Lent Thirty Eight "Get up and Walk"

 

Itchy Gypsy by Juan Atata - Berlin 2012

Anger and jealousy can no more bear to lose sight of their objects than love.  

George Eliot, The Mill on the Floss, 1860

I like this message because it describes the 'yin' and 'yang' of relationships.  Passion works in both directions.  To feel strongly is to experience life to the full, but also to be exposed to the pain associated with fear and worry.  We read of the agony of the Creator at the desperate state of the relationship between the Creator, and the created.  

Hosea Chapter 2 

“But now I bring charges against my unfaithful wife.  Tell her to wipe off her make-up, and cover up her body.  If she continues she will be left naked in the wilderness.  I will disown our children.  They are not actually mine.  She seeks the comfort of others, but they continue to turn their backs on her.  In her despair she will think of me, and whether to return.  She forgets that everything she has came first from me.   She passed it straight on to others.  So the good times are over.  Life now becomes punishing.” 

“I cannot bear this, for my love is eternal.  I have freed her in the past from captivity.  I made her equal in partnership with me.  We can wipe away the guilt of failure, the weakness of the heart.  I honour my vow to her, to protect her from harm.  My promise is for ever.  I remain faithful.”

 

“A day will come when I will plant a new community.  We will begin again.  Instead of ‘No Longer loved’, and ‘Not my people’, they will be called ‘My People again!’  They will call me ‘Wonderful Creator’.”

 

PRAYER: Our relationship is the most important part of my life.  I apologies when I make you feel concerned that I do not value it.

Lent Thirty Seven "Get up and Walk"

 

Great Wave off Kanagawa by Katsushika Hokusai, Metropolitan Museum of Art, British Museum, Art Institute Chicargo, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Art and History Museum Brussels, National Gallery of Victoria and Claude Monet's Home at Giverny, France.

Fear cannot be without hope nor hope without fear. 

Spinoza, Ethics, 1677

Surf where the wave is.  The greatest experiences have an edge to them. The degree of confidence exceeds the fear of failure.  I get up on the wave and the experience is amazing.  Finding the 'cutting edge' of achieving, overcoming the challenge, a risk worth taking.  This makes for an exciting life.    

Isaiah Chapter Six

It was in the year that King Uzziah died that I saw the creator,

Seated on a high throne, with billowing robes filling the chamber.

In attendance were mighty and strange figures; people with six wings.

Two wings covered their face, two their feet, and they flew with the third.

Together they sung an awesome song of praise to the creator.

“Great, Mighty, Perfect is the creator,

Every part of the earth is filled with this glory.”

As they spoke, the building shook terribly and from its foundations smoke rose up.

I cried out

“my life is over, I have seen perfection, and I am wretched and contaminated.

I am from a people who do wrong.  Surely I cannot see the creator and live?”

 

Then one of the strange beasts flew to the centre of the room to a great fire of burning coals. 

The beast took tongs and picked up a coal,

Coming over to me and gently touched the coal to my lips.

I then hear say:

“See this coal; it has touched your lips.  Now your imperfections are removed. 

You are made clean as new.”

 

The creator surveyed the whole world and asked,

“Who can I send as a messenger to these people in their need?”

 

And I stood up and said

“Here I am, Send me.”

And the creator replied,

“yes, you go, but be aware, these people will hear, but they will not understand.

They will watch, but learn nothing.

They will see with their eyes, but turn away from healing.”

Continue until all their towns are empty, their houses deserted.

The land turned to waste.

But a remnant will endure, a stump, a terebinth.

This is the hope that remains.”

PRAYER:  May I be ready to hear you and obey your call.

Lent Thirty Six "Get up and Walk"

 

The electors of Saxony by Lucas Cranach the Elder, 
Kunsthalle, Hamburg.

“A young man who wishes to remain a

 sound atheist cannot be too

 careful of his reading.”

 C.S. Lewis             

Thus speaks someone with experience.  If you want to fly, you have to release what is in your hands, and hold your arms out at your side.  Tilt your head slightly upwards, and 'lift off'.  

Ecclesiastes Chapter Twelve

Remember your Creator in the days of your youth.

