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When we lived in Scranton, years ago, the zoo at Nay Aug Park received a new elephant to replace old Tillie, who passed to wherever faithful elephants go.  The zoo and newspapers immediately started a campaign to “Name the Elephant”.  This would have been a better story if I could remember  the winning name!   Scriptures for this coming weekend deal with restoring breaks in relationships, whether one-on -one or in the greater community.  We’ve been taught to be proper, non-offensive and polite–with the consequence that we’re unwilling to recognize the elephant in the room.

Ezekiel follows the rules for prophetic preaching:  he identifies a break with God AND then offers a positive alternative.  The oracle which we call Chapter 33:7-11 could be seen as a “turn or burn” ranting…or it can find use in the disciple’s daily intersection with others.  Many of us feel uncomfortable with being a “sentinel” for the community: “Who am I to instruct others?”  But Yahweh takes no delight in the death of the wicked, “but [hopes] that the wicked turn from their ways and live”.   Further, Ezekiel claims that this actually MATTERS to Yahweh!  Who will name the elephant?

Paul exhorts the Roman Church to the responsibilities of community:  “The commandments…are summed up in this word, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'” (Romans 13:9)  Wake up!  Put aside the works of darkness!  And first we have to admit to what these are.  As transformed and growing toward Perfection,  the faithful friends are to encourage society to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.” (13:14)  Elephants near here?

The worshiping Church to which Matthew wrote may well have had unpleasant arguments within.  This unique portion of the Gospel (18:15-20)  gives guidelines to resolving inner conflicts:  point out the fault when alone, one on one;  if conflict endures, take two or three friends to help negotiate a settlement; if the friction persists, bring it to the floor of the congregation.  And if the problem continues, ONLY THEN put the offender out of the community.  But it’s better to Name the Elephant than to pretend to be nice, all the time backbiting and whispering!  Now THOSE are things that destroy health in the church!

Pointing out problems needn’t be anger driven; level headed persons can talk it through and name the elephant in the room before anger and spite develop.  None of us will ever see eye to eye with everyone–but if concerns can be named and addressed speedily, less friction and pouting will occur….  This is part of putting on the Lord Jesus Christ.

God Bless Us, Every One                          Horace Brown King

My thoughts about scripture readings assigned to the upcoming weekend can be found every Tuesday at this space on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com

As an Old Preacher, my life for the last fifty-plus years has been driven by the words I’ve written & spoken.  As a would-be sage, I wonder if any of such words have come to roost in the minds & souls of those I’ve touched.  Late-night turbulence brings my alter ego, who reminds me that I’m not particularly important, so why should anyone mark  my rants and outbursts.  Daylight calls me once more to the awful realization that phrases I offer to harm or heal call me to accountability both to God and to the greater community surrounding.  Scripture passages for this weekend slap me for my ignorance.  You can listen in, if you’d like…

Jeremiah 15:15-21 is particularly troublesome:  the prophet laments the limited results of his hard and faithful work in behalf of God.  And God answers (v.19),  “If you turn back, I will take you back, and you shall stand before me.  If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless, you shall serve as my mouth.  It is they who will turn to you, not you who will turn to them.”   Utter what is precious?  But I’m a teller of jokes, a buffoon FULL of worthless words!  Is this why my acquaintances welcome me indifferently, but hope I’ll go away soon?  Have I anything “precious” to share with others?  I need to pull ‘way back…

Ah, well, enough about me.  Paul, in Romans 12:9-21, gives LOTS of possible precious moments:  Let love be genuine; be ardent in spirit; be present in suffering and persevere in prayer; extend hospitality….and one especially for me, “do not claim to be wiser than you are.”  This passage continues to be the mission statement, our vision for Christian living.  Ben Franklin suggests that when you have such a list of virtues, practice just one each week–and by the time you get to the bottom, you’ll have to start again from the top!  Yep…

The Gospel remembers the humanity of Peter as he responded to Jesus in behalf of all of us:  “God forbid it, Lord!  This must never happen to you.” (Matthew 16:22)  This was the same guy who shortly before this had confessed Jesus to be the Christ!  Here was an ambivalence of words which Jesus respectively affirmed and rebuked, those which were earlier categorized as “precious” and “worthless”.  I can’t say anything about Peter:  he’s ME.

