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Maybe it’s the change in the air, or perhaps these chilly almost-fall mornings. Whatever, I find myself more thankful than usual for a nice place to live and a warm bed, sheltered from the elements and safe in the wilderness. Scriptures for this weekend deal with the richness of life in God and the warmth which comes from knowing that there’s One who takes care of our needs and provides just compensation for our response of service.

The story from the Hebrew Bible comes from Exodus 16, where the habiru/desert wanderers were wondering what was going to happen to them away from the security of slavery in Egypt. It says that they “murmered” against Moses & Aaron. YHWH heard them, and sent a flock of quail for their immediate relief, and the next morning showed them that the “fine, flake-like thing” was good as/better than bread. This stuff appeared EVERY morning until they reached the Promised Land! They called it MAN HU: “What Is It?”

Philippians 1:21-30 acknowledges that Paul himself is aware of his precarious situation at the caprice of the Roman Emperor. Is it better to keep living as long as I can, and preach & teach; or should I just accept death and go home to be with the Lord? Yet God has called him to deal with the “wilderness” and forego comfort for his friends. Paul exhorts his readers (and himself) to keep on living faithfully even in this imperfect world: “For [God] has graciously granted you the privilege not only of believing in Christ, but of suffering for him as well.” Can we identify the abundance in our daily deserts?

Ah, then one of Jesus’ amazing parables is reported in Matthew 20:1-16–we’re still building community here. You may be angry to remember the story of the vineyard owner who needed to harvest TODAY, and so he visited the public square labor pool early in the morning; and then at later times during the day. He told all his hires that they would get “the usual wages” (a denarius)–but they got sore when even the late workers got the same thing. Does God reward late-comers? Yes, whatever the hour. Does God restrict the early-birds? No, for “the heat of the day” brings its own reward of productivity for a good cause. Is life worth more than a denarius? Do we not all get our daily manna, just the abundance we need?

So, shall I leave all “MY” stuff and join the Bruderhof, holding all things in common? Can’t do it; I like my elitism of two cars and a pension. Will those oppressed by poverty & politics be given their daily bread, or will I have to yield my come-early advantage to a more-equitable wealth? Abundance: what IS it? Is God’s ethic always so complicated??

In the process of unfolding, Horace Brown King

My encounters with lessons assigned to the upcoming weekend can be found every Tuesday at this space on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com

The latest issue of SIERRA magazine lifted up a representative controversy: some were decrying the National Park Service for wiring “the wilderness” in order to increase cell-phone coverage. These were folks who wanted to get away from anything that would distract them from the loneliness of nature; as opposed to those who wanted to keep in touch with family & friends. This relates to today’s mask/non-mask decision of many who don’t really care if they’re spreading COVID or not, long as they’re safe themselves. The weekend’s Bible readings won’t be popular with rugged individualists–all three address the formation and responsibility of living within a community.

The Old Testament contains the story of the parting of the sea in order that the Hebrews could pass across to begin their Exodus wanderings; and vindictively includes the drowning of the pursuing Egyptian army (Exodus 14:19-31). Please be careful to not have a tailgate-party of “We won, You lost!”: these Egyptians had wives & children… The story is included as a formative narrative for the community that would become Israel, and as an acknowledgement that YHWH rescues the oppressed in whatever alien land they live.

Paul’s letter to the Romans continues to exhort people he’s never met to live in creative community with each other and within the (Evil?) Empire (14:1-12). The core of it to me is v.7: “We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves “. This is more than toleration, it involves extreme hospitality of mind as well as opening of our personal space! It seems that we’re all in it together, irregardless of how the world judges our worth. It’s hard to see those different from me through God’s eyes… Can we live in a community of faith with all these diverse backgrounds? “In Christ there is no place for self-centeredness, because as Christians our entire life ultimately is centered on Christ….We are all accountable not only to each other but ultimately to God.” (Jeanette A. Good in SOJOURNERS, A 4:67)

Our Gospel continues Matthew’s attempt to form his mostly-Jewish readers into a Christian community (18:21-35). This parable of Jesus, found only in this Gospel, is the story of the slave who owed his master more money than he could ever repay. The kind-hearted master heard the slave’s tearful begging–and forgave him the WHOLE AMOUNT. Outside, this same slave encountered another who owed him a relatively small debt–and he had him arrested and thrown into debtor’s prison! The Master found out about this and angrily had him tortured ’til he could pay the whole thing (never). An analogy about mercy and forgiveness, which Matthew remembered to remind us about the need for these in community-building. Forgiveness is a conscious attempt to let go of past abuses, and thus not be trapped in our own litany of resentment.

