Readings: 2 Kings 5, 14-17; Psalm 98; 2 Timothy 2, 8-13; Luke 17, 11-19.

2 Kings:

• Time of the events: 900 B.C.
• Time when written: 550 B.C., during the Babylonian captivity
• Subject of 1 Kings: This book continues the history of the kings taking up with the death of King David and continuing through the story of David & Bathsheba’s son Solomon.  He builds the famous Temple of Solomon.  After his death the nation divides into the northern & southern states, Israel in the north, Judah in the south (including Jerusalem; remember by the "J’s").
• Subject of 2 Kings: This book continues the history of the decline of the two states until Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon defeats the people. 
• Subject of our chapter 5 (read it all, it is delightful): one of the leaders of the Syrian-Babylonian army goes to visit the prophet of the day, Elisha.  Naaman, the general, has leprosy.  Note the twist of the story at the end.  Thanks is a theme of this selection and it sets the stage for Luke’s story about gratitude.

Gratitude

Last Sunday after our Mass, after Rosemary had counted the income, and had put it on spread sheets, we got in the car to go out for the evening.  I dropped her off at the Royal Lane & Preston Tom Thumb to buy something, she gave me some letters to mail at the corner, and she gave me the two envelopes to deposit in the bank on the same corner.  We always deposit that money right away.

I drove through the parking lot to the mail box and dumped in all the envelopes. All the envelopes.  Namely, her letters and the two bank deposit envelopes.

I knew almost immediately what I had done and, in fact, wanted to reach down into the mail box to retrieve the deposits.  However, I realized I could go to jail for that.  So we typed up a special note with our phone number and put it in the mailbox and figured we would make contact with the Royal Lane post office early the next day before pick up.  Guess what Monday was: Columbus Day, a postal holiday. 

Tuesday morning I got a call from the main post office that they had one of our deposit envelopes and I could pick it up.  When I met the guy I confessed that I was embarrassed to admit that I was the person who put the deposits in the mail box.  He says to me that as a matter of fact it happens a lot on that corner and that a woman had actually put in 10 thousand dollars in cash. 

So we have gotten back the running expenses deposit and still are waiting for the outreach envelope, which he seems optimistic will show up.  The thing that touched me, however, was how this postal supervisor treated my brain dead behavior with such a light touch.  I thanked him for both, for getting the envelope and for making light of it all.  I was really grateful.

The two stories we have in today’s readings are all about gratitude. A few observations.

First.  The temptation is to think I am one of the nine who did not return to thank Jesus. Yes & No.  I would suggest again: we are both.  Lots of times we forget to thank.  Lots of times we thank. 

Second.  There could be symbolism in the nine and one.  Perhaps I am nine tenths ungrateful and one tenth grateful.  This is a pretty normal proportion. A lot of times, however, I am not so much ungrateful as just insensitive, totally unaware.  Perhaps the lepers who did not return just figured they were lucky and went on their way.  The other guy realized he had been given a gift by that stranger and wanted to respond.

Jesus  tells him his faith has saved him.  I would suggest that his gratitude transformed him.

Third.  How is it possible to rearrange the percentages?  Rosemary & I have a favorite little practice that we do every night.  I’ve mentioned it before. We ask each other what were the blessings of the day.  I recommend this. I even recommend it for sitting alone, while savoring the first cup of coffee in the morning, driving or riding the DART to work & back, getting ready to go to school.  Simple question: what were my blessings yesterday or this week?

In that main post office I could have focused on how dumb I was or that I did not get the second deposit back.  Fortunately I could appreciate the supervisor’s light touch and that I had gotten back one envelope, the larger.

You may start now: what were your three biggest blessings this week?

AUDIO: http://mysite.verizon.net/reso7rjy/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2007-10-14.mp3

Readings: Habakkuk,1, 2-3 & 2, 2-4;Psalm 95; 2 Timothy 1, 6-14; Luke 17 5-10.

Habakkuk: the words of this prophet come from the end of the 7th century, B.C. at a time when the Babylonians were in power.  He was deeply disturbed by their violence and asked Yahweh why he was silent. Yahweh’s response was that he will rescue the people in his own time.  But meanwhile, the good will live on because they are faithful to Yahweh.

In our selection we have a bit of both: Habakkuk’s complaint & Yahweh’s response.  This connects with Luke’s gospel which touches on faith and the servant who simply is doing what he is supposed to do.

