The Great Commandment

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God, Hebrew, Jesus, Lord, love, love your neighbor as yourself, Mark, one, psalms, The Shema, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Torah

Today’s gospel (MK 12: 28-34) is always a reminder to me of the rootedness of Christianity, that our heritage is the same ancestry as that of Jesus, stretching back thousands of years. I am always moved when I think of Jesus growing up reading/chanting the same psalms that I do and there is something perhaps even more visceral about his answer today to the scribe who asked him to name the first of all commandments. I envision Jesus standing up straight, sun as back-lighting, raising his voice to respond: Shema Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Ehad. (Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One.) I read a commentary recently that said, “The Shema does not have to be recited in Hebrew. It may be recited in any language the worshipper understands but the miracle of the Hebrew letters makes the prayer much more powerful in Hebrew even if you don’t understand the words.” I have found that to be true (as I’m sure some Christians find with some Latin hymns from our youth or others find in Sanskrit chants). I first learned a chant of the Shema some years ago in a Wisdom School session and continue to find in it a feeling of strength and identity that transcends the boundaries of religion. The meaning of the words is imprinted in me in a place deeper than my mind and calls me to an expansiveness that can only come from the heart.

We know the text that Jesus was quoting from the Torah. I will take it with me as companion today, my prayer being for a greater consciousness of unity across the world.

Hear, O Israel! the Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.

 

 

 

 

 

Wonderfully Made!

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gifts, grace, Hebrew, humility, me, talents, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, truth, wonderful creation

This morning’s psalm selection contains my favorite verses from the Hebrew Scriptures (PS 139: 13-14). Truly You have formed my inmost being, the psalmist sings; you knit me in my mother’s womb. I give you thanks that I am fearfully, wonderfully made; wonderful are your works!

The miracle of human gestation and childbirth is enough, the functioning of all the systems in our bodies an amazing encore. What always confounds me each time I encounter those verses is that although most people who are familiar with the psalms claim this one as a favorite, many have difficulty speaking of themselves as a truly wonderful creation – physically and otherwise. Why is it that we find it so difficult to accept God’s gift of ourselves? Some of the reasons stem, I think, from cultural influence and some from religious teaching about humility incorrectly defined. Humility is knowing ourselves, recognizing that all grace comes from God, accepting our gifts and talents, that is, seeing ourselves as God sees us – a wonderful creation, not better or less than any other creature but rather as a necessary cog in the wheel of life, responsible to be totally the “me” that God intended, recognizing that wholeness comes at the end of life’s journey, not at birth. Humility has nothing in it of pride or self-denigration but is rather the companion of truth.

Today, then, I choose to get on board with the psalmist and give God the credit that God richly deserves for creating the miracle of us!

 

The Longest Psalm

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art, believe, deep reflection, Hebrew, illusions, lunch with the psalms, psalm 119, self-deception, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

During our weekly “Lunch with the Psalms” group yesterday the first topic was the length of psalm 119, part of which was the selection of the day in the Scripture readings. The text contained eight sequential verses. Today, however, there are eight more verses from different sections but they seem to work as a unified whole. See what you think.

Save me from the choice of self-deception. Let all your words become for me a living grace that I might hear your inner word, your deep instruction. Lord, your words and ways are firmly stretched across the heavens. As you yourself instructed, I’ll turn my feet away from every evil on this path through life, and gain your understanding of what is real or mere illusion.

The entire psalm is quite extraordinary, with 22 stanzas each containing 8 verses (176 verses in all – the longest psalm). Each of the stanzas begins with one of the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet (in sequence), which gives its name to the stanza. Scholars think that the psalm was intended as a manual of pious thoughts, especially for the instruction of the young, and that the structure used as a memory aid in retaining the language.

I am awed by what could have been a stilted attempt to fit the thoughts to the structure but which became a work of art, offering the opportunity for deep reflection  and transformation at every turn. As I read again the selection for this morning, I see the unlimited possibility for spiritual growth offered by the cry of the psalmist in the very first line. If that is our motivation, the rest can become our practice, taking us to the ultimate realization of truth.

Vive La Difference!

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birth order, family, Genesis, Hebrew, hope, human dignity, Jesus, Joseph, Matthew, Peace, Psalm 105, slave, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

The theme of family keeps coming back – here earlier in the week, yesterday in two significant conversations and today in all the Scripture passages. From the Hebrew Scriptures we hear the story of Joseph whom his father loved “best of all his sons” (and he had a dozen!) “because he was the child of his old age.” Because of their jealousy his brothers plotted to kill him. But for a caravan of Ishmaelites passing by, we would not have one of the great stories of the Hebrew people in Egypt. Since it was more financially profitable and somewhat morally acceptable to those who had a conscience, Joseph’s brothers sold him as a slave – and the rest of the story makes good reading toward the end of the book of Genesis. Psalm 105 sings of this betrayal and in Matthew’s gospel Jesus tells an analogous parable to the chief priests and elders (MT 21: 33-46) about wicked tenants who killed everyone the landowner sent to collect the rent – even his son whom he believed they would respect. Jesus was obviously making a point about his own presence on earth and their lack of recognition of God’s plan.  I was led in a different direction, however, given my ponderings and conversations this week about family.

We often joke in my family about the pride with which my father spoke of my brother. I usually describe this as his “my baby, my boy” stance. Although there was clearly no favoritism shown to any of us and we were just as delighted with my brother as were my parents, the story of Joseph reminded me of other families where difference has become discrimination. Distain for the one sibling that is an artist in a family of engineers or jealousy of the one who is a rich doctor when the rest are middle class laborers is a dangerous thing. Of course, it’s all more complicated than that. We’ve learned a lot about birth order and what all that can cause in the development of personality as well as the role money can play in families…and so much more. This morning, though, I’m aware of the need of all of us to reflect on our responsibility to respect those who have been given to us as blessings and/or challenges to our growth. I speak here of parents who need to nurture their children without binding them too closely – even with bonds of love – as well as siblings who must respect one another for the persons they are. Each of us is a singular, unrepeatable gift of God and we need to treat those closest to us in parentage as we would treat the cherished friends of our hearts. If that is not possible, at least we must be constantly aware of their human dignity and pray for their peace.