Gospel of Life Sunday 27 March 2022

 

Text this week is the Gospel of Life, living in the present moment.

Reflection        Waiting for the BART yellow line to San Francisco, chill wind whipped hair into my eyes while the screaming thunder of the approaching train signaled my senses, “Be on guard.” Minding my posture as well as the gap, I settled into the welcome warmth of the less than half occupied car. Unwashed train windows were fitting backdrop for the long winded woman who joined us at the first stop.

It took me awhile to figure out that the wired woman was pontificating to London Breed, the mayor of San Francisco. Words were lost in the river of her emotion as she balanced her bulging backpack on the seat, leaving scarce room for her to sit while reaching into a tattered sack to retrieve a can of beer. I resumed my vigil surveilling fly by cardboard villages buried beneath overpasses and caravans of dilapidated vehicles parked nose to tail along their curbside home. Gazing through dirt stained windows tears caught my throat and blurred my vision.

Screeching to the next jarring halt, like a neglected proscenium the train doors part revealing a mammoth man squeezed and restrained in a wheelchair, a ghoulish red haired doll strapped to his shoulder as a disheveled caretaker bumps, bangs and locks the scene in place. Within a matter of seconds London Breed’s provocateur renews her protestations, the wheelchair man’s head falls forward and we dive to one hundred and thirty five feet below the San Francisco bay. 

Now staring straight into oblivion, the damn in my blurry eyes bursts as a fiery tong pierces my  heart. “Oh my God, such anguish and adversity, such misery and misfortune. And here I sit on my way to sip wine and slurp oysters. I am so blessed, so incredibly blessed. I could be barely surviving entombed beneath train tracks or restrained in a wheelchair with a diabolical doll strapped to my shoulder.” Then something broke open and it occurred to me. I am. 

I am not other than London Breed’s agent provocateur. I am not other than wheelchair man or the dispossessed box dwellers. 

When Moses asks God for God’s name, God answers, I AM. (Exodus 3.13) I AM is that which we all are, made in the image and likeness of the One, Holy and Living I AM.  We are One I AM.  When we allow ourselves to settle into the fullness and messiness, the wounds and the wonder of every stinking real life moment we not only find our selves, we also find God in the faces of every I AM. 

If you find this post to be meaningful please share by clicking on icons below. Thank you.

Psalm for 2nd Sunday of Lent 20 March 2022

 Psalm 27 v 1-12, 18

1 The Lord is my light and my salvation;

whom then shall I fear? *

the Lord is the strength of my life;

of whom then shall I be afraid?

2 When evildoers came upon me to eat up my flesh, *

it was they, my foes and my adversaries, who 

stumbled and fell.

3 Though an army should encamp against me, *

yet my heart shall not be afraid;

4 And though war should rise up against me, *

yet will I put my trust in him.

5 One thing have I asked of the Lord;

one thing I seek; *

that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life;

6 To behold the fair beauty of the Lord *

and to seek him in his temple.

7 For in the day of trouble he shall keep me safe 

in his shelter; *

he shall hide me in the secrecy of his dwelling

and set me high upon a rock.

8 Even now he lifts up my head *

above my enemies round about me.

9 Therefore I will offer in his dwelling an oblation

with sounds of great gladness; *

I will sing and make music to the Lord.

10 Hearken to my voice, O Lord, when I call; *

have mercy on me and answer me.

11 You speak in my heart and say, "Seek my face." *

Your face, Lord, will I seek.

12 Hide not your face from me, *

nor turn away your servant in displeasure.

18 O tarry and await the Lord's pleasure;

be strong, and he shall comfort your heart; *

wait patiently for the Lord.

Reflection        How do we breathe beneath the threat of nuclear disaster? How do we stand in the ashes of bombed homes and hospitals? How do we to live with our heads above ground and our hearts unbound when images of disaster bombard us? How do we trust the premise that there is a solution to every problem if only the people at the top “get it right?”

I don’t know. Which is why I turn to the psalms, ancient scripts for how we humans navigate the unbearable. When the gravel in my belly grinds with fear of nuclear disaster I borrow the psalmists words, “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom then shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom then shall I be afraid?” When images of mangled buildings and injured babies follow me to bed and bombard my dreams, I lean into the Israelite’s song, “Though an army should encamp against me, yet my heart shall not be afraid…”

When I am tempted to bury my head in the sand; taking a pill, making a purchase or planning another adventure vacation, I recall to heart the promise,  “Even now (God) lifts up my head above my enemies round about me… And though war should rise up against me, yet will I put my trust in him.”  And there we have it. 

