J. Philip Newell has commented, “To look to God is not to look away from life but to look more deeply into it.” (LISTENING TO THE HEARTBEAT OF GOD, Paulist Press, p.48) Too many in our pews try to separate the Holy from the Secular; readings for the upcoming weekend seem to address the concept of God in All Things. Our prayer-life is a matter of basking in the holiness in and around us, tasting the joy of the morning blackbird’s song and being at one with the sea crashing “around the old eternal rocks”.
The prophet HOSEA can be a problem to read. Chapter 1 deals with his God-commanded marriage to a promiscuous woman and the ultimate birth of three children, each symbolically named. These represented the tawdry prostitution of the Israelites and their broken covenant, for which evils God planned to destroy them. “Hosea’s marital drama models the emotional life of the Lord’s experience with Israel, in sorrow, anger, and longing.” (Willis Jenkins, FEASTING on the WORD, C 3:270) Nature’s morality can’t be separated from that of YHWH. Gomer’s/Israel’s lovers to compete with God were many; have they changed over these centuries? BUT–verse 10 indicates God’s plan to someday restore these, that they’ll be called “children of the living God”.
I can understand why COLOSSIANS 2:6-19 could be called PSEUDO-Pauline. The passage reflects Paul’s theology of the crucifixion and resurrection, but gives very little instruction for our daily living. The disciple is encouraged, though, to put aside the footnotes of dietary habits and special secular festivals. The bottom line is that Christ Jesus IS in all things and continues a royal presence even in our own backyard!
How then shall we pray? Is there a special formula, a cache of holy words? Must we come at God with sweetness and soft tone (“O Dear Lord” or “I just wanna suggest..”)? Jesus’ disciples saw that other religious teachers taught their followers a learned prayer pattern–so Jesus taught them what we know today as “Our Lord’s Prayer”. Here was a reference to the unity of Creation: “on earth as it is in heaven”. Here also is acknowledgement of our basic needs, our “daily bread” measured out for today. Here too is an admission that the Tempter, the Evil One, continues to prowl around with enticing phrases…
Western (European-rooted) theology insists (durn ya, Augustine) in splitting the earthly from the heavenly. Yet there’s something holy in ALL things–a baby’s face, the morning fire–and these are worthy of being praised. The need, then, is to drop our own agendas and careful plans in order to fully appreciate God-in-all around and within us…”Lord of All, to Thee we raise this our hymn of grateful praise.”
In the process of unfolding, Horace Brown King
Join me at horacebrownking.com every Tuesday as we’re confronted by scripture passages to be read on the upcoming weekend.
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