Sunday Homily, October 15, 2017, 28th Ordinary Time
Welcome, Our Dearest Michelle.
Readings:
Isaiah 25,, 6-10, On this mountain the Lord will provide for all peoples.
Psalm 23, I shall live iin the house of the Lord all the days of my life.
Phlippians 4, 12-14, 19-20, I know how to llive in humble circumstances.
Matthew 22, 1-14, The king throws a wedding feast for his son.
Welcome in, say our Dearest Tori & Zoe, and The Great Gilbert.
Two beautiful readings this morning, Isaiah 25, and Psalm 23, The Lord is my Shepherd.
Our Dearest Candle Lighter of The Week, Emma.
Isaiah observations:
Who: Any idea which Isaiah this is, 1, 2, or 3? We had Isaiah 1 last week talking about the vineyard. That was chapter 5. Pretty easy to guess, Isaiah 1. But, this is chapter 25.
It seems out of character for Isaiah 1, who criticizes the people. More like Isaiah 2, which John Cade loves and which we will read this Advent.
Remember Isaiah 1 is pre-Babylonian Captivity, around 555 before Christ. This selection is a marvelous vision of peace and sensual satisfaction, one of my favorites.
Yep, it is still Isaiah 1, all the way to chapter 39. Basically he is saying that a great day will come, after you people have paid for your sinful, selfish ways.
Does it get more beautiful than this, Beautiful Scene, Beautiful Couple.
On this mountain the Lord will provide for all peoples, the Lord will wipe away the tears from every face.
This morning, Folks, I would like to talk about this line in the context of our lives.
Last week after having been privileged to take part in the beautiful wedding of Paul and Carrie on the very edge of the South Rim of Grand Canyon. And after having the joy of sleeping in for a couple of mornings when the temperature was in the 30’s both outside and inside through our wide open glass door. And after having spent one whole day just walking around and doing nothing, a very rare event in our lives.
After being moved by all this, we turned on the radio in our rental car early Saturday morning to begin our 3 hour drive back to the airport in Phoenix. Just catching up on current news. I was immediately depressed and even angry, which is pretty rare for me.
Communion on the South Rim.
I have caught myself here a few times lately and have decided I do not want to be here. So I returned to a decision I made to simply turn it off and focus on the beauty and how the Lord provides.
Let me give you 4 little examples on which I am still dwelling here at home.
First, I was touched by the example of lots of the tourists around the South Rim. There is a shuttle bus system on the South Rim, three routes, one east, one west, and one in the center. The west bus and the center bus are new for me since I came here in the ‘90’s.
The South Rim Wedding.
Rosemary & I took them all and occasionally they were full, especially the west bus. One time I am seated and the aisle is full of standing people. So I get up and offer my seat to somebody. After I stand up I happen to look toward the back of the bus. What do I see? A half dozen other guys were all getting up. Many of them were Japanese.
Rosemary even was bummed later in the day because some guy got up and offered her his seat. “He must think I’m an old lady,” she grumps to me later.
The Stack Wedding Tree
Two more neat events took place on our flight experience. First, at our SWST gate there was a special desk with 3 ladies. We were at the end of a long corridor and probably 200 passengers were waiting for flights to Dallas, San Francisco, & two others.
One of the girls started talking to the mass of people and then asked, “Anybody celebrating a birthday today?” Across from us Isabella, a shy girl about 11 put up her hand. The SWST girl got the whole gang to sing to her and then gave her a $25 gift certificate. Then the SWST girl went through about a dozen trivia question with $25 certificates for the winners. It was delightful.
The Best Team, Georgie, Buddy, & Leo.
Then on the plane which had come in from somewhere like Jackson Hole, guess whom we saw, Patricia & Fred. Guess what, the whole plane gave them a rousing round of applause for their 7th anniversary. Patricia must have told the flight attendants. Who else?
Besides these events, blowing me away most of all, the wedding. Beautiful place and beautiful people. It was The Best.
And just to show Paul & Carrie how appreciative I am and we are for the memories, and that I told them that I would give them a special gift when we got home, I have The Gift. A young Shumard Red Oak, a Stack Wedding Tree.
Only One Cupcake today?? Yep.
Let me remind them, because they have probably already forgotten, the little tree says two things when you look at it. First, are you having fun together? From my experience, if you are having fun in your marriage, you won’t end up in my office.
Secondly, it says that this old geezer truly loves you.
Thanks for The Memories.
Number 1 of 2 elevations.