For as long as we put our trust in the presumptive people at the top “to get it right,” we miscarry the war laden moment by failing to allow God’s mystery to unfold within us. But when we choose to put our heads in our hearts, there we “behold the beauty of our Lord,” tasting peace in the promise, “For in the day of trouble he shall keep me safe in his shelter; he shall hide me in the secrecy of his dwelling and set me high upon a rock.” 

This is not wishful thinking nor magical intervention. Washed in the river of our tears and hidden beneath the rubble of our fears we hear, “You speak in my heart and say, "Seek my face." Your face, Lord, will I seek. Hide not your face from me, nor turn away your servant in displeasure.” The voiceless voice of the only One in whom we dare put our trust and find our peace calls us from the inside to be transformed into the peace that is not contingent upon the rampant wiles of circumstance and unholy men. 

Therefore, even though we find ourselves short of breath beneath the threat of nuclear disaster and squirming in the ashes of bombed homes and hospitals, we put our heads into our hearts and offer God “an oblation with sounds of great gladness…” because nothing can annihilate the peace we find in God. Nothing can touch us where I AM. 

If you find this post to be meaningful please share by clicking on icons below. Thank you. 

Gospel text for 4th Sunday of Easter 22 April 2018

John 10:11-18        Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”  

Reflection       When we listen carefully to Jesus’ words, “I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the father knows me and I know the father. I lay down my life for the sheep,” we hear him making a three part declaration. The first part of his declaration is; I am the good shepherd. Jesus knows who he is. Second part; Jesus acknowledges the mutual connection of his relationship with those whom he knows and who know him as well as the mutuality of his relationship with God. So the second part of Jesus’ declaration is about connection and belonging. The third part of Jesus’ declaration is about personal responsibility, “I lay down my life for the sheep.” Jesus’ life is not only for him self, it is also for others. He holds his individual life lightly, he does not cling to it.

When we know who we are and claim the mutuality of our relationships in community and in God, we naturally take responsibility for the care of one another,  even though this is risky business, even though it may cost us our life as we know it.

If life is all about me then every one else and everything else is a potential obstacle or problem and it is no wonder we live in a chronic state of anxiety and defensiveness. Viewing the world from this perspective, connection, belonging and community fail. Rather than stand in the way of an active shooter we stand in fear and fail to enter a school to protect endangered children. We spend $16.8 trillion dollars to bail out big banks insuring their CEOs receive their bonuses and fail to feed the 49 million Americans who lack the means to get enough nutritious food each day.* When we view the world exclusively from the ‘its all about me” perspective we fail to show up, connect and take responsibility for our community.The result of doing this, God’s kingdom is not come because God’s kingdom requires all of us in our conjoined humanity.

What then is the solution? We must join Jesus in making our own three part declaration; claiming who we are, acknowledging our connection and belonging, and taking personal responsibility for the good of one another. Here is my declaration. 

I am here. I am wholly present. The actions you can count on me for are creating opportunities for you to be here too. I will notice and affirm God’s presence in and of, with and for you. The difference I now see I can make is making God’s Presence known, making God’s kingdom come. Will you join me in my possibility? Will you join me in taking the risk to stand up for connection, belonging and community? Will you join me in making God’s kingdom come? 

If you found this post to be meaningful please share by clicking on icons below. Thank you.

*https://mashable.com/2016/07/14/child-hunger-united-states/#pp4gMW3PIaqM

Gospel text for Sunday 26 April 2015

John 10:11-18        Jesus said, "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away-- and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father.”

Reflection     “I am the good shepherd.” This is one of seven “I am” statements attributed to Jesus in John’s gospel. The other six are “I am the Bread of Life” (6:35), I am the Light of the world (8:12), I am the Gate (10:9), I am the Resurrection and Life (11:25), I am the Way, the Truth and the Life (14:6), and I am the True Vine (15:1).