These readings are important in this high-tech age. Many of us prefer texting to phoning, Zooming to in-person meetings, virtual church services to face-to-face confession. It’s a matter of power: if we don’t want to be in community, just push a button and they’re gone! Despite wi-fi, I believe that God is calling us to be part of all the others–in Christ.

In the process of unfolding Horace Brown King

My encounter with Lessons assigned to the upcoming weekend can be found every Tuesday at this space on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com

Know it well, love is its meaning.  Who reveals this to you?  Love.  What does he reveal?  Love.  Why?  For Love.  Remain in this and you will remain in the same.        –Julian of Norwich, as quoted by Richard Rohr, in THE UNIVERSAL CHRIST, page 69.  Fr. Rohr goes on to say, “When we are truly  ‘in love’, we move out of our small, in-dividual selves to unite with another, whether in companionship, simple friendship, marriage, or any other trustful relationship.” (p. 70)  Announce that the theme of worship is “Love”, and pew-sitters will expect hearts ‘n’ flowers–surprise!

The Old Testament reading, Exodus 12:1-14, tells of the origins of Passover.  Important to the forming of the habiru/desert wanderers of Egypt into the People of Israel, this story unfortunately doesn’t much show love to the Egyptians.  Despite Joseph’s insight into hospitality, the text portrays a vengeful and nasty understanding of YHWH.  How can we make this “right”?  Richard Rohr, again: “the Crucified and Risen Christ uses the mistakes of the past to create a powerful future, a future of redemption instead of retribution.  He does not eliminate or punish the mistakes.  He uses them for  transformative purposes.”  (op.cit., page 72)

Paul continues his examples of the Christian Ethic in Romans 13:8-14.  “The commandments…are summed up in this word,  ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’.  Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.”  Doing our part in the mission of Christ is valid only as we interact with our neighbor in love.  Moreover, this interaction prepares the disciple for the ultimate fulfillment of the Kingdom:  the believer is urged to “live honorably”, putting aside selfish traits which will harm the community.  Is this a glimpse of Heaven?

Many individuals and congregations have misused Matthew 18:15-20.  Here Jesus tells us to communicate with each other–if there’s a problem, talk about it!  He warns that communities can be broken when conflicts or hurt feelings are allowed to fester–so here’s his formula for resolving tempests in teapots before they blow down the foundations!  “If another (member?) sins against you, go and point out the fault when you are alone.”  If no resolution happens, get a couple of mutual friends to intervene and come up with a compromise.  If still no mutual ground is reached, bring it to the attention of the whole faith-crew… and only then “let such a one be to you as a Gentile or a tax-collector”.  Even so, there’s always HOPE for the Gentiles, for the tax-collectors…and thus the offender is still offered the chance for restoration.

Loving ALL is difficult, a fact that should be acknowledged.  Broken friendships and hurt feelings happen every day;  just read the Advice Columns in your newspaper.  We who try to be disciples of Christ are no different:  the human condition is loaded with fragile egos.  Perhaps these readings will put these problems into a more loving perspective?  Valerie Bridgeman writes in SOJOURNERS (September/October 2020, p.48),  “We are called to live honorably, which means to love righteously by ‘putting Christ on’ and being the active love of God in the world by our deeds.”

In the process of unfolding                                  Horace Brown King

My ruminations on scripture passages assigned to the upcoming weekend can be found every Tuesday at this spot on Facebook or at horacebrownking.com

You probably remember the meme of a wall in Britain where the authorities had posted a sign, “Bill Stickers Will Be Prosecuted”.  And someone had added in chalk, “Let Bill Stickers Go!”  Many persons of responsibility and moral desire have recently looked about in despair at today’s abundance of selfishness,  exploitation and other chicanery:  where is Divine Justice?  Does God really hear and care?  “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”  Scripture lessons unveiled today present a God whose timetable of Justice is different than ours, perhaps because this God looks at the larger picture.

