Good News & Bad News
Tuesday, May 9, 2006 -- Week of 4 Easter -- Gregory of Nazianzus
"Morning Reflections" is a brief thought about the scripture readings from the Daily Office of Morning and Evening Prayer according to the practice found in the Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church.
Morning Prayer begins on p. 80 of the Book of Common Prayer.
Evening Prayer begins on p. 117
An online resource for praying the Daily Office is found at www.missionstclare.com
Another form of the office from Phyllis Tickle's "Divine Hours" is available on our partner web site www.ExploreFaith.org at this link -- http://explorefaith.org/prayer/fixed/index.html
Today's Readings for the Daily Office (p. 961)
Psalms 45 (morning) // 47, 48 (afternoon)
Exodus 32:21-34
1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
Matthew 5:11-16
Good News and Bad News
I've got a friend who's had a pretty good life, for the most part. Whenever someone offers him a complement -- nice church, nice family, etc. -- his customary response is, "I've been blessed." On the other hand, I remember visiting with a young man who referred to nearly every misfortune, even the small things, with a resigned, "Maybe the Lord is punishing me through this."
In our Exodus reading today there is some fierce punishment as Moses calls the sons of Levi to his side. They take swords and kill their relatives, 3,000 of them, for their betrayal, for worshipping the golden calf. Later we'll read of Moses' intercession for the people and the promise of God's presence leading them into a new land.
In today's gospel from Matthew's Beatitudes, we hear "Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account;" and we also hear "You are the light of the world. ...Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven."
First Thessalonians begins with warm words of encouragement to the church in Thessaloniki, remembering their "work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope" even "in spite of persecution." They have become an example for others.
Good news and bad news; luck and misfortune; blessings and curses. It's all part of the mix. How hard it is to assign causality. Is this good thing happening because God is blessing me, or do people speak well of me because I am good? Is this bad thing happening because God is punishing me, or do people treat me badly because I am good?
James Finley is a favorite writer. In his early adulthood he joined the Trappist monks in the Gethsemene Abbey in Kentucky where one of his novice masters was Brother Louis, better known outside the monastery as Thomas Merton.
He remembers his regular visits with Merton. Jim says he would walk into Merton's study to hear the greeting, "How are you, Jim?" "Well, not good at all. I'm very distressed about several things..." but Merton interrupted, "Don't worry about it Jim. It'll get better."
On another occasion he might enter Merton's study healing, "How are you, Jim?" "Just great! Things have been coming together marvelously..." but Merton would quickly chime in, "Don't take it too seriously, Jim. Things will get worse."
There is a peace that comes with a simple acceptance of the presence circumstances as the only reality through which God can be present to us, for God is present in whatever is. When we let go of our tendency to judge the past, we are better able to engage the present. Who knows whether it is for good or ill? Surrender to the moment. Then we can ask ourselves: Given the circumstances of the moment, and God's presence in it, what is God calling us to do or to enjoy or to suffer?
Lowell
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The Rev. Lowell Grisham
St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Fayetteville, Arkansas
posted by Lowell @ 7:22 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
It's a paradox; even after very hard times, I've discovered blessings in them. Often, there's something I could not have learned any other way, or some growth happens that might not have happened except for the difficulty. At the moment, life is pretty easy and I thank God and revel in the peace of it knowing that tough challenges will come soon enough. They always do. Emily L.
This reminds me of a song by a woman named Sarah Harmer in which she says, "Everything was going so good I thought something bad might happen... and then it did."
I've been married for a little over a year now, but can still remember our first big fight. We went to bed not speaking, and left for work in the morning stubbornly distant. At some point that morning, however, I was thinking about the fight, sad and nervous about how long our distance would last, when my wedding ring caught my eye. I just sat and looked at it for a few minutes and felt an incredible peace come over me. At that moment, I deeply understood the permanance of our being together, and was thrilled. I knew that with the rest of our lives before us, we would go through many more fights and periods of distance, but at the end of each of them would be waiting periods of amazing happiness. Since then, we've had our share of arguments and frustrating times, but I've had that same peace during all of it. Faith and love make it much easier to accept the simple fact that ups and downs in every aspect of life are as temporary as they are inevitable.
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