Each one of Jesus’ ‘I am” statements affirms that the Spirit of Jesus, the Christ, is not only with us in our need but also provides for our need.  Jesus, being “the bread of life,” feeds our deepest , spiritual hunger. Jesus, being “the light of the world,” penetrates and transfigures the darkest moments of our lives. Being a “gate,” Jesus is an opening, a portal or a means of access to freedom from whatever restrains or weighs us down. Jesus “the resurrection and the life” replaces our discouragement, despair and doubt with hope in the promise that life does not end with death but is changed.  Jesus, “the way, the truth and the life,” exemplifies the way of being in intimate, loving, dependent relationship with God. Jesus, “the true vine,” reminds us that all of our productivity or fruitfulness arises from our relationship with God so there is no need for anxiety and striving for success. Jesus, the “good shepherd” acknowledges our vulnerability and stops at nothing to care for us. 

This begs the question, how are we to respond to such magnanimity? I believe one way is to live in imitation of Christ, to claim the “I am” statements for ourselves. What would it be like if each of us declared, “I am the bread of life” and then  lived our lives making sure no one around us was lacking?  How might the world be different if each of us proclaimed, “I am the light of the world,” then used our lives to shine hope and spiritual wisdom into the darkest corners of our world?  Can you imagine a world in which every one of us asserted, “I am the gate,” and then did everything we could to assure all people had access to food, shelter, education and healthcare? What if we announced, “I am the resurrection and the life,” and revealed the many deaths and humiliations  we’ve endured that led to new and transformed life for us? Might the world be different if we dared to say, “I am the way, the truth and the life,” then live our lives refusing gossip and destructive behavior in favor of loving and dignifying all people? What if we laid claim to being “the true vine,” intended to pass on all our God given gifts for the greater good? Would the world be different if we found our essence with Jesus, “the good shepherd” and assumed responsibility for the care and protection of widows and orphans, the disabled and disaffected, the hungry, the prisoner, the illegals, even at our own expense?

Do we dare to declare, I am?

If you found this post meaningful, please share with friends by clicking on icons below. Thank you. 

Hebrew Testament Text for Sunday 31 August 2014

Exodus 3:1-15        Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian; he led his flock beyond the wilderness, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of a bush; he looked, and the bush was blazing, yet it was not consumed. Then Moses said, "I must turn aside and look at this great sight, and see why the bush is not burned up." When the LORD saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am." Then he said, "Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground." He said further, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

Then the LORD said, "I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the country of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. The cry of the Israelites has now come to me; I have also seen how the Egyptians oppress them. So come, I will send you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt." But Moses said to God, "Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh, and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?" He said, "I will be with you; and this shall be the sign for you that it is I who sent you: when you have brought the people out of Egypt, you shall worship God on this mountain."

But Moses said to God, "If I come to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' what shall I say to them?" God said to Moses, "I AM Who I AM." He said further, "Thus you shall say to the Israelites, 'I AM has sent me to you.'" God also said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the Israelites, 'The LORD, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you’: This is my name forever and this my title for all generations."

Reflection        Last week we met Jesus asking the disciples and us, “But who do you say that I am?” This week we wander back in history some twelve hundred years and find Moses asking God, “Who shall I tell the Israelite people You, God, are? What is your name?”  God’s answer, “I AM  who I AM,” must have rattled around in Mose’s mind.  “This is not going to be easy!”

Imagine a philosopher pondering on Moses’ behalf, “I AM who I AM; derived from the verb ‘to be’ that must mean, I exist. How can it be enough to say “I exist?”  How can it be sufficient simply to exist without a definable and recognizable image? How can it be enough to claim existance with neither subject nor predicate? It reminds me of Shakespeare’s Prince Hamlet moaning as he ponders suicide, “To be, or not to be…?” To exist or not to exist. That is the question. And God’s answer is, I exist. I AM. 

God chose not to identify God’s self as either subject or predicate, which is to say, God refused to be confined to either object or essence. Rather, God chose to identify God’s self as the linking word, the copola, relationship. God identified God’s self as that which connects, a bridge, I AM.

And God continued, “Moses, Moses, “I will be with you….”” In other words, I, your God, AM in relationship with you, I coexist with you. I Am “the God of your ancestors,  the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob,”  I Am joined with or coupled with you and your ancestors. We are intimately linked and have been through time.