Our story from Exodus 3 is the familiar theophany of Moses and the Burning Bush.  Surprised as he is, Moses has the sense to listen to a Holy Voice:  “And now the cry of the People of Israel has come to me, and I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.”  Moreover, Moses himself has been chosen to be the instrument of release to these enslaved generations!  (“Who?  Me?”)  “Tell them I AM sent you.”  Divine Justice seems to work this way, using human partnership as a catalyst to right the wrongs and to co-create free nations on the far side of the desert…

After a whole long list of important holy-habits, Paul comforts the Romans with “Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.'” (Romans 12:19)–Moses’ words as the new nation of Israel is ready to occupy the Promised Land.   The exhortations which precede this tend to be the defining ethic which identifies the trusters in I AM: practitioners of these traits have already observed and subscribed to the hope of Divine Intervention in their community.  We’re to “play nice”–if Justice is due, God will eventually handle it.

Matthew’s Gospel, 16:21-28, tells how Peter–fresh from his epiphany about Jesus the Messiah–tries to dissuade Jesus from the Crucifixion.  Are you going against God, Peter?  “If any want to become my followers,  let them deny THEMSELVES and take up their [own] cross and follow ME.”  Again, God seeks out human partners for his daily remaking of society.  Disciples are those who follow God even to deserts where we often wonder how this is gonna turn out:  all we can do is trust that there’s a Plan in all this…

It’s hard for me to wait for Divine Justice in this age where greedy individualism and Might Makes Right seem acceptable and desirable.  My partnering with God often slips into a day-dream of anarchy.  Here’s hoping that the lectors of the weekend will pull me into a more patient frame.  Valerie Bridgeman reminds me that, “the only way to participate in God’s project is by overcoming evil with the good we do.  We must be willing to lose ourselves in God’s vision and be willing to lose our lives for the sake of it.  These words are radical and, frankly, scary.  Discipleship is costly,”(SOJOURNERS, August 2020, page 49)

In the process of unfolding,               Horace Brown King

Evidence of my encounter with scripture assigned to the upcoming weekend can be seen every Tuesday at this spot on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com

The first thing we invariably do when meeting a new person is to learn their name.  We feel that knowing their name tells us something about them; our nicknames often reflect a physical attribute or a habit–there’s Frugal Fred, Curly, Stretch, and The Baron.  We name our pets and sometimes our vehicles.  We spend a great deal of anguished time selecting names for our children.  The Bible has many instances of special names, sometimes changed to denote an encounter with God:  Saul/Paul, Jacob/Israel.  It’s a great compliment–and responsibility–to be named by someone!  What will this mean for our lives?

Having safely delivered the Children of Abraham to Egypt, we resume the narrative some generations later, in Exodus 1:8-2:10.  The liturgist may well wish to summarize this story about the persecution of the Hebrews and the birth of Moses.  The verse which sprang out at me was the last, where the daughter of Pharoah named the child Moses, meaning that she “drew him out” of the water.  ‘Course, in later years YHWH drew him out of slavery, along with the other habiru/desert wanderers, and established the new community of God’s People on a long journey to the Land of Promise.

Naming is a process of discernment of just who this is, and Paul addresses this in Romans 12:1-8.  “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God–what is good and acceptable and perfect.”  The following moral expectations will help define the Person of God to the outside (Gentile?) world, and will also help the believer to bear the name of the holy.  We note that the “transformation” is not accomplished by our intent, but is an occasion of external Grace–a naming by God.  As Pastor Michelle asks during prayer-time, “Where have you seen God in your life this week?”

“Who do you say that I am?”, Jesus asks the Disciples in Matthew 16:15.  What do people call me?  and what do YOU call me?  Here is the ultimate identification.  The unclean spirits, John the Baptizer and the Samaritan villagers at the well all ascribed authority and right teaching to Jesus, but it remained for Peter to name Jesus as the Messiah, “the son of the living God”.  And then Jesus announces that this sort of inspiration is the true foundation of the Church which he himself will build!  (Whew, I’m glad that’s off MY shoulders!)  Later believers used such an affirmation, “Jesus is Lord”, as a password to their worship gatherings.  What name do we carry to others?

