Bare Bone Hope

~~~ Ezekiel 37:1-14 ~~~ Psalm 107 ~~~ Matthew 22:34-40 ~~~

The Old Testament is filled with God's surrogates, the prophets.

God chooses, appoints, anoints, and instructs

them to speak on his behalf.

Prophesy over these bones, and say to them:

Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD!

God led Ezekiel into a desolate place.

He finds himself surrounded by dry bones.

How can a field of bare dry bones be inspirational?

There are no visible signs of life...no blood, no muscle...no flesh.

Having recently making bone broth I have learned

that dry bare bones are still rich with hidden nutrients.

There are numerous benefits in eating this bone broth.

God instructs Ezekiel to speak

 his words over these dry lifeless bones.

It appears to be a complete waste of time.

But for God nothing is a waste of time...he can restore...

he can make all things new again. 

The scene appears to be hopeless, but Ezekiel did as God requested.

Ezekiel spoke God's words over the bones.

Prophesy over these bones, and say to them:

Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD!

When we find ourselves in a dry bare bones

place we too must listen to the word of the Lord.

There is a core of new life in the words of the Lord.

If we believe that God will restore an abundance of life,

then even in the midst of a pile of bones

we will not give up.

O my people, I will open your graves

and have you rise from them...

I will put my spirit in you that you may live...

The bones were restored to the land of the living

once God breathed the Spirit upon them.

Jesus is spirit and life.

This is how we are to know that God

 is indeed a God of his word.

We have been promised to receive the spirit of life.

There is nothing too dry, nothing too barren;

not even bare bones.

God commands...

From the four winds come, O spirit,

and breathe into these slain that they may come to life.

We must believe in God's words of life.

We are called to hold on to hope in 

everlasting life.

Blessed with the Spirit of the Lord.

Our hope is based in the promise of the Lord.

~~~Peace~~~

Who is the Good Samaritan?

~ Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time ~

 

~~Deuteronomy 30:10-14~~Psalm 69 or 19~~Colossians 1:15-20~~Luke 10:25-37~~

 

Your words, Lord, are Spirit and life.

 

The 'words' God gave to Moses we know as the Ten Commandments.

Ten rules to guide you in the way of God.

 

Moses himself describes the law of the Lord...

For this command that I enjoin on you today
is not too mysterious and remote for you.

It is normal for us to see that God does have laws.

If we look at nature we see many examples of the these laws.

The laws of God make sense.

Already within our hearts is a sense of a higher power.

A higher power that deserves our love, honor and praise.

Moses also says to the people referring to the laws...

 '...it is something very near to you,
already in your mouths and in your hearts;
you have only to carry it out.'

 

If what you have in your hearts is not supported by your actions

 then you are not being true to your heart.

 

In the Gospel today Jesus is questioned by a scholar of the law.

This scholar is asking if the old law are still to be obeyed.

Jesus never had the intention of abolishing

the laws given to Moses.

As a scholar of the law this person knew

the laws given to Moses.

 

Loving God with your whole heart, being, strength, and mind...

this is not mysterious...

this is already in your hearts.

Just as Moses was preaching.

It is the next part that causes us the greatest difficulties.

 

'...and your neighbor as yourself.”

 

This causes us problems because we are left to determine

who our neighbors are.

Most of the time we chose the easy most comfortable

 definition of our neighbors.

Our neighbors...

who are they?

The family next door, our friends,

 the people in our book club or bible study,

those who go to the same church;

these people are our neighbors.

But are these our only neighbors?

Jesus goes on with the example of the Good Samaritan.

Here we see the definition of neighbor greatly expanded.

 

It seems that our definition of neighbor is very controlled;

we set our own boundaries.

We want to be comfortable with our neighbors.

 

The definition of neighbor that Jesus presents is far from ours.

The Good Samaritan goes above and beyond what most of us would

consider doing for a friend much less a neighbor.

 

The Good Samaritan is an example for all of us to reach toward.

 

We are challenged to view our neighbor with compassion.

We are challenged to go out of our comfort zone to help our neighbor.

 

To me the person that comes closest to the Good Samaritan

would be Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta.

She enlarged her circle to include all kinds of people as her neighbors.

She said...

"Intense love does not measure, it just gives."
 

It seems that loving our neighbor as ourselves requires us to consistently

reevaluate if someone meets the guideline to be our neighbor.

Loving our neighbor as ourselves is not something carved in stone

rather it is in the folds of our heart.

Pearls of Great Price

~~~ Jeremiah 10:15, 16-21 ~~~ Psalm 59 ~~~ Matthew 13: 44-46

A pearl of great price.

"When he finds a pearl of great price,
he goes and sells all that he has and buys it."

As  a woman I have always been partial to this scripture analogy.

In fact I have written other material on the pearl and how they are formed in nature.

Simply put a pearl is formed over time inside the protective shell

because of tiny pieces of grit trapped inside.

The actual pearl, we so admire, draws its luster and beauty from the animal's

 trying to protect itself. The little animal secretes a substance that coats the grain of sand

often to no avail; it continues to be irritated.

In Jeremiah we also have a "pearl" of great price...the words of the Lord.

"When I found your words, I devoured them;
they became my joy and the happiness of my heart..."

When I discovered just how much I cherished the words of scripture

it was indeed like finding a great treasure.

I wanted to incorporate them into my being much like the

grain of sand inside the shell.

Every day I find a precious pearl of wisdom that I can devour.

Devour is a very strong word. When you devour something you consume it

with a great deal of passion. You consume it quickly as if

 it were going to disappear soon.

The words of the Lord can also be an irritant for our heart and our spirit.

Many times the message contained in the words of the Lord are harsh.

God does not mince words...he tells it like it is.

We find ways to accept them and eventually come to understand the

beauty they can create in our souls.

The beauty of the pearl takes time and involves some pain.

Sometimes I want life to be easy. but in the end it is often

the irritants that give us the luster we desire,

I invite you to sit with the words of the Lord especially when they

seem to make you feel uncomfortable.

Do not just dismiss them, but look carefully at what they might be

saying to you.

They can bring you joy and happiness.