Thank you, Diana, for the reminder to keep peace in our hearts. So that we can trust in, and speak, reconciliation, mercy, forgiveness, gratitude, hope, faith, beauty, kindness, gentleness, compassion and love into the world even when darkness threatens to overwhelm us.
Thank you, Diane, for a beautiful reflection. Your musings are so helpful on a regular basis. I also struggled with the ending of the Gospel reading - such a downer after a great story. I chose to preach on the continuous lectionary texts yesterday, and found the Exodus story about the Golden Calf very relevant to these days. Here is a link to the sermon I preached. The sermon begins at minute 20:30 of the video.
This morning, right above your email was a Substack post by Nadia Bolz Weber with her sermon from the Evolving Faith conference this weekend. In it, she addresses the same parable you came across in the lectionary, and her take is that the king is not God at all, but rather God shows up as the lone guest who refuses to play along with injustice. Or maybe that’s us, too. Anyway, here is the link to the full sermon which is much better than my summary: https://thecorners.substack.com/p/god-doesnt-have-a-fragile-ego?r=3b4g7&utm_medium=email. I hope it blesses you too!
I get Nadia's letter as well! And it was a happy thing to see she handled that text just as I would have - the King is NOT God. I loved it. She's a wonderful preacher and I'm always humbled when I see that we are of a mind with some of the hard readings in the gospels. Blessings!
Interestingly at Mass last night our priest left off the last two verses of the gospel, ending with the banquet hall being filled with people. I wonder if this was purposeful or an accident. Our Catholic Church is ministered to by Franciscan Friars, an extremely welcoming and inclusive group. On the other hand, our bulletin had as its quote on the front the line (and I’m paraphrasing), “Why are you here without a wedding garment?” Whether it was his choice or a mistake I’ll never know, but I much prefer his ending.
Thanks to our preacher, I received today's Matthew reading in a new way. Perhaps the wedding guest dressed in the wrong clothes is Jesus himself. His casting out foreshadows the crucifixion and his descent to the dead. This makes some sense to me given the full text and other readings from Matthew, Jesus as God's child but rejected by the religious authorities and leaders of his day, and abandoned by his closest followers at His time of trial. But the stone that the builders rejected will become the cornerstone. I also tend to place "the Kingdom of Heaven is like" parables in the supernatural, far away from our lived reality, forgetting that Jesus taught the Kingdom of Heaven is near, and that it is up to us to help bring about the Kingdom here and now, in our own place and time, and into our own lived reality.
Oh! How we need this message today! Thank you for shining light on that which we need to remember: God loves all of God's children, all of whom have some history of pain and suffering and are in need of God's loving peace.
YES! This: "I think this is something we've really got to keep in mind is that there has to be a solution to peace. That solution to peace has to come by not ➡️overdetermining the role of religion while ➡️taking the role of religion seriously" – Dr. Hussein Rashid
I've mentioned The Cottage and you to all of my friends and have always described your words as helpful, thoughtful as well as insightful. Balancing my own tension with being torn during the current compelling events of war, I would add 1 more word in describing your writings and you. Authentic. Thank you, Diana.
I pray for understanding, having followed the Israeli crisis that has been brewing all year. I pray that Netanyahu does not become a greater monster in this scenario he has created. And, I pray for the Palestinians who have been crying out for the world to hear them as the tensions have been growing exponentially over this past year. So, perhaps Isaiah’s words I chapter 25 should be examined and not glossed over in our collective souls:
O Lord, you are my God;
I will exalt you, I will praise your name;
for you have done wonderful things,
plans formed of old, faithful and sure.
For you have made the city a heap,
the fortified city a ruin;
the palace of aliens is a city no more,
It will never be rebuilt.
I remember the work of Jimmy Carter who negotiated a peace plan for the Middle East by bringing the two leaders together, with their national and religious advisors, and they hammered out an agreement to live together in harmony. They broke bread together! They NEGOTIATED an understanding for how their “congregations” can live together. THIS is what Netanyahu has missed in all his years as a leader, in my humble opinion. Now, he’s promising to become a 💔 monster as big and sinister as Hamas.