There’s a country-western song that says, “You’ll know you’re just a number if she never calls your name”.  In the Sacrament of Infant Baptism we announce what God has done/is doing in a particular and specific life.  In many rites of the Church we name the person, and thus value them.  In evening shadows, a respected Parent stands at the door and summons us by name to come into the light and warmth.  We long for a place Where Everybody Knows Your Name…

In the process of unfolding                              Horace Brown King

My search for meaning in scriptures assigned to the upcoming weekend can be observed every Tuesday at this spot on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com

I’m a traditionalist.  I like holiday customs, Christmas cards and pumpkins.  I like the little things families do just because we’ve always done it this way.  In church, I like credos and liturgy; I like processions and music from long ago.  Yet I also reluctantly realize that some of these things which define who I am may serve as barriers to others who would like to get closer, but fear my prejudices.  And there are many.  Scriptures for this upcoming weekend speak about human barriers to God–and about how God bestows Grace anyway….

In Genesis 45 (1-15) we come to some sort of climax to the story of how the Children of Abraham went to Egypt.  The sons of Jacob were amazed to find that their brother Joseph, whom they had sold into slavery lo these many years, was now the chief muckety-muck of the super-power which they feared!  “Uh-oh”, said they with wide eyes.  But Joseph said to them, “Do not be distressed, or angry with yourselves because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life.”  These desert wanderers in this alien and opulent country were hearing about their tribal divinity and how this grace appears where you least expect it!  No longer was there a fence between cultures, races and traditions of worship…

Paul spends much of Romans grieving over the fact that many of his people (the Jews) rejected Jesus as the Christ.  Were they forever condemned?  In Chapter 11, verse 29, he says,  “But the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable”.  Can there yet be hope for those whom we consider beyond the fence?  Paul’s whole mission to the Gentiles affirms his conviction that God hasn’t let them unattended, despite the traditions of the Israelites.  Martha C. Highsmith reminds us that “the peoples’ rejection of God does not lead to God’s rejection of the people….Nothing we do can convince God to let go of us.” (FEEDING on the WORD, A 3:352)  What an amazing inclusion for the Church of Today!

Matthew’s Gospel presents us with two instances of going beyond the tradition in 15:10-20 and again in 21-28.  Jesus speaks of food laws by implying that what we eat isn’t nearly as important as what we say:  “it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but it is what comes out of the mouth that defiles”.  To explore this further, he takes his followers to the toxic wasteland of Tyre & Sidon, where no good Jew would be caught dead.  Even in this alien land he’s met by a woman seeking healing: one of “those sinners” who reminds Jesus (and us) of the wall-busting nature of God’s love.  What would it mean to the world if contemporary disciples went to these front-lines?

There are so many announced or assumed fences that keep would-be worshipers away:  homophobia, dress-codes and the fear of female leadership…  Previous generations excluded smokers, drinkers & gamblers.  Must I now look at a person’s soul instead of their outward trappings?  “Grace is God’s alone to offer, and God offers it, it seems, to all people–the Jew and the Gentile, the ins and the outs, the faithful and the disobedient.” (Highsmith, ibid., p.354)  Thanks be to God!

In the process of unfolding,               Horace Brown King

My understandings of lessons assigned to the upcoming weekend can be found every Tuesday at this  spot on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com

We’re reminded of that time-worn story about two sets of footprints on the beach:  when the writer couldn’t walk farther, Jesus carried her.  Recent times have brought much anxiety, especially when we wonder if our daily life will ever look like it once did.  Many of us have tossed and turned and asked if God has moved away; our late-night terrors sneer at us and tell us that there’s nothing left.  Has the sky fallen?  Has such wide-spread despair ever happened before?

The story of Joseph’s arrogance and brotherly comeuppance is read in Genesis 37, focusing on verses 12 to 28.  The reason for the story is to keep the narrative flowing, to explain how the Children of Abraham got to Egypt and to set up the Exodus, the central foundation of Israel.  The Story Teller could make a case for mercy and good intentions as the brothers decided not to kill Joseph; implied here is a sense of a Divine Hand in the whole proceeding.

Paul’s writings in Romans 10:5-15 continue his attempts to speak logic into illogical material.  This text quotes liberally from Deuteronomy 30, reminding the reader that “the word is near you,  on your lips and in your heart”.  Paul is exhorting the Roman audience to live actually believing in Christ, more than an intellectual affirmation such as one would make about the Emperor.  And the good news is that this is all-inclusive: “EVERYONE who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved”.  This concludes with the admonition to be a Christ-bearer with this welcome message.