Honour your Creator before saying ‘it’s not as good as it used to be’

Be filled with awe as you see the wonder of the universe.

 

Be filled with worship before….

your legs -‘the guards that protect your house’  - tremble.

your shoulders - ‘your bodyguards’ - stoop.

your teeth - ‘those few remaining servants’ - stop grinding.

your eyes - ‘two windows on the world’    fog up

Honour your Creator before life’s opportunities close off.

Now the birds sound sweetly; then you will strain to hear them.

 

Remember your Creator before you…

Ø  worry about falling and fear to walk in the street,

Ø  your hair turns white like the almond blossom.

Ø  you drag yourself along like a dying grasshopper,

Ø  nothing helps arouse ardour in bed,

Ø  you approach your grave, your final resting place.

 

Remember your Creator before the silver cord is snapped, and the golden bowl is broken.

For then it will be too late.  The water jar will be smashed and the pulley on the well broken.

Dust will return to the earth, and the spirit will return to its Creator.

 

Conclusion

All of existence is a conundrum, it’s a paradox, says the teacher.

 

The teacher spent much time deliberating and testing what was known.

He tried to make his words fine and uplifting.

But his words were honest, like cattle prods.

 

Let me tell you my child, be careful, you can really think too much and wear yourself out.

 

Honour your Creator, do what is right, as everyone should.

All things will be judged; nothing over looked.

 PRAYER: I thank you that nothing now can separate me from your love.

 

Lent Thirty Five "Get up and Walk"

 

'Despair' by Frank Holl - Southampton Art Gallery

The most common form of despair is not being who you are.    

 Soren Kierkegaard    

People whose early experience of life is uncertain and unsafe, even when they were not old enough to comprehend this, tend to have an insecurity hanging over them; like a floating anxiety.  To have an understand of context, history and destiny is a profound thing.  We think of animals just 'existing'.  But for us human beings, perhaps understanding these basic things frees us into existence.

Hebrews Chapter Six

It is getting rather tiring having to go over the basics time and again!

It is hardest for those who ‘know the truth’, and turn their back on it,

They know what the Creator wants. 

How can they come back when they openly reject this offer?

 

The natural processes of life mean that good things will happen. 

But there are also obstacles such as ‘rocks’, or ‘thorns’ that get in the way. 

The way to deal with these is to ‘uproot’ and ‘burn’.

I don’t mean to scare you. 

The Creator knows how long you have earnestly desire to get right with him.

 

Let us keep on loving each other and that will be the sign that we are succeeding.

 

An example of hope we all know is when our forefather Abraham was told that he would be the head of a great nation, despite being very old and having no children. 

The Creator gave him a promise that was also an oath that this would happen. 

The oath was something ‘certain’ that Abraham could hold on to.

In the same way we have been promised that we are safe in the Creator’s plan for the future.

PRAYER:  Thank you for telling me who I am, and why I live.

 

Sixth Sunday "Get up and Walk"

 

Christ at the Column by Djanira da Motta e Silva,
Private Collection, Rio de Janerio

“The hardness of God is 

kinder than the softness of men, and His compulsion is our liberation.”  

C S Lewis, Surprised By Joy: The Shape of My Early Life.

Today is the last Sunday in Lent.  The Easter story is one we have become desensitised to.  If it were altered a bit, we might be 'hit in the face' by the awfulness of the story.  It is the worst of evil at work, at an individual, social and institutional level.  

Gospel According to John Chapter Nineteen

It's a rare sight to see someone die in public.

It induces an evil, seductive fascination.

A state that can only be achieved with company. 

A 'what are they doing here?' innocence.

 

In prolonged agony Jesus called out in thirst.

Not a request, but wine was stuck in his face.

A strange action for a man who was drying up.

 

When the bodies of those men were lowered,

Jesus had been dead for some time.  

The other victims were a tangled mess,

Jesus’ body was strangely complete.  

Pierced with a blade, pied-blood flowed from his side.

 

Friends, Joseph and Nicodemus discussed what to do.

The Judge was keen to get this aberration tidied up.