Faith? In What?

A short while ago Donna sent me a quiz on religion.  A handful of questions asks about what a person believes.  Like, do you believe, or not believe in God?  What do you think happens after you die?  And so on.

After you finish the quiz you are matched up with the religious group with which you have the closest fit.  My closest fit turned out to be Liberal Quaker.  Roman Catholic for me was in the twenties.  So why don’t I become a Quaker?  Because it does not feel like home, which Catholicism does.  I hope to work with the essentials of Catholicism.  Some say this is being a cafeteria Catholic.  I would prefer to call myself an a la carte Catholic.  The only intellectually healthy way.

I thought of all this because of Luke’s  comments about faith.  If I had faith I could uproot trees.  I would be happy to just get rid of the weeds in the lawn. Is this not exaggeration? Sadly some sects take it literally, as you know. Faith is the product of a process, often called faith formation.  And this is where it really gets tricky. Who determines what is taught to young people and members of a religious group? What I was taught as a child, wow. So much of it I don’t accept any more.

My Catholic education was anomalous.  I learned to critique literature, poetry, politics, government, psychology, but not religious instruction.  I memorized that. That religious instruction was supposed to be my faith. Doubts & questions were not encouraged. 

This leads me to make a distinction between religion and spirituality. I think both religion & spirituality produce my faith. My spirituality, likewise, is influenced by religious instruction. Some of these observations come from Vaillant’s Aging Well.

First, religion is usually exclusive, while spirituality is inclusive.  For example, If you don’t believe the pope is infallible, you are excluded from the membership.  If you don’t wear certain dress, you are expelled or criticized. 

Secondly, religion comes from outside, while spirituality comes from inside. True, my spirituality is not formed in a vacuum. It receives input from outside sources.  Spirituality, however, sifts and sorts before accepting it. 

Thirdly, religion is certain and proclaims creeds & dogma that have to be believed.  Spirituality searches. It involves feelings, experiences, and uncertainty.

My brother in law gave me a good book on how religions become corrupt and evil, eventually losing their original charism.  (When Religion Becomes Evil, Charles Kimball) Five characteristics:

• Absolute truth. For example, infallibility. 
• Absolute obedience. We Jesuits took vows of obedience.  Was God asking this? Or people? Like men who lived in Rome. We are all expected to be obedient to Rome.
• End justifies the means. Inquisition. Firing of theologians like Charles Curran over at SMU to eliminate alternative ideas in areas like birth control.
• Justification of the Holy War. Crusades, Jihad.
• The Special Time. Peace will come when all people believe the same religion and there will be one law, like Sheria or Evangelical Christian.

I would suggest that each person’s faith is unique and we are not homogeneous. If we are spiritually healthy.

What are the three things you have the strongest faith in?

RELIGION QUIZ: http://www.beliefnet.com/story/76/story_7665_1.html

AUDIO: http://mysite.verizon.net/reso7rjy/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2007-10-07.mp3

Readings: Amos (again), 6,1-7; Psalm 146; 1 Timothy 6, 11-16; Luke 16, 19-31 (Rich Man & Lazarus).

Amos: Just a reminder from last week.  Amos, a prophet, lives about 800 years before Christ.  A prosperous time for the Jews, but a prosperity built on defrauding the poor.  Amos warns the people that Yahweh will punish them for cheating the poor and amassing fortunes. 

In our selection today Amos is putting it to the rich.  Which leads, of course, to our Gospel on the Rich Man & Lazarus.

The Rich Man’s Sin of Blindness

Some months ago when we were getting ready to work on the Rowlett house, I met with the man from Lake Point Church to estimate what the house needed.  We were going to team up. While we were standing outside looking the place over, I hesitatingly mentioned the huge Sycamore tree leaning over the house.  Dangerous.  "Alex, do you have any people in your community who could take that tree down?"  "I’ll see," he says. Alex was pretty taciturn, so I left it at that. 

A couple of weeks later on perhaps our second Saturday to work on the house, we were all gathering at 8:00 when a line of about ten pickups arrives and one pulls a large enclosed trailer.  The Lake Point Emergency Team.  They open the trailer, pull out chain saws, ropes, equipment, hard hats, and head for the tree.  There must have been 15 people, including two young women.  We occasionally stopped work and stood in awe as they brought down some gigantic overhanging limb.  Three hours later they were done, thanked us for inviting them, declined to join us for lunch, and departed, leaving only a huge pile of Sycamore branches ready to be picked up by the township. 