So I guess I’ve gotta refine my speech, concentrating on the precious and abandoning the worthless.  This is hard, since my whole life is recognized for the trivial and the silly.  Maybe with God’s help I can yield that which is meaningful, instead of rushing up to folks with my latest pun…  Lord, help my words of today to be sweet and tender; tomorrow I may have to eat them!

God Bless Us, Every One                           Horace Brown King

My wrestling with scripture texts for the upcoming weekend can be found every Tuesday at this spot on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com

New students at Hogwarts School of Magic are assigned to one of the four houses– Gryffindor, Slitherin, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw –by the discernment of the Sorting Hat.  It may simplify the old question of “Who Am I”;  I wish I had one of those hats!  Scriptures for this weekend address the concept of Discernment, and may help us affirm Who Jesus Is and, on the way, Who WE Are.

Isaiah of Babylon speaks to the remnant of Israel in Exile.  These are conflicted folks: the elders are nostalgic for “the old ways, the old country”, their memories polished and gladdened by the passing of years; and a newer generation accustomed to the relative glitz and glamor of the metropolis.  “Listen to ME”, Yahweh calls (Isaiah 51: 1,4).  Those who pursue righteousness will see justice as a beacon to all nations.  A beacon is  a non-moving light mounted on a recognizable location which re-established direction when clouds confuse the traveler.  Despite the storm, Yahweh’s salvation will be forever, “and my deliverance will never be ended.”(v.6)

St. Paul calls the exiles among his contemporaries to “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.” (Romans 12:2)  This discernment of God in our midst will lead to non-conformity:  standing for ethical integrity when everyone else is being naughty.   This can be tough:  discernment probably will set us up against friends and neighbors, family and peers.  Psalm 138 reminds us that “Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies; you stretch out your hand, and your right hand delivers me.”

“[Jesus] asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’   And they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’  He said to them, ‘But who do YOU say that I am?'” (Matthew 16:13-15)  Well??  Much of the “secular” world affirms Jesus as teacher & healer, some as a true prophet–but do you really claim that he’s the CHRIST, Immanuel, God With Us?  As Peter makes this Credo on behalf of the Church through the ages, Jesus reminds him and us that such discernment is heaven-sent alone.

In the noise of Babylon, we need a Sorting Hat to separate the useful from the profane.  Even better, God’s persistent call –and invitation –reassures each pilgrim that the Faith Community is larger than we often think; and that a Holy Presence IS discernible however deep the valley.

God Bless Us, Every One                     Horace Brown King

My thoughts about Scripture assigned for the upcoming weekend can be found every Tuesday at this spot on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com

In the side yard of the house in which I grew up was a large apple tree.  Too old to produce much fruit, it’s main purpose in life was to serve as a fortress for neighborhood boys.  Some days as many as 6 or 7  kids sat on or hung from its branches.   We tried to figure a way to build a Tree House, but our engineering skills were lacking.  Some of our friends had similar apple trees and HAD built tree houses.  But what’s this?  Crude signs announced, “No Gurls Alowed”.  Biblical explorations for this coming weekend address our private and public sins of exclusion–so relevant after the ugly event in Charlottesville.

The Hebrew Scripture lifts up Isaiah 56:1,6-8:  Yahweh brings even the “foreigners” to the Holy Mountain, will accept their offerings and sacrifices as well, “for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.”   God actively GATHERS the outcasts!  No conversion, no spiritual surgery is required; everyone is sheltered under a salvation-promise to those who “maintain justice, and do what is right”.  Wendel W. Meyer offers that “a just and righteous response [to God’s gracious welcome] demands that we look deeply into the inner workings of our minds and hearts to identify and dismantle those internal mechanisms that cause us to demean and dismiss others”.  (FEEDING on the WORD, A 3:343)

St. Paul wonders aloud how his birth-people, the Hebrews, are going to fit into God’s scheme, since they have reservations about Jesus being Messiah. (Romans 11:1-2, 29-32)  He comes to the happy conclusion that “the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable”, and that it’s impossible to fall from Grace!  (Most of us are glad to hear it, although some still cling to a hope of retribution.)   Martha C. Highsmith shares a few bon mots:  “In the scandal of grace, we receive God’s good gifts in spite of ourselves….the people’s rejection of God does not lead to God’s rejection of the people….Nothing we do can convince God to let go of us.” (ibid., p351ff)