My work to create an interfaith collaboration for inclusion, bringing Rabbis, Imams, Pastors, and Priests together, with members of their congregation to discuss strategies for welcoming families living with disabilities, substance use disorders, and those living in search of mental health and wellness was a big success for a wonderful day, followed by interfaith collaboration, until I was confronted by the Jewish religious leaders who complained that we held our meeting in a Protestant church auditorium and we had Muslim leaders speaking from the dais alongside Orthodox Rabbis. Within weeks, the goodness was tarnished by this ancient bias and, yes, hatred.
I can be grateful for a God who preaches peace from ancient texts. But, I MUST pray for negotiated peace among the leaders of the Middle East, AGAIN! May the spirit that guided Jimmy Carter reach out to Joe Biden for the wisdom to stop making overwhelmingly polarizing statements supporting the Jews that gloss over the 70 years of unrest created since the declaration of Israel as a state and not a province.
Yesterday I was with a friend in the part of the USA that experienced the full eclipse and ring of fire. As we went outside to the back yard with our glasses to view the wonder we discussed the fear and wonder the ancient peoples may have gone through when this happened. There is a bird bath in her back yard and we noticed a very still dove sitting with it’s tail touching the water. When we approached it did not move, though it’s eyes watched us. It sat quietly through the entire event, flexing enough for us to know it was alive, but not tr
An interesting (and ultimately hopeful) take on some very disparate texts.
Also, Yehuda Amichai's (so timely) poem took my breath away. Thank you for introducing me to his works.
Thank you, Diana, for the reminder to keep peace in our hearts. So that we can trust in, and speak, reconciliation, mercy, forgiveness, gratitude, hope, faith, beauty, kindness, gentleness, compassion and love into the world even when darkness threatens to overwhelm us.
Diana: your words are a balm to my heart this Monday morning. Lament is EXACTLY what I needed to remember.
Thank you, Diane, for a beautiful reflection. Your musings are so helpful on a regular basis. I also struggled with the ending of the Gospel reading - such a downer after a great story. I chose to preach on the continuous lectionary texts yesterday, and found the Exodus story about the Golden Calf very relevant to these days. Here is a link to the sermon I preached. The sermon begins at minute 20:30 of the video.
https://www.facebook.com/stmarksvannuys/videos/1040149004095484.
What a lovely reflection. Thank you so much.
This morning, right above your email was a Substack post by Nadia Bolz Weber with her sermon from the Evolving Faith conference this weekend. In it, she addresses the same parable you came across in the lectionary, and her take is that the king is not God at all, but rather God shows up as the lone guest who refuses to play along with injustice. Or maybe that’s us, too. Anyway, here is the link to the full sermon which is much better than my summary: https://thecorners.substack.com/p/god-doesnt-have-a-fragile-ego?r=3b4g7&utm_medium=email. I hope it blesses you too!
Thank you so much for including that link!
I get Nadia's letter as well! And it was a happy thing to see she handled that text just as I would have - the King is NOT God. I loved it. She's a wonderful preacher and I'm always humbled when I see that we are of a mind with some of the hard readings in the gospels. Blessings!
Interestingly at Mass last night our priest left off the last two verses of the gospel, ending with the banquet hall being filled with people. I wonder if this was purposeful or an accident. Our Catholic Church is ministered to by Franciscan Friars, an extremely welcoming and inclusive group. On the other hand, our bulletin had as its quote on the front the line (and I’m paraphrasing), “Why are you here without a wedding garment?” Whether it was his choice or a mistake I’ll never know, but I much prefer his ending.
I was tempted to do the same but I was a guest preacher so I didn't think it was appropriate.
That Amichai poem broke me (in the best way possible).