Matthew’s Gospel narrative is the story of Jesus walking on the water–included in Mark and John, where it lacks the foray of Peter attempting to join him.  The storm-blown disciples are tired & discouraged, which may in a way explain their fright.  Yet just when they need saving most, here he came–not around the tempest, but right through it!  Peter was OK until he acknowledged the ferocity of the wind ‘n’ waves; then he remembered that he couldn’t do this–and sure enough, he couldn’t!  Happy ending, though:  Jesus kept Peter afloat despite his vacillation,  and calmed the head-winds which had so distressed the others.

Perhaps these can be encouraging words to church-folk desperate to hear that God is still in town.  Perhaps these can still my desolations of the wee hours in my gloomy bedroom.  And perhaps these passages will speak courage to the world which feels that the current malevolence is worse than it’s ever been.  Through it all, “Jesus is Lord”!  And he’s closer than you think…

In the process of unfolding,                          Horace Brown King

My journey through the storms of scripture assigned to the upcoming weekend can be found every Tuesday at this spot on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com

Most of us have certain places where we remember something significant, perhaps an epiphany.  I’ve consecrated the apple tree in the yard of the house where I grew up, where I thought Great Thoughts in my boyhood; also the corner of campus where I proposed to my wife.  That special overlook of the Library balcony.  My first church.  It’s good to memorialize special spots where our lives have re-tracked.  Ancient Celtic hermits sought out and revered these Thin Places where God could be seen face-to-face. The lessons of this weekend remember sacred events and places where God has chosen to interact with people.

We’ve been looking at the Book of Beginnings/Genesis all Summer, to remember and acknowledge a holy hand in the lives of our spiritual ancestors.  Here in this 32nd chapter, we find Jacob the rogue and swindler returning to the land of his birth after many years.  He and his two wives–Leah & Rachel–and eleven children pause at the Jabbok wadi, a seasonal stream flowing into the Jordan.  As he spends the night in worry, he wrestles with God and receives a new name:  Israel, translated by some as “God Rules”.  Here is a Thin Place where the Old gives way to the New.

St. Paul also wrestles with his God-problem in Romans 9.  As we read the first five verses, we recognize Paul’s grief that so many of the Israelites were missing the gracious gift of Jesus as the Christ.  He remembers, undoubtedly, the Thin Place on the way to Damascus where his own life was entered and changed. So many of us remember our own world-changing theophanies and grieve that our children or friends don’t seem to have had such experiences.  Not giving up, Paul continues to place his kinfolk in God’s hands; why then should we not tell our own stories and the stories of the faith?

Matthew’s Gospel (14:13-21) continues to tell us about the gracious feeding of 5000-plus in “a desolate place”.  Was the place itself desolate, or the people involved?   People have a habit of becoming desolate, and that’s where Grace often finds them!  A greater miracle than even the displayed abundance was the willingness of God to meet and refresh the crowd in this thin place.  Matthew’s audience cringed away from the wilderness, remembering their refining at Sinai and also Jesus’ temptations.  Can God break in even in the suspicious desert?   So why wouldn’t God break into the times when I’ve been arid and alone??

Thin Places are alternatives to the busyness of living.  We can’t be there ALL the time, as we’ve learned from hermits.  After the mountain-top refreshing we have to return to level ground. But we’ve been changed, and need to tell the others all about it.  Where are those holy spots where the Hound of Heaven has prevailed and re-named you?  Where have you been called aside by the Burning Bush?

In the process of unfolding,                    Horace Brown King

Read about God’s confronting me with scriptures assigned to the coming weekend every Tuesday at this spot on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com

Marie and I have enjoined, from time to time, in dabbling in Antiques (and Junque).  Trouble is, we never had enough storage or sales-space to get involved in furniture; so we settled for small stuff–cups ‘n’ saucers, miniature paintings, jewelry…    Some things are delightfully magnificent, while others feature minor enchantments for which you need to look.  Scripture this week addresses the daily pleasures which often times pass by unnoticed.  Can God be seen in the little details?

Why is Genesis 29:15-30 included?  This is the story of Jacob working seven years for Rachel’s father as a dowry; and it turned out that his bride was LEAH, the older and less attractive sister.  No matter; Jacob worked ANOTHER seven years to pay for Rachel, so he married both sisters…Good God!  The story is important in that it fills in the narrative of holy-history with the children of Abraham.   Some will try to talk about Jacob’s faith in Laban–but this is weak.  Chicanery seems to have been a gene in that family:  the pool is getting shallow.