I am humbled by this team and wish I could join them.  They go where they are needed in almost any emergency.  They look for places where their help is needed.

I thought of them when I read about the Rich Man & Lazarus.  As usual, there are symbolic elements to this parable. 

First, there are three clues that inform the people who are tuned in that the guy is very rich: he has not just food, but sumptuous food; he dresses in purple, which also meant he was holy; and he had a funeral, which meant he was in Yahweh’s favor. Being rich, of course, meant good and favored by Yahweh.

Secondly, Lazarus. He is the only person in all the parables to be named.  Meaning?  Predilection for the poor? He also is painted as such a wretch that even dogs licked his sores.

Then, watch the switch.  Both men die. Lazarus is in Abraham’s bosom. He is the rich one now. Only free people recline at table, especially on the chest of the host. The Rich Man, however, is in a place of torment.

So what was the Rich Man’s sin?  Being rich?  Not necessarily. The Rich Man did not care for the Lazarus at his door.  He did not even see him. Granted, the parable indicates that his richness contributed to his blindness.  He had to stop focusing on himself, look around him for the Lazarus nearby, and care for him.

We are rich, too, folks.  No way we can deny it or escape it, despite events in our lives that may cause poverty of spirit.  The people from the Lake Point Emergency team were rich.  They, however, are looking for the Lazarus in their lives, and they were caring for him.

Who is the Lazarus in your life and how are your caring for him?

AUDIO: http://mysite.verizon.net/reso7rjy/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2007-09-30.mp3

Readings: Amos 8, 4-7; Psalm 113; 1 Timothy 2, 1-8; Luke 16, 1-13.

Amos: This prophet lived about 800 years before Christ.  It was a time of prosperity in Israel.  However, Amos saw that the prosperity was limited to the wealthy, and that it fed on injustice and on oppression of the poor.  He warned that Yahweh would punish the nation for this.

Our reading comes toward the end of his little book and touches both themes: oppression of the poor and punishment of this by Yahweh.

Taking Care of Myself

In the first Sunday bulletin blog I sent out this month I included a link to an age profiler.  You answer about 30 questions and the instrument takes your present age, adjusts it according to what habits you claim you have, and then projects the year you will reach in life.  A number of you mentioned taking this and were amused at the results. I promised I would let you know what I came up with.  My present age is 67. My adjusted age was 41. And you will have me around until I am 109.  The profile indicates how you are taking care of yourself.

Our little steward in Luke this morning is taking care of himself. I’ve mentioned that biblical studies indicate that he simply cut his own commission to these debtors. He was not necessarily stealing from the rich man. By cutting his commission, he makes sure he is going to be popular with the debtors.

Which brings me to how we take care of ourselves. How do you do it? Want a scale or a map, one that is reflected in the profiler? I’ll give you seven that are pretty commonly accepted as essential. In a work called Aging Well by George Vaillant these seven points are used to describe where people in a study were. They were pictured on a spectrum from Happy-Healthy to Sad-Sick. The seven factors are relevant to every age.

The first four are no brainers:

• no smoking. And if you are smoking, the sooner you give it up the sooner you move closer to the Happy-Healthy side.
• no abuse of alcohol. I have read about a new class of alcoholics – the geriatric alcoholic. For instance, the successful business man who has retired and begins to drink more & more, earlier & earlier until he is polishing off a number of drinks every evening. 
• weight control. Tough. 
• exercise. At least walk. At least 3 days a week, maybe every day.

The last three are not as self evident as the first four.

• a family life or a social life. This involves a proactive approach to people, both family and friends.
• education.The better the education, the more Happy-Healthy. The degree only opens the door to lifetime education.
• defense mechanisms. How I handle bad things, deaths, firings, broken relationships.  Make lemonade out of lemons.

People who do well with these seven factors of life will be more happy-healthy. Those doing poorly will inevitably move toward sad-sick.

Our steward in the reading was taking care of himself.

How are you taking care of yourself?

Happy-Healthy scale: Download nicholas_age_scale.doc

AUDIO http://mysite.verizon.net/reso7rjy/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/2007-09-23.mp3