Matthew’s Gospel (15:21-28) is the puzzling story of Jesus and the Canaanite woman:  she wanted her daughter’s demon to go away, but Jesus was reluctant to minister to a non-Jewish person.  After conversation, though, he does what she requests despite her “foreign” status.  Many sermons have been constructed to psyche-out Jesus/the situation/a teaching moment.  But the bottom line is that God through Christ heals and hears all people, in whatever circumstance. (This was probably shocking to Matthew’s traditionally Jewish audience!)

Caution!!  If you really buy into this, welcoming the outcast and the alien and the immigrant WILL change your life, no doubt about it!  There may well be a mosque built down the street.  The pink-haired kid next door probably will play hip-hop music.  Loudly.  The widow down the block will crowd the street with the vehicles of her hourly gentlemen callers.   AND some gurls could clamber up to your apple-tree hideaway…

God Bless Us, Every One                   Horace Brown King

My thoughts about prescribed lessons for the upcoming weekend can be found every Tuesday at this spot on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com

“(Moan)  Gloom, despair and agony on me…     Deep dark depression, excessive misery…    If it weren’t for bad luck then I’d have no luck at all…    Gloom, despair and agony on me.”   Unless we’re blind and deaf, or a hermit, it’s pretty hard not to be dejected by the world around us.  Scripture readings for this weekend help answer our frustrated question of “God, where ARE you?”, and remind us to give our attention to the daily Presence which “over and around us lies”.

It helps us a bit to know that even Elijah, that holiest of prophets, had his own times of world-weariness (I Kings19:9-18).   Fearing for his life and disgusted with his soul, Elijah runs blindly to Mt. Horeb/Sinai, in an echo of Moses’ great experience with God.  In contrast to wind, earthquake & fire, God drew near him in the sound of deep silence.  Despite these awe-inspiring events, Elijah clings to his self-denigration:  “I alone am left…”  The God Who Draws Near reassures him & us that there’s still a remnant of the faithful left, and that holy-history still goes on.

Paul, writing to a Gentile audience in the Letter to the Romans (10:5-15), does a lot of quoting from Hebrew scripture, namely Deuteronomy 30.  “The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart.”  We don’t need to search heaven or harrow hell to reach the Christ, for holiness is in our own hearts and mouths!  This is good news because it frees us from heroic “mission”and spiritual acrobatics to just be receptors of the God who continues to break into our souls and claim divinity there.

There are probably a thousand sermons to be preached on Matthew’s famous story about Jesus walking on the water.  What springs out at me today is the idea that Jesus comes to the disciples even as their boat was battered.  Just when they needed him most, when matters had become more than they could handle, Jesus came to them!  And focusing on holiness, Peter could also walk on the water–until he noticed the wind, which reminded him that he was human, after all…  “What causes us to sink?” was the question from the lectionary group.  My response looked a lot like the Seven Deadly Sins; I’m painfully aware of my lead shoes.  Even in our diminished faith, Jesus is still nearby.

These two stories and Paul’s commentary give us some comfort in knowing that even the most saintly among us have their moments of terror and blindness to God’s Presence at hand.  Yet they move from despair to new strengths:  it seemed to the disciples as though the wind ceased!  And Elijah continued to trouble the adherents of Baal.  Happy ending?  Not entirely, for crosses & a chariot of fire await.  BUT  faith is renewed, weak hands are strengthened and God comes to all of us in critical times.  Thanks be to God!

God Bless Us, Every One                          Horace Brown King

{PS:  too good to omit.   A guy approaches a marina on the Sea of Galilee and asks to rent a boat for an hour or two.  “I have a boat,” the owner says, “but it’ll cost you $100.”  “A hundred bucks!!  Most places charge only $20 per hour!”   “Yes,” agrees the boatman, “but this is a very special sea, where Jesus walked on water!”  “I can see why,” remarked our hero.  “At those rates, he probably couldn’t afford a boat!”}

My thoughts about scripture readings for the upcoming weekend can be found every Tuesday at this space on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com

We humans are a suspicious lot.  If we see a sign “Free Puppies”, we figure there must be something wrong with them.   What’s the tricky motive behind giving away free food & clothing at the Thursday night’s Shepherd’s Supper?  We’ve seen the motto, “There’s no such thing as a free lunch”.  The Scripture lessons we’re presented with this weekend fly in the face of our need to pay for everything, our need to control our independence even from God.