"Yes please, do dispose of the body."

"I agree it should never have happened this way."

"We'll never live this one down."

 

"My family has recently purchased a tomb.

It's nearby, let's put his body there."

"I brought the embalming kit."

"Act quickly, the whole city is closing for the holiday."

PRAYER:  I can bare the horrors of this world, because you have already done so.

Lent Thirty Four "Get up and Walk"

 

Die Jagd Nach Dem Gluck (Chasing After Happiness) 

By Edmund Youngerbauer. Smithsonian Museum

If merely ‘feeling good’ could decide, drunkenness would be the supremely valid human experience.  

William James, Varieties of Religious Experience, 1902.

It the past happiness was only the pursuit of  kings and emperors.  Now, like holidays, its for all of western society.  Perhaps happiness should be seen as a secondary gain.  I seek to love others as I care about myself, and I am given happiness, like a free gift.  I seek to honour my Creator, to care about the needs of those I live with, my neighbours, my distant neighbours in far off countries... and I receive happiness as a byproduct.  For some people this is extremely difficult, because they are feeling depressed.  Depression can turn the eye inward.  My a tiny bit of happiness is like striking a match in a dark room. Here are some of King Solomon thoughts.

Ecclesiastes Chapter Six

This is what I find so perplexing.

Some people experience great success.

They live notable lives and have many children.

But they die, and what have they achieved? 

Sometimes nothing of what they have done is noticed.

 

Others are born into poverty.

All they have to hold on to is wisdom.

 

Since we cannot get what we like, let us like what we can get.

 

About The Future

The Creator knows already every outcome,

Like an old much loved film.

Our lives are flickering shadows.

It’s not for us to know the outcome.

PRAYER:  I seek first to live in your world, and know that everything else is taken care of.

The great motif - "Die Jagd Nach Dem Gluck"

1866 Rudolf Friedrich August Henneberg - Alte Nationalgalerie - Berlin

Postcard- For sale on oldthing.de 

German anti Bolshevik Poster - Peace Palace Gallery, The Hague.

By Theo Zasche, Political Cartoonist 1924 - (for sale on ebay)

Original Sketch - Städel Museum, Frankfurt 

1930's Film Poster

Lent Thirty Three "Get up and Walk"

 

Untitled-painting by Allen Anthony- Hansen, Ugallery

Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed. Alexander Pope, Letter, 1727

Born in London, Pope rather neatly moved to to Popeswood, near Bracknell, where Catholic were afforded great freedom and safety.  Pope lived in challenging times, but the question remains. What do I want?  What do I hope for?  

Haggai

I hear you saying that it is not yet time to return and restore the place of worship for the Creator. Yet you are looking after yourselves quite nicely. You know that this lifestyle does not satisfy. You work hard, but gain little profit. You eat well, but never feel full. You drink when thirsty, but it’s not quite enough. You buy rich clothes but they don’t keep you warm. And your pockets always seem to have holes in them! Put your hearts and minds into doing something for the Creator, and meaning will return to your lives. You will see that what you turn your hand to will succeed. The leaders and the people actually listened. They understood the meaning of the message. On the 21st September they began to invest in restoring places of worship. 

17th October 520 BCE  

I am wondering if you ever saw the previous buildings? It is of no consequence. The Creator’s presence is in you. You have nothing to fear. I assure you, the former greatest of this work will return. All peoples from the surrounding regions will see it and marvel at the riches and splendour. 

18th December 520 BCE 

Let’s test the leaders to see how their faith has stood up over time. If you have set aside money for the Creator, but remember something you really need as you prepare to make your gift, is ok to postpone the gift? The leaders were clear, ‘not at all - our first priority it to give back to the Creator, and trust that our needs will be met.’ What about if the money has come from unethical sources? ‘Then it is an unsuitable gift.’ You are correct, and have explained why things went so wrong in the past. You are putting things right, and blessing will come as a consequence. 

Haggai informed the leaders of future tumult; that great changes were about to happen in the nations. But they would be protected because they had restored their relationship, and remained faithfulness. 

PRAYER:  I walk with the Creator of all in me.  All things are possible.