Go Deep

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authority, Jesus, John, Lazarus, Martha, Mary, Psalm 30, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, voice

Today’s gospel – the very long story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead – (JN 11: 1-45) offers several themes worthy of reflection. It’s easy to give it a cursory reading because we know the story from the moment Jesus got the word from Martha and Mary that Lazarus was ill, through the delays, the strange behavior of Jesus (not rushing to the home of the sick man, his dear friend), theological conversation about the end times when all will be raised, to the cinematic moment when Lazarus emerges from the tomb still bound in burial bands, when Jesus gives the order to untie him and let him go and John concludes that many people came to believe in Jesus from that day. (Whew! Try to diagram that sentence, if you will.)

What I noticed today more clearly than ever before when reading this story was the authority in the voice of Jesus at every turn. Clearly, he had come to understand his mission – the reason he had come into the world – and perhaps how Lazarus could illustrate something that Jesus knew about God’s willingness to save us all.

I’m still ruminating on the themes…so I urge you to read the text aloud, stop at each juncture and wait listening (as Psalm 130 urges us today) for deeper understanding of what Jesus was saying and doing to ready us for the events that await us in the remaining days of Lent.

Open the Door

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authority, Come O God, House of David, House of Israel, Isaiah, Jesus, key, love, Messiah, O Antiphons, power, prophecy, salvation, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, unconditional love

Today’s O Antiphon speaks of the Messiah as the Key of the House of David. Isaiah writes of the authority given to the leader of the House of David, the one who has the power to open or to shut without anyone taking that power away. The authority of this powerful leader of God’s kingdom “shall grow continually, and there shall be endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom. He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time onwards and forever more.” (Isaiah 9:7)

How do we understand this power? How did Jesus come in order that this prophecy would be fulfilled? Clearly his power was not the might by which earthly monarchs of earlier days manifested their authority. St. Paul speaks of the humility of the Christ (Messiah) who “emptied himself” of power in order that a new age be initiated, a new way of being triumphant.

What was the key to that new way? It could only be fueled by love. Pouring himself out in love was the example provided for us. We need only to search the gospels to find all the doors unlocked with that key of love. “Love one another as I have loved you,” Jesus said in word and deed. But we cannot only depend on the one who governs for that kind of success. Our participation is demanded. Love others as your very self. Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, take care of those less fortunate…You know the terms. The freedom that comes with loving unconditionally will be the salvation of the world. Are we willing?

O Key of David and scepter of the House of Israel, you open and no one can shut; you shut and no one can open: Come and lead the prisoners from the prison house, those that dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.

Authentic Authority

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A Deep Breath of Life, Alan Cohen, authentic, authority, conversation, empowerment, Jesus, power, respect, role, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Affirmation can come from any source at any time. I have a present and clear example this morning of exactly what I needed as a first item being checked off on a full calendar of tasks and events today. In conversation yesterday with a colleague who is unable to be at a 3-day meeting this weekend because of the death of a close friend, he suddenly said, “Oh, I was supposed to be chaplain for the group!” (This is a position of prayer preparation for the days and is often also one of awareness of the need to take a break for silence in deliberation.) I told him I would do it for him and this morning wrote a brief message to the committee that said, “I have agreed to step into the role of chaplain for the meeting.” Three times I added clauses that said: “if you all agree” and “unless someone else desires to do it” and “if it’s okay with everyone.” Each time I erased the addition and finally said to myself: “Just do it!”

Next I picked up Alan Cohen’s A Deep Breath of Life and read the entry for 9/27 entitled “Real Authority.” The message could not have been clearer to me. Here is what it said, in part:

The words authority and authentic are derived from the same root word. When you are authentic, you proceed from the deepest place of empowerment within you, and your words and actions bear the most effective results. When you do not act authentically, you are not effective because you are moving from a place of fear or emptiness.

The Bible tells us that the people respected Jesus because “he spoke with authority. When we tap into our divinity, the true author, God, authorizes us to be authentic and, thus, we bear the highest and only authority.

