Today’s Readings: Psalm 123; Genesis 40:1-23; Luke 4:14-21; Acts 17:16-20; Psalm 70
As things quieted down for me a bit earlier this summer, I spent more time than usual catching up on my reading. I found myself reading a couple of books by Thomas Bandy. In those books, Bandy made an interesting observation. He noted that in many spiritual circles these days, folks have come to emphasize one paradigm for our spiritual lives to the expense of all others. That paradigm? A journey. Bandy says there isn’t necessarily anything wrong with the idea of one’s spiritual life continuing to grow and evolve for the duration of one’s life – nothing wrong with that at all! The only danger with using that paradigm exclusively, he points out, is that occasionally folks need to feel as if they have arrived - if only for a moment even - before they are asked to start back out on the road. Without such an experience of rest and renewal, people might eventually tired of the ongoing journey and get off the road. Today’s Gospel reading from Luke reminded me of Bandy’s point. In that passage, we hear the story of how Jesus entered the synagogue, read a piece of scripture, and then observed: “You’ve just head scripture make history. It came true just now in this place” (Luke 4:21 – The Message). In other words, Jesus invited his audience to step off the road and realize where they were at that moment. While the passage obviously has a strong christological focus (a focus on answering the question of who Jesus is), the passage also provides its audience – both then and now – with the opportunity to have an experience of completion: an experience that can provide us with a moment’s rest and renewal before we return to our journey of faith. Where are you at in your spiritual journey? Are you at a place where you could use a similar moment of completion and/or transformation to give you the rest and renewal necessary to return to your spiritual journey? If so, enter that experience by opening yourself to be transformed by that experience. Then – when you are ready – you can slip your sandals back on and return to your path. Til next time…
As things quieted down for me a bit earlier this summer, I spent more time than usual catching up on my reading. I found myself reading a couple of books by Thomas Bandy. In those books, Bandy made an interesting observation. He noted that in many spiritual circles these days, folks have come to emphasize one paradigm for our spiritual lives to the expense of all others. That paradigm? A journey. Bandy says there isn’t necessarily anything wrong with the idea of one’s spiritual life continuing to grow and evolve for the duration of one’s life – nothing wrong with that at all! The only danger with using that paradigm exclusively, he points out, is that occasionally folks need to feel as if they have arrived - if only for a moment even - before they are asked to start back out on the road. Without such an experience of rest and renewal, people might eventually tired of the ongoing journey and get off the road. Today’s Gospel reading from Luke reminded me of Bandy’s point. In that passage, we hear the story of how Jesus entered the synagogue, read a piece of scripture, and then observed: “You’ve just head scripture make history. It came true just now in this place” (Luke 4:21 – The Message). In other words, Jesus invited his audience to step off the road and realize where they were at that moment. While the passage obviously has a strong christological focus (a focus on answering the question of who Jesus is), the passage also provides its audience – both then and now – with the opportunity to have an experience of completion: an experience that can provide us with a moment’s rest and renewal before we return to our journey of faith. Where are you at in your spiritual journey? Are you at a place where you could use a similar moment of completion and/or transformation to give you the rest and renewal necessary to return to your spiritual journey? If so, enter that experience by opening yourself to be transformed by that experience. Then – when you are ready – you can slip your sandals back on and return to your path. Til next time…
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