Romans 8:26-39 reflects Paul’s faith that no matter how often the sky falls, no matter how distorted life gets, God can’t be beaten.  “In all these things [hardship, distress, persecution, death itself] we are more than conquerors through [Jesus] who loved us.”  Pandemic-quarantined persons are feeling very separated from their friends, their work-places and life as it once was; yet God in Christ prevails.  This passage is a firm “NO!” to the grief and chaos all around.   “We shall overcome someday…”

The Gospel (Matthew 13:31ff) continues the telling of Jesus’ parables.  “The kingdom of heaven is like…”  A mustard seed.  A pinch of yeast.  A discovered treasure.  A pearl of lustrous perfection.  You know–little everyday things.  He’s telling us to envision God in every nook ‘n’ cranny:  if God can use mustard seeds and a smidgen of yeast to grow the kingdom, we need to keep our eyes open for the common and perhaps neglected.  These parables demand a decision to honor the “lost and the least”.  Who knows?  Maybe you’ll discover a treasure!

In Ordinary Time, we read of how Jesus honored ordinary things.  The extravagant miracles are nice, of course–but God’s Kingdom is likened to everyday material.  Maybe the Kingdom is hidden in the homeless and dirty grief-paralyzed person down the street.  Maybe the Kingdom is hidden in YOU!

In the process of unfolding,                                   Horace Brown King

My encounter with scripture assigned to the upcoming weekend can be found every Tuesday at this  spot on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com

I’m not a patient guy.  Just ask the driver ahead of me at the light at the intersection.  Just ask my wife!  (No, better not)  I can’t understand why the “evil” people scattered among us don’t get their comeuppance.  Everywhere I turn, headlines and breaking news describe plagues & pandemics, famine & drought.  Environmental and health laws are being discarded right & left!  Economic “recovery” seems to be more important than common-sense quarantine.  Materialism, selfishness, arrogance…  O Lord, break the heavens and come down and straighten out Creation!  Where IS God, and for what does God wait?  So these lessons for the weekend are for me; you can listen in if you want to.

The Genesis story, 28:10-19, is about Jacob–who was not a good guy.  He had coerced his twin brother Esau into trading his right as first-born for a dish of stew; he had tricked his blind father Isaac into giving him the family blessing; and now he was on the lam from their wrath to find him a wife among his kinfolk.  Why didn’t lightning strike him dead?  God musta seen some possibility in him:  in his vision of the great “ladder” filled with God’s messengers coming and going, God promises Jacob the land and many descendants:  “I will not leave you until I have done that of which I have spoken to you”.  Evidently God was still at work.

In Romans 8:12-25, St. Paul addresses our wait “with groaning”:  “if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience”.  Well, I want to see NOW what’s coming, I’m ready NOW for the ultimate harvest.  “What you see is what you get”  has been my motto.  But transformation is rarely an overnight event:  growth happens sunrise/sunset.  “In some instances the one who hopes may be the only one with the courage to endure the suffering of the present.” (David M. Greensaw, in FEASTING on the WORD, A 3:256)  And, “This is an era in which Christians…can understand ourselves to be an alternative community to the destructive ways of life embraced by the larger culture.”  (Blair Alison Pogue, op.cit., page 259)

Jesus is still telling parables in Matthew’s Gospel, 13:24-30.  Some evil enemy has scattered weed-seeds in the well-started field of a wheat farmer.  These weeds even look like the Real Thing; but they’re not.  “Let’s rip ’em out today, before they get any bigger and out of control.”  No; no, let them grow, and don’t disturb the good stuff.  My human side rebels:  how can God stand all this imperfection??   Evidently God is still at work, hoping against hope that more good than evil will come from this field.

One of the roles of the Church is to polish diamonds in the rough.  Most of us have our success-stories of the Broken Ones who’ve become Whole.  These lessons each demand of us that we not rush God, who’s incrementally refining and reclaiming what my impatience has called Junk.  Even the weeds…

In the process of unfolding,                   Horace Brown King

My pondering over scripture readings assigned to the upcoming weekend can be found every Tuesday at this spot on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com