Mission as Love in Action

The church represents the presence of the reign of God in the life of the world, not in the triumphalist sens (as the "successful" cause) and not in the moralistic sense (as in the "righteous" cause), but in the sense that it is the place where the mystery of the kingdom present in the dying and rising of Jesus is made present here and now so that all people, righteous and unrighteous, are enabled to taste and shre the love of God before whom all are unrighteous and all are accepted as righteous. - Lesslie Newbigin, The Open Secret 55.

Reflections on the Shema - Part Albah

וּקְשַׁרְתָּם לְאוֹת, עַל-יָדֶךָ; וְהָיוּ לְטֹטָפֹת, בֵּין עֵינֶיךָ

(8)And you shall bind them for a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes (AKJV).

וּכְתַבְתָּם עַל-מְזֻזוֹת בֵּיתֶךָ, וּבִשְׁעָרֶיךָ

(9)And you shall write them on the posts of your house, and on your gates (AKJV).

Whether taken literally or metaphorically, the importance of these commands is such that they (these words) should be bound as a sign on the hand and on the forehead (near the eyes). These words are taken literally by our Jewish brothers and sisters who actually bind, with some sort of thread, these words as well as the instructions from Numbers 15:37-41 to their heads and hands as well as their door frames and gates. The word translated 'posts of your house,' mezuzah, has become a technical term, identifying a small box containing parchment. So, through signs and symbols, literally or metaphorically, the individual, the home, and the community reflected in their being a response of love to/of God.

So, what does this mean for us today? Or more importantly, I should ask what does this important text say about who we should be as individuals as well as a faith community?

What to do when the right thing isn't obvious.

I just finished reading Choices: Making Right Decisions in a Complex World by the now deceased, Lewis Smedes. I've heard his other stuff is excellent material as well, but that is another conversation for another time. I read this book as a required text for my seminary ethics class, and I found his insight very helpful, particularly when "the right thing to do" isn't always so obvious. Every day we are faced with moral and amoral issues (notice I didn't say immoral, but we do do that too!) and many of these issues demand that we make a decision. Most of the time, we like to make the "right" decision, but what about those comlicated situations and complex times where we just don't know what the right thing to do is? Lewis offers some help. Lewis says in his book, when you can't be sure [about the right thing], be responsible. Lewis says ask yourself these questions the next time you are in one of these kinds of situations:
1. Have I used discernment?
2. Have I interpreted the question before I answered it?
3. Have I considered whether the act was appropriate?
4. Have I used my imagination?
5. Have I checked whether what I did was consistent with my commitments?
6. Was I willing to let my act be seen in public?
7. Have I accepted accountability for the results of what I did?

Smedes goes on to say "If we acted responsibly, chances are that we did a good thing under the circumstances." I'd like to add that sometimes the responsible thing is the only choice we may have left to make. When in doubt, act responsibly. Peace.

A Little Catholic Humor

Sister Mary Ann, who worked for a home health agency, was out making her rounds visiting homebound patients when she ran out of gas. Fortunately, an Exxon station was just a block away. She walked to the station to borrow a gas can and buy some gas.

The attendant told her that the only gas can he owned had been loaned
out, but she could wait until it was returned. Since Sister Mary Ann was on the way to see a patient, she decided not to wait, and walked back to her car.

She looked for something in her car that she could fill with gas, and
spotted the bedpan she was taking to the patient. Always resourceful,
Sister Mary Ann carried the bedpan to the station, filled it with
gasoline, and carried the full bedpan back to her car.

As she was pouring the gas into her tank, two Baptist ladies watched from across the street. One of them turned to the other and said, "If it starts, I'm turning Catholic."