Isaiah 55:1-5 (and beyond) towers like Mt. Ararat over the Caucasian highlands.  Counter-cultural to both Testaments, it spins images of a prodigal God, a perfect gift and empowered recipients.  “EVERYONE who thirsts, come to the waters…come, buy wine and milk WITHOUT money and WITHOUT price!”   The only admission to the Banquet is a heart-felt yearning to be involved in it.  What does this say to Hebrew contemporaries of Isaiah about sacrifices and sin-offerings?  What does this say to present-day Christians about deeds of penance?  Or doctrines of Atonement??

Romans 9:1-5 is Paul’s lament that his fellow Hebrews are missing out on the gracious gift of participating in God through Christ.  He has “great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart” because the Israelites have come so close…  From them has come the Messiah who is over all–yet most have chosen to set the gift on a closet shelf.  Twenty-First Century  church people may likewise be dismayed at the widespread distrust of God’s Gifts.  If I accept them, will I relinquish my freedom to choose?  Will I lose my “independence”?  Yep.  Sorry, Frank, you can’t do it your way.

The Gospel according to Matthew (14:13-21) remembers the story about Jesus feeding a gigantic crowd with meager rations.  It takes place in “a deserted place” where many of the devout would feel uncomfortable; the wilderness reminds them of wandering homeless, rebellious and tempted.  “The desert raises profound questions about the source of human meaning and identity, security and sustenance.” (Iwan Russell-Jones, in FEASTING on the WORD, A 3:308)  The riff-raff is fed only because God loves them–and there’s still  twelve baskets of left-overs to distribute to all the Tribes!  The Disciples were thinking in commercial terms of buying provisions; Jesus spoke in radical terms of GIVING them what they needed…  Jesus told them to dream bigger, outside the box.  As the Disciples made the distribution they also realized their own roles in the Kingdom.

Once again Holy Writ stands over and against the prevailing wisdom.  It’s gonna be hard to relinquish our stores of provisions for old-age security.  In the desert we don’t think there’ll be enough to go ’round.  Besides, nice capitalists like us should always pay our own way, assuming we’re gods and don’t need the charity of  grace.  Yet the word still is shouted over the midway, “Come & Get It!”  Without money?  Without price?

This season of the Christian Year seems to be dedicated to Kingdom parables, which is OK.  The danger is in assigning human criteria to heavenly realms:  quick reading of these passages could simplify “Heaven” as for only The Good on Earth, thus sending those others to Hell in a handcart.  (Thanks so much, John Milton & John Bunyan!)   Readings heard on this upcoming weekend deal not only with the “binary ethic” but also with the grace of living in expectation of God’s intentional love.

Some of this steadfast warmth is portrayed in a story from the First Book of Kings:  Yahweh took the initiative of approaching young Solomon with the offer of a gift to reward his devotion (3:5-12).  Solomon wisely asked for “an understanding mind to govern your people, able to discern between good and evil…”  Pleased with this, Yahweh confirmed Solomon as the Wise King whose deliberations were legendary.  Heather Murray Elkins suggests that this story is Biblical because it calls later communities–Exiles of many generations–to recall that God gladly lavishes the capacity for wise choices on receptive people.

Romans 8:26-39 is one of my favorites, once I read past “predestination” and “God’s elect”, phrases which have been misconstrued badly over the years.  But “who will separate us from the love of Christ?  Hardship, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril or sword?”  Or predestination?  “No, in all these things we are MORE than conquerors through him who loved us!”  NOTHING in Creation separates us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord!  Universal salvation?  That’s God’s dream!  So who you callin’ a bad fish??