And recalled lines from Carrie Newcomer:
If holy is a sphere that cannot be rendered/
There is no middle place because all of it is center
Thanks to our preacher, I received today's Matthew reading in a new way. Perhaps the wedding guest dressed in the wrong clothes is Jesus himself. His casting out foreshadows the crucifixion and his descent to the dead. This makes some sense to me given the full text and other readings from Matthew, Jesus as God's child but rejected by the religious authorities and leaders of his day, and abandoned by his closest followers at His time of trial. But the stone that the builders rejected will become the cornerstone. I also tend to place "the Kingdom of Heaven is like" parables in the supernatural, far away from our lived reality, forgetting that Jesus taught the Kingdom of Heaven is near, and that it is up to us to help bring about the Kingdom here and now, in our own place and time, and into our own lived reality.
Oh! How we need this message today! Thank you for shining light on that which we need to remember: God loves all of God's children, all of whom have some history of pain and suffering and are in need of God's loving peace.
I HIGHLY RECOMMEND listening to this conversation on Jonathan Capehart's MSNBC show this morning:
https://twitter.com/dianabutlerbass/status/1713552253200580784
YES! This: "I think this is something we've really got to keep in mind is that there has to be a solution to peace. That solution to peace has to come by not ➡️overdetermining the role of religion while ➡️taking the role of religion seriously" – Dr. Hussein Rashid
I've mentioned The Cottage and you to all of my friends and have always described your words as helpful, thoughtful as well as insightful. Balancing my own tension with being torn during the current compelling events of war, I would add 1 more word in describing your writings and you. Authentic. Thank you, Diana.
Thank you, Steve.
I pray for understanding, having followed the Israeli crisis that has been brewing all year. I pray that Netanyahu does not become a greater monster in this scenario he has created. And, I pray for the Palestinians who have been crying out for the world to hear them as the tensions have been growing exponentially over this past year. So, perhaps Isaiah’s words I chapter 25 should be examined and not glossed over in our collective souls:
O Lord, you are my God;
I will exalt you, I will praise your name;
for you have done wonderful things,
plans formed of old, faithful and sure.
For you have made the city a heap,
the fortified city a ruin;
the palace of aliens is a city no more,
It will never be rebuilt.
I remember the work of Jimmy Carter who negotiated a peace plan for the Middle East by bringing the two leaders together, with their national and religious advisors, and they hammered out an agreement to live together in harmony. They broke bread together! They NEGOTIATED an understanding for how their “congregations” can live together. THIS is what Netanyahu has missed in all his years as a leader, in my humble opinion. Now, he’s promising to become a 💔 monster as big and sinister as Hamas.
My work to create an interfaith collaboration for inclusion, bringing Rabbis, Imams, Pastors, and Priests together, with members of their congregation to discuss strategies for welcoming families living with disabilities, substance use disorders, and those living in search of mental health and wellness was a big success for a wonderful day, followed by interfaith collaboration, until I was confronted by the Jewish religious leaders who complained that we held our meeting in a Protestant church auditorium and we had Muslim leaders speaking from the dais alongside Orthodox Rabbis. Within weeks, the goodness was tarnished by this ancient bias and, yes, hatred.
I can be grateful for a God who preaches peace from ancient texts. But, I MUST pray for negotiated peace among the leaders of the Middle East, AGAIN! May the spirit that guided Jimmy Carter reach out to Joe Biden for the wisdom to stop making overwhelmingly polarizing statements supporting the Jews that gloss over the 70 years of unrest created since the declaration of Israel as a state and not a province.
(Sorry my finger keeps hitting post) process. I too choose to trust, observing the world around me, God is here with us.
Thank you Diana for your words of love and compassion. Where can I find your speaking schedule? I'm sorry I missed you at Montreat.
Truly moving much...it flew away when the event was over...two hours of stillness, trusting the universe in its
Yesterday I was with a friend in the part of the USA that experienced the full eclipse and ring of fire. As we went outside to the back yard with our glasses to view the wonder we discussed the fear and wonder the ancient peoples may have gone through when this happened. There is a bird bath in her back yard and we noticed a very still dove sitting with it’s tail touching the water. When we approached it did not move, though it’s eyes watched us. It sat quietly through the entire event, flexing enough for us to know it was alive, but not tr