Unequivocal as God’s response to Moses may sound, I don’t suppose it much comforted Moses. What are the people going to think when I say,” I AM sent me?” Is that not the question with which we all wrestle? How can I tell the people with whom I work or go to the gym about my God whom I cannot see or touch or frankly find any words sufficient to describe? What shall I say to my children when they ask, “Where is God?”  How shall I defend God when critics query, “If there really is God why do such terrible things as the brutality in the Middle East, ravaging disease in Africa, senseless killing in Misssouri happen?” 

In the course of God’s conversation with Moses God attested, “I have been, I AM, and I will be” in relationship with you. And finally Moses received the answer to his original question, “God, what is your name?” “My name is forever I AM.”  Finding his courage in forever I AM and trusting I AM forever with him, Moses was emboldened to go and confront the king of Egypt, the oppressor of God’s people. Would that we all remember forever I AM and do likewise.

If you found this post to be meaningful please share with your friends by clicking on the icons below. Thank You!

Gospel Text for Sunday, 18 May 2014

John 14:1-14        Jesus said, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. And you know the way to the place where I am going." Thomas said to him, "Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?" Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him."

Philip said to him, "Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied." Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, `Show us the Father'? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it."

Reflection     “I am the way and the truth and the life…” With his I am statements Jesus is saying to the disoriented community of  late first century religious Jews -  Believing me does not require that you dissociate yourselves from God of our ancestors. Believing me does not require that you turn away from the Great I Am as revealed to Moses and the prophets.  Believing me is contiguous with believing the God of our Fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Don’t you see, in God the Father’s house of creation there are many places in which to live.  There are many ways to be in relationship with I Am, God, first person present here and now.

Jesus’ I am statements were given to people who were steeped in the Jewish religious tradition, who understood the Torah, and who hopefully would make the connection between the God whom Moses encountered on Mt. Horeb from where he was sent to “say to the Israelites, “I am has sent me to you.’” (Ex 3.14) and God as revealed more fully in the person of Jesus.

Jesus is the way of inclusive participation in the mystery of God, I Am, first person present. Jesus is the way first century Jewish Jesus followers could continue to connect with the mystery of the God of Israel. Their experience of Jesus as the way they could encounter God of their ancestors was never intended to be an exclusionary claim that Jesus is the only way for anyone to experience the God of Abraham, Isaac or Jacob. In the Gospel according to John, Jesus is speaking to a particular people in a particular time about being in relationship with God who is always first person present.

I believe Jesus’ words to the late first century Jews, “I am the way, the truth and the life,” were intended to bridge the chasm between God of history and God first person present. Never were they meant to be an exclusionary claim to an exclusionary God.  I believe we would do well to recall Peter’s counsel  in the Acts of the Apostles, ”Truly I perceive that God shows no partiality, but in every nation any one who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.” (Acts 10.34) 

If you found this post meaningful, please share it with your friends by clicking on the icons below. Thank you.

Gospel text for Sunday 16 September 2012

 

 

Mark 8:27-38

Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi; and on the way he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that I am?" And they answered him, "John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets." He asked them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered him, "You are the Messiah." And he sternly ordered them not to tell anyone about him.

Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He said all this quite openly. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, "Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things."

He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels

 

Reflection

“Who do people say that I (Jesus) am?” Subversive? Liberal? Progressive? Regressive? Orthodox? Heretical? Blasphemer? Possessed – by a demon? By the Spirit of God? It depends on who answers the question. Jesus’ family think he is out of his mind. The religious officials declare he is a heretic. Possessed by Beelzebul  is what the Scribes decide. Herod figures Jesus is John the Baptist returned from the dead to get him back for cutting off his head. The masses are not quite sure what to make of this Jesus;  teacher, healer, exorcist, magician, a prophet like Moses or Elijah. It’s hard to tuck Jesus into neat little categories and groups.

Jesus asks Peter, ““Who do you say that I am?” Peter answers, “You are the messiah.”” OK then, that clears it up  - as long as we know what “messiah” means.  Peter thought he did. Messiah is the person for whom the people of God have been waiting for a very long time. Messiah is the one who bursts onto the scene and ends suffering and injustice. But Jesus doesn’t understand “messiah” that way.

