neighbor suggested she not aim for the wood but for the chopping block beneath the wood. It worked. When we focus on the dry bones, it’s all we can see, but if we prophesy, if we see beyond that which is, we see Spirit. Spirit, breath, gives life. Focus on that. Follow your breath. Follow the Spirit.

The Gospel Reading is another famous passage, the raising of Lazarus from the dead. Word is sent to Jesus that Lazarus is seriously ill. But Jesus stays two days longer in the place where he was. Why didn’t he rush to his friend’s side? By the time Jesus does arrive, Lazarus has been in the tomb four days. Wow. Jesus took his time. Martha shows great faith when Jesus does arrive. We don’t see any bitterness or blame in her words or demeanor. She knows he could have saved her brother if he had been there. She also knows God will give Jesus whatever he asks for now. She believes in the resurrection to come. Jesus tells her she won’t have to wait for that final day, for “I am the resurrection and the life…. Even though they die, they will live again.” Why does God wait to give us life? Why does God let us “die” before resurrecting us? Perhaps it goes against the grain of instant gratification, perhaps it’s supposed to. Whatever the reasons, which we so often will not know, if we set our mind on the Spirit, on life, if we see beyond the dry bones to the chopping block beneath, if we trust in resurrection, if we trust the God will come and breathe life into us, perhaps we will see the bones of hopes and dreams rattle and shake and join together, and we will dance and rejoice and know life in its fullest.