March 4thFive Minutes on Friday 19
TO KNOW THE DARK
To go in the dark with a light is to know the light.
To know the dark, go dark. Go without sight,
and find that the dark, too, blooms and sings,
and is traveled by dark feet and dark wings.
[W. Berry]
CHURCH
A quote from William Stringfellow, Dissenter in a Great Society illustrates how hard it is for the Cross to penetrate our personal theologies and our lives:
Let the Church, they say, remain pure and undefiled.
Let the Church, at least, be one place left where men can contemplate their God, devote themselves to ‘spiritual’ things, and get away from conflict and dissension.
Let the Church be a shrine of peace of mind and positive thinking, of the blessed assurance of better things somewhere, sometime, someplace beyond this realm. Let the Church be uncontaminated by worldly business. Let the Church be a place of rest and abstinence from worldly cares. Let the Church be a refuge from the world. Let the church be a sanctuary for escape. (p. 125)
UKRAINE
We pester heaven with prayers for Ukraine. As Mennonites we have deep roots including deep emotional ties to this beautiful land. We pray for those who are suffering, huddling in shelters, caring for the wounded. And for those fleeing for a more welcoming space. We pray for cessation to war and a lasting peace. We pray for those who promote the war – President Putin and his aides, that they might see the folly of such action. We pray for NATO and its leaders that they might find their voices and work courageously for peace. And we pray for those Ukrainians dispersed to our country who look on in fear for family and friends left behind. Lord, have mercy.
‘CURRICK’
“A surprise phone call from a friend who explained the surprise of her loving attention by using a word from her Plautdietsch speaking ancestors. “We have all been feeling and acting too “currick “. It means “curdled, clabbered.” That is how we feel during the pandemic, “clotted and soured” by isolation, by our need to stay safe and secure. She is making calls to friends who sometimes remark, “this is the first time anyone called to ask how I am doing.” After a warm conversation with us, she ended with the gentle nudge to give our friends a call. Reach out and touch someone, the phone company used to invite us. Will that make us less currick? “ [story from David Augsburger]
SUNDAY – John 13.36-14.7
The saying in John 14.6… I am the way, the truth, and the life’ is much contested in our postmodern world. Can we profess such a statement of faith in light of much of our Church’s history which used the statement to clobber its foes? Theologian N.T. Wright argues that if we dispense with the uniqueness of Jesus - dethrone him if you will - we will inevitably enthrone someone or something else.
The truth is more profound. Study the Gospels and watch how Jesus embodies the way of service and love. He lived and died, not arrogantly but humbly. He washed disciples’ feet, healed sick persons, forgave his enemies from the cross, and welcomed a fellow sufferer into paradise. There was nothing self-serving or arrogant in Jesus’ way.
FOR REFLECTION:
Erna Paris, a Canadian Jewish writer died recently. She won many awards as a writer but for me her most profound work was The End of Days: A story of tolerance, tryranny, and expulsion of the Jews from Spain. In this book, Paris showed how Muslims, Christians, and Jews lived peaceably in Spain when the Moors controlled it from about 795 – 1492 CE. When the Moors were driven out everything changed, especially for the Jews. The Church began an Inquisition that persecuted and eventually expelled Jews and Muslims from that country. It is a powerful and disturbing read.
In The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis, we have this scene:
Jill, looking for water sees a stream. ‘But although the sight of the water made her feel ten times thirstier than before, she didn’t rush forward and drink. She stood as still as if she had been turned into stone, with her mouth wide open. And she had a very good reason; just on this side of the stream lay the Lion.
It lay with it’s head raised…. She knew at once it had seen her, for its eyes looked straight into hers for a moment and then turned away – as if it knew her quite well and didn’t think much of her.
If I run away, it’ll be after me in a moment, thought Jill. And if I go on I shall run straight into its mouth. Anyway, she couldn’t have moved if she had tried, and she couldn’t take her eyes off it. How long this lasted, she could not be sure; it seemed like hours. And the thirst became so bad that she almost felt she would not mind being eaten by the Lion if only she could be sure of getting a mouthful of water first….
‘Are you not thirsty?’ said the Lion.
‘I’m dying of thirst,’ said Jill.
‘Then drink,’ said the Lion.
‘May I – could I – would you mind going away while I do,’ said Jill.
The Lion answered this only by a look and a very low growl….
‘Will you promise not to do anything to me if I do come,’ said Jill.
‘I make no promise,’ said the Lion.
Jill was so thirsty now that, without noticing it, she had come a step nearer. ‘Do you eat girls?’ she said.
‘I have swallowed up girls and boys, women and men, kings and emperors, cities and realms,’ said the Lion. It didn’t say this as if it were boasting, nor as if it were sorry, nor as if it were angry. It just said it.
‘I daren’t come and drink,’ said Jill.
‘Then you will die of thirst,’ said the Lion.
‘Oh dear,’ said Jill. ‘I suppose I must go and look for another stream then.
‘There is no other stream,’ said the Lion. [pp.18-21]