 

Jesus launches into a terribly problematic teaching. Messiah is “… the Son of Man (and) must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes and be killed and after three days rise again.” First problem. Jesus calls himself the Son of Man. That must mean that somehow messiah is associated with or finds identity in humankind. Messiah is not some supernatural force that is going to break in and create a happily ever after life. Second problem.  Messiah is supposed to end suffering, not be subjected to it, and certainly not be rejected and killed. What good is a dead messiah? Third problem. “After three days rise again.” What does that mean? And even if he is killed and comes back to life he will just be a dead man walking. How is that going to out my enemies and secure my life?

 

I’m afraid I am right there with Peter. I don’t want to hear what Jesus is saying. I want my messiah to make my life better, and that would be according to my definition of better. But Jesus makes himself painfully clear. All the things of the world that I seek (end of suffering, security, justice) are about enhancing my situation or status. And I will lose them. End of story. Or is it?

 

Following Jesus means dying to the self-focused way I (and the culture around me) see things. Because when I decide to ally myself with Jesus and act to spread God’s all inclusive love rather than to secure my share and keep everyone else a safe distance away, I will infuriate the people around me. My family, my friends, the religious and government officials will not like it one bit. And I will be persecuted, even killed. That’s what Jesus tells the crowds, disciples and us. But - and this is a big but - when I make my choices in alliance with God's purpose and in solidarity with God's people, I find my identity in God.  The little me with my meager wants to have it my way dies, and I rise again in the Christ.

 

Find the story that accompanies the image

  “ Muslims in Pakistan, show compassion and justice” at http://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/26/opinion/rauf-christian-girl-pakistan/index.html

Gospel text for Sunday 12 August 2012

John 6:35, 41-51

Jesus said to the people, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

Then the Jews began to complain about him because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." They were saying, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, `I have come down from heaven'?" Jesus answered them, "Do not complain among yourselves. No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day. It is written in the prophets, `And they shall all be taught by God.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh."

Reflection

The people with whom Jesus is speaking were among those Jews who received the loaves of bread that fed five thousand. Apparently the next day they were hungry for more so went looking for Jesus. When they found and began to question him, Jesus said to them, ”Do not work for the food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life… (6.27) …my Father gives you the bread from heaven.” (6.32) With just a few words Jesus switched hands from the literal to the metaphorical, “I am the bread of life.” The writer of John’s text wants us to move from seeking the physical (manna, loaves of bread and signs of Jesus’ identity) to seeking the divine (life in the Trinity of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit). Which raises the question for me, “Am I willing to find my life sustaining “bread” in relationship with Jesus and God the Father?"

If I chose to respond to this invitation literally (physically) I would react as did the Jews who “disputed among themselves saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”” (6.52) As the disciples noted, “This teaching is difficult.” (6.60) And that is precisely what faith is about, things that we cannot wrap our minds around. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11.1) Holding a loaf of bread in my hands I have no need for faith. I can touch and see the weight and substance of the loaf, and it will temporarily relieve my physical hunger. But to experience the life giving qualities of abundance, satisfaction, fulfillment, even joy I must look beyond the physical and find my life in Jesus, that I might live in him and he in me.   

We are all moved by hunger for something more and have oh so creatively contrived means to sate our desires; acquisition of food, wealth, property, power, status, partners, perpetual youth.  This is nothing new to the human condition. You can read about it in the Old Testament in stories of King David, in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times or People Magazine.  The thing is, the deepest desire of our hearts cannot be satisfied by anything physical. The deepest desire of our hearts invites us to discover that which is beyond the physical in the physical, to find divinity in the flesh.

I believe we all have glimpses of divinity in the flesh, moments when the veil between the physical and spiritual realms is pulled aside. For a chef it might happen while holding a sheaf of parsley in his hand, reverently inspecting the curl of the leaves and twists of the stems while rubbing a bit between his tongue and palate. A new parent might get a glimpse sniffing the scent of their fresh bathed infant or a music lover following the decrescendo of a plaintiff melody. It could be the smell of rain on the desert or the look in your dying friend’s eyes. I believe we all have had glimpses of the divine in the flesh.

It is this to which Jesus invites us to find our life, our true and eternal life.  It is the very flesh of this life that draws us  to reach (and taste) something more.  

Gospel Text for Sunday, August 21st, 2011

Matthew 16:13-20

When Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he 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?" Simon Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.