Matthew’s recording of Jesus’ parables continues with more similes of the Kingdom (13:31-33, 44-52).  Grace comes with waiting, Pastor Michelle says:  tiny seeds eventually grow huge plants, microscopic spores of yeast make the bread rise in a while.  The Kingdom of Heaven is so priceless that all of our other possessions, even fine pearls,  pale in comparison.  I have a lot of trouble with the image of angels sorting fish in End Times and throwing some into the Inferno.  But I guess that’s God’s prerogative and not mine…

These lessons could degenerate into a fruitless discussion of Who’s In & Who’s Out.  I’d rather see bowed heads looking upward and slouched shoulders rise in new confidence.  Weeping can turn to joy, and slack hands can be strong again!  The Kingdom of Heaven has drawn near!

God Bless Us, Every One!                Horace Brown King

My hopes and fears about scripture lessons assigned to the upcoming weekend can be found every Tuesday at this space on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com

Bindweed is a smooth operator.  It masquerades as morning-glories, and is welcome until I find that there are few blossoms AND that it’s choking my broccoli and tomatoes.  It grows overnight, just like Jack’s beanstalk; today’s three-inch tendrils wave saucily where last night was but empty ground.  It infiltrates my orderly vegetables and happily displays its plan to own the entire garden….  Where is Homeland Security?  Scriptures this weekend attempt to replant hope in the soul- gardens of those weary with identifying and excising the tawdry among the turnips.

“Well,” says God through Isaiah, “here you are in Babylon.  But do not fear, or be afraid; have I not told you from of old and declared it?  You are my witnesses!  Is there any god besides me?”  (44:8)  Tell us again a story of personal bravery, of a community regathered around its common faith; we’d half forgotten.  There are so many unlike us growing alongside; without belittling the other plants, how do we maintain our belief and worship, our understanding of God’s mercy?  As Chaplain Jan Abel says, “Who am I to call a plant a weed?”

Romans 8:12-25 is much too profound a passage to treat all at once.  If I were into “sermon series”, I’d take this verse by verse for many weeks.  Three major things are happening–first, Paul calls believers to accept their adoption by God and thus believe that they have become heirs of the Kingdom; second, that “suffering” goes with the turf, “for the creation was subjected to futility” (v.20); and thirdly, that “in hope we were saved” (v.24) .  This hope is all we can cling to, considering how radically different the values of our surrounding society appear…  When is a weed not a weed?

Which brings us to the Gospel parable, Matthew 13:24ff.  How did all these weeds get in our wheat-field?  If we rip them out now, the whole crop will be lost!  Maybe if we tolerate ’em until end-time, God will sort out the Good from the Bad.  The danger here is grave:  if we subscribe (as Paul does) to this binary universe, there’s no room for Grace.  Calvin constructed a useable system to explain the controversial:  we’re Good, they’re Bad (too simple for me).  What do we do with the guys who ate meat on Friday?  Or the tax-collectors?

I’m often puzzled about how much to assert my counter-cultural ethic.  Especially as I’m trying hard to be inclusive to those who’re “different”.  How wide can the Church grow while still being identified as the Church?  Should I be less harsh on the bindweed?   The Good News is that almost every year SOME vegetable or flower appears in the “wrong” place that I haven’t planted there…  So when is a weed not a weed?  When it’s a tomato!   (Now, can I give you some mint?  It’s about to eat all the chives…)

God Bless Us Every One                       Horace Brown King

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

My parents planted vegetables in neat, very straight rows.  This works fine for beans and peas, and maybe cabbage.  But since carrot-seeds and those of turnips are so tiny,  I’d rather broadcast them over a 3 x 5 bed and thin them “later” (which probably won’t happen).  This weekend’s scriptures glorify One who provides seed and distributes it lavishly, without distinction.

Isaiah of Babylon reminds the captive Israelites of God’s abundance:  the earth is watered, making crops grow, “giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater”.   If Goodness is designed into these natural cycles, so in time shall the homesick find a return to their land.  Is nothing wasted?  “So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:10-11)  These are words which gladden my penny-pinching heart:  there seems to be enough to go ’round, however unlikely the recipients may be…

Psalm 65:9ff is usually used at rogation or harvest or Thanksgiving; but its images of the Creator visiting Creation with an overflow of care can well fit here.

