Do You Have a Heart of Stone?

~~~ James 1: 12-18 ~~~~  Mark 8: 14- 21 ~~~

"Do you not yet understand or comprehend?" I can hear the frustration in the voice of Jesus. The disciples are still missing the point of his words. "Do you have eyes and not see, ears and not hear?" We are in chapter eight and Jesus has been performing miracles. Everywhere he went people were crowding around him so he is loosing patience with his disciples lack of understanding.

James sums it up in the very first chapter "...all good giving and perfect gift is from above..."

In other words everything good comes first through the goodness of our hearts. If we persevere in temptation we will receive the"crown of life"

It seems the disciples were also forgetful. They had forgotten to bring the bread. I guess they were so excited to be on the go with Jesus they were not thinking clearly. Actually they just have a misunderstanding with Jesus. He tells them to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Herod; the rules and the rulers. The disciples are thinking only on the literal level thus being out in left field, which causes Jesus to start his litany of questions. He does not even give them a chance to answer, which does happen when you are trying to communicate with someone who just does not get it. At this point Jesus is about to throw up his hands and walk away, but instead he reminds them of his earlier miracle of the seven loaves. It is as if Jesus is trying to communicate with a group of young children, but they are not children they have been with him days if not weeks now.

The disciples are only able to answer simple questions like how many baskets of fragments they collected after the second multiplication miracle feeding the four thousand. Here we begin to really notice that even the disciples were not quite sure Jesus was the messiah. They too were sort of anticipating an earthly king to make all things better. They were expecting more than a soup kitchen for the hungry. Perhaps they had something a little grander in mind for serving their king than collecting leftover scraps. You probably have seen the mess left behind after a large crowd has been 'picnicing' together in the same space. There is a pile of trash and garbage...not what they signed up for... So basically everyone was confused except Jesus. He knew he was sent to serve those in need.

Jesus cuts with the harshest  question of all, "Are your hearts hardened?" Which is a very good uestion for us to end with as Lent quickly approaches. Jesus is asking us the same question today, "Are your hearts hardened?" What does it mean for you today? What is keeping you from having the heart God needs? What causes the heart to harden? Is it like clay once exposed to the air?

Psalm 94

When I say, "My foot is slipping," your mercy, O Lord, sustains me.

When cares abound within me, your comfort gladdens my soul.

This original picture is of a red glass heart cradled in the hands of a person.
During life our hearts can become hard before we even realize what has happened.
God is always holding our heart even if it grows cold and turns to stone.
This kaliedoscope image I captured reminds me of the light that available to soften my heart. This light can dispel the root of hardness within my heart.

Happy Valentine's Day!
May your heart be filled with unending love.

  

Hear My Voice, but Tell No One

~~~~ 1 Kings 11: 29-32, 12: 19 ~~~~ Psalm 81 ~~~~  Mark 7:31-37 ~~~

"I am the Lord, your God; hear my voice."

The readings today all focus on hearing... the prophet Ahijah carries the directive to divide the cloak giving away one piece...in the psalm verse it says, 'If only my people would hear me, and Israel walk in my ways...' God is reprimanding us to listen..., and finally in the gospel Jesus restores the physical hearing and speech of a deaf man.

In the first reading Jeroboam, the son of Solomon, is alone when the prophet speaks to him. God speaks to us in various setting. The question we must answer is are we always ready and willing to listen...not just to hear, but to actually listen. In order to listen implies that our hearts are open as well as our ears. If we listen with our hearts we allow the message from God to take root and bear fruit in our life. Bearing fruit for God can be intimidating at times;

perhaps we do not feel worthy or prepared.

"I am the Lord, your God; hear my voice."

This psalm echoes throughout the corridors of my life. It can be frustrating at times trying to hear the voice of God. It often requires patience as we wait for clarification. It has been recorded that the words of the Lord are not our words. He speaks to us in the quiet recesses of our heart. He speaks to us through our friends and family. He speaks to us through our pastor. Sometimes God speaks to us through his silence...in these times only our faith and trust can keep us listening. We know not the time or hour when the Lord will speak to us.

The practice of setting aside time dedicated to listening for the Lord is worthwhile. I try to ask the Lord to speak to me...'Speak Lord, for your servant is listening'.

"I am the Lord, your God; hear my voice."

In the gospel we continue to see multitudes of people coming to Jesus for healing and to hear his teachings. They come to listen to his words and they are amazed. Everyone is talking about this phenomenal person, Jesus. In this story Jesus does not heal from a distance or even in a crowd as he has done previously. "He took (the man) off by himself away from the crowd." Away from the crowd, Jesus can safely look up to heaven and acknowledge his unity with God the Father. Together they open the man's ears and remove his speech impediment.

Not only could this man now hear the words spoken to him he could also go about spreading word of Jesus himself. I can only imagine his excitement...his joy. He must have been bursting at the seams to share about his miraculous healing,

but Jesus ordered him to keep it to himself and tell no one.

"I am the Lord, your God; hear my voice."

When my friends find a good deal or a special coupon it is natural for them to want to share. It was asking a lot for this man to keep his mouth shut. By now the number of those who have heard of healing powers of Jesus has grown tremendously. They were exceedingly astonished and they said,

"He has done all things well."

In spite of what the people felt about Jesus though there were many others who were after him. Many authorities who wanted him out of their way for they felt threatened by his power. They could not comprehend that he was not after their earthly positions of power.

The original image was a beautiful mandala designed to depict faith and wisdom. Those who came to be healed believed in the healing power of Jesus. Jesus had to exercise wisdom in making the request that his healings be kept quiet.

This captured kaleidoscope image repredents the different times when God speaks to us...from a distance in the outer areas...in a small group...or one on one intimately with us.

"I am the Lord, your God; hear my voice."