Cohen concludes with a brief affirmation prayer that says: “Let me not hide my true power under a cloak of smallness or unworthiness.” And I say: Amen to that!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Elizabeth Regina

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authority, destiny, divine, judge, leadership, psalm 97, Queen Elizabeth, sovereign, The Crown, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, weighty

The “common cold” has been getting a lot of attention recently. We’ve been warned about the danger of being heedless as it could lead to pneumonia – and that to death, especially for the elderly. Whether it be an excess of caution or a very serious infection, Queen Elizabeth of England has joined the ranks of those of us afflicted in this season, to the extent that she missed participating in her traditional Christmas church service for the first time in 30 years!

I was reminded of the Queen as I read a translation of this morning’s psalm (97) that used the word “Sovereign” for God in the first verse. It is God, I AM, who is sovereign over all, it said. We have been watching at our house the Netflix original series called The Crown which so far (only one season produced thus far) chronicles the period of Elizabeth II’s early life and the first decade of her reign as queen. The introduction to each episode is quite strikingly artistic, beginning with strands of molten gold, flowing and swirling and eventually forming the weighty (5 pounds, they say) crown of the queen. Just that piece and the title give a perfect introduction to the main theme of the entire series: the role of the sovereign which, as is clear from the oath at her coronation, comes directly from God. A weighty destiny indeed.

I have stopped after writing the above, not knowing where to take that thought. There is so much that flows from its meaning. Her serious demeanor seems rarely left behind, usually only when she has been seen walking her dogs in the countryside, for instance. That makes more sense to me now, having seen images of her struggling with the impossible task of one who is seen to have divine authority but at the same time is bound by centuries of protocols and traditions that seem ironclad, thus immune to her differing opinions. I feel a new compassion for her, rather than just a passing curiosity about what she is wearing or whether she is smiling when she appears on the news. Wherever this leads, it reminds me of the serious “job” of leadership and the task of the rest of us to research before we judge.

The Balance of Power

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authority, discern, faithfulness, Israel, Jesus, justice, love, Mark, psalm 89, Samuel, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, truth

Today’s readings reflect on the question and content of authority. In the Hebrew Scripture (1 SM 8:4-7, 10-22) the elders of Israel come to Samuel in his old age and insist that they need a king to rule – as is the case in other nations. Samuel points out what that might mean in terms of the authority a king would have over the people that would change life as they know it, but they continue to insist. God tells Samuel to give them what they want and learn by experience what it means.  In the gospel (MK 2:1-12), when Jesus heals a paralytic by saying, “Your sins are forgiven,” the scribes grumble about where he gets the authority to talk that way. Jesus, knowing his own authority and that it comes from God, asks whether it is easier to tell the man his sins are forgiven (indicating, I think, a deeper healing) or to get up and walk. As with Samuel, Jesus then says to the man, “I say to you, rise, pick up your mat and go home.” When he did, the people “were all astounded and glorified God.”

The question of how people view authority and where true power really lies led me from those readings to the psalm refrain (PS 89:16-19). In both traditional and modern language, the seat of power seems to rest in the balance between the light of love and justice. Here are three translations.

Blessed are the people who know the joyful shout; in the light of your countenance, O Lord, they walk. At your name they rejoice all the day, and through your justice they are exalted. For you are the splendor of their strength, and by your favor our horn is exalted. For to the Lord belongs our shield, and to the Holy One of Israel, our King.

Your guiding hands, your strengthening arms embrace us and draw us in and place us everywhere in right relationship to all: to truth and love and justice done, their one true source your face, your throne. And all who seek that face shall shout in festive praise. They walk and your abiding faithfulness lights up their way; their feet keep balance on the path of right towards you.

Blessed are those who know your Love, who walk in the Light of your countenance! Blessed are those who call upon your Name and extol truth and justice! For You are the glory of their strength; You give wise counsel. Our very lives belong to You, O Loving Companion Presence. 

To all of this I would add for our world today that those are blessed who are able to look deeply – past any “politically correct” rhetoric – to discern the heart of where true authority lies in others but also in ourselves. And blessed are we when we act from that deeper place regardless of the favor or criticism that may arise as a result.