Romans 8:1-11 doesn’t mention seed at all.  Don’t get hung up on Paul’s dichotomy of Good & Evil, but let the Gospel of “sending [God’s] own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh {?}” shine forth.  As with Good Seed, everything of value comes from God, and the initiative is God’s.  Reform theology maintains that Faith is human response to the Grace already set forth by a Divine hand.

“A sower went out to sow, ” begins Jesus’ parable in Matthew 13:3b.  No neat rows here: a lavish hand broadcast holy morsels all over!  The hard-packed path, the gravel raked to the side of the field, the bramble-patch all got seeded, along with the fertile ground.  Some seed just didn’t take, since conditions were so poor.  But the seed that grew–WOW!  Never in all my days did I expect a crop like THAT!  Bushels of abundance is what this parable advertises, and Jesus reminds his followers to live expecting such.  Casting seed can bring heartache when it falls upon unyielding ground, yet we take a risk and celebrate whatever growth comes.

Gardening is risky.  We hope that those little flakes held over from last year will turn into something amazing!  “Every turnip green, every kidney bean, every plant grows according to the plot.”  May you realize when the seed is nearly grown just what was sown…

God Bless Us, Every One                           Horace Brown King

My peregrinations around Scripture for the upcoming weekend can be found each
Tuesday at this spot on Facebook; or at horacebrownking.com

Fourth of July is a fine time to ask the perennial questions about how the Church of Christ has impacted our human societies and structures.  Many of us who would be prophetic bemoan the current callous and bullying rhetoric of Our Nation.  In 1998, Tom Brokaw’s book, THE GREATEST GENERATION, was released: a paen to how wonderful and life-changing World War II was, and how those involved were the best ever!  As nostalgic as we may be, today, about the mythic Good Old Days–remember Archie Bunker?–Scriptural words need to be heard to bolster the faithful few who yet see the Greater Picture.

Why not begin with Zechariah, taking him from being an accessory to Palm Sunday to a more exalted post-Exilic role?  To Zion, center of the faith-world, he announces, “Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he….he shall command peace to the nations; his dominion shall be from sea to [shining] sea….Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope; today I declare that I will restore to you double.” (9:9-12)  Here’s a strange model of power:  can one be “triumphant and victorious” while humbly riding on a donkey?  Can we still be The Greatest while commanding peace?

St. Paul admits that he twists and turns:  “I do not understand my own actions.” (Romans 7:15)  Can we really will ourselves to be good?  Or is there some external vaccuum pulling us into an ethical black hole?  Whether we’re “under Law” or not, each of us has created a code of moral living from snippets of poorly remembered Scripture and anecdotes of our peers, liberally salted with admonitions about “Nice boys/girls” from our grandmas.  When our good intentions and our actual deeds conflict, can we save ourselves by trying harder?  “Paul views sin not as the breaking of a rule but, rather, as the distortion of a relationship.” (Harold E. Masback III, FEASTING on the WORD, A 3:209)  “If Paul’s bad news is that the self is trapped and cannot rescue itself, Paul’s good news is that God intervenes to rescue the self through Jesus.” (ibid. p 211)  This refreshes me as a member of the not-so-Great Generation…

And Jesus is frustrated:  “To what will I compare this generation?”  (Matthew 11:16)  Whadd’ya want, already?  John the Baptizer was too sober, Jesus too outgoing; John ate desert survival fare, Jesus went to dinner-parties.  How does this generation understand reasons for dancing and reasons for mourning?  God’s Presence is criticized for being both too traditional and too progressive!  How are succeeding generations engaged with those who mourn AND those who dance?

Sister Joan Chittister writes, “Hope is not a matter of waiting for things outside us to get better.  It is about getting better inside…” (Scarred by Struggle, Transformed by Hope, p.110)  Where is hope for THIS generation?  It may begin by taking off our foam fingers that say, “We’re Number One!” and acknowledging that the US is ‘way down the list in education & healthcare.  We have the strongest military budget, so we can defend The American Way of Life, which is sub-titled “liberty and justice to whites”.  Many lack food & shelter, although my TV shows are sponsored by over-priced vehicles…  Our selfish materialism isn’t unique to this generation–but I AM.  Perhaps Independence Day would be better celebrated as a moment to be free from hate and fear?  How will our generation compare??

God Bless Us, Every One                    Horace Brown King

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