October 19, 2013 or Day 286
Day 286 – Ezekiel 33-34, Psalm 85, Revelation 8
A few of us gathered at the beach this past Thursday night to do a field test of what Brian McLaren calls a ‘learning circle’ in his soon-to-be-released book, We Make the Way by Walking. The dusk was magnificent on this eve of the full moon. The readings were primal (Gen 1, Psalm 19:1-14, Mt 6:25-34 as we sat before the ocean with open hearts and minds. While we had an enjoyable prayer time and discussion, what was most sacred for me was dusk that day and the fact of our very existence. To read of Creation there
by the sea, so aware of Light...
as day was becoming night...
under the dome of sky...
on the edge of where land separates from sea...
with fruit, vegetation, and grain in the picnic we’d brought...
basking in the glow of both sun and moon and stars...
acknowledging birds soaring, fish surely present-though-unseen, and signs marking nests of turtles...
hearing dogs in distance...
and humans all around...
brings me to tears and haunts me, really, as I write this Friday morning for Day 286 of our Bible Challenge blog. The miracle and exquisite gift of Creation informs my reflection on the Apocalyptic writings of Ezekiel and John, and the words of our Psalmist is my prayer, “Restore us again, O God of our salvation. Show us your steadfast love. Let me hear what God the Lord will speak for he will speak peace to his people.” Ezekiel implores the people of his day to heed the warnings of the sentinels, to have individual responsibility, and to turn to righteousness. For us these writings can also serve as a sentinel to care for one another and, especially now, the care of this fragile earth our island home. He reminds us all that any wrong we do is forgotten by our forgiving Creator God, when we turn to righteousness, turn to do the Lord’s will.
In preparation for our reading of Revelation I read a book I highly recommend by Jean-Pierre Prevost, How to Read the Apocalypse. He teaches us to remember that at the center of this book is Christ and that especially through chapters like today’s (which speak to the travesties of the oppressions in the latter half of the 1st century) to know that the New Creation is already present and the “end of the world is not the destruction of the world, but rather a new creation in which the definitive victory of the resurrection of Christ will be fully deployed.”
“Lord, remind us, please, that when we hear or experience the tragedies of this age to turn to you, to the glory of your Creating power in our midst, and always in the knowledge and love of you in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.”
Wendy Tobias, St. Joseph’s, Boynton Beach
Day 286 – Ezekiel 33-34, Psalm 85, Revelation 8
A few of us gathered at the beach this past Thursday night to do a field test of what Brian McLaren calls a ‘learning circle’ in his soon-to-be-released book, We Make the Way by Walking. The dusk was magnificent on this eve of the full moon. The readings were primal (Gen 1, Psalm 19:1-14, Mt 6:25-34 as we sat before the ocean with open hearts and minds. While we had an enjoyable prayer time and discussion, what was most sacred for me was dusk that day and the fact of our very existence. To read of Creation there
by the sea, so aware of Light...
as day was becoming night...
under the dome of sky...
on the edge of where land separates from sea...
with fruit, vegetation, and grain in the picnic we’d brought...
basking in the glow of both sun and moon and stars...
acknowledging birds soaring, fish surely present-though-unseen, and signs marking nests of turtles...
hearing dogs in distance...
and humans all around...
brings me to tears and haunts me, really, as I write this Friday morning for Day 286 of our Bible Challenge blog. The miracle and exquisite gift of Creation informs my reflection on the Apocalyptic writings of Ezekiel and John, and the words of our Psalmist is my prayer, “Restore us again, O God of our salvation. Show us your steadfast love. Let me hear what God the Lord will speak for he will speak peace to his people.” Ezekiel implores the people of his day to heed the warnings of the sentinels, to have individual responsibility, and to turn to righteousness. For us these writings can also serve as a sentinel to care for one another and, especially now, the care of this fragile earth our island home. He reminds us all that any wrong we do is forgotten by our forgiving Creator God, when we turn to righteousness, turn to do the Lord’s will.
In preparation for our reading of Revelation I read a book I highly recommend by Jean-Pierre Prevost, How to Read the Apocalypse. He teaches us to remember that at the center of this book is Christ and that especially through chapters like today’s (which speak to the travesties of the oppressions in the latter half of the 1st century) to know that the New Creation is already present and the “end of the world is not the destruction of the world, but rather a new creation in which the definitive victory of the resurrection of Christ will be fully deployed.”
“Lord, remind us, please, that when we hear or experience the tragedies of this age to turn to you, to the glory of your Creating power in our midst, and always in the knowledge and love of you in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.”
Wendy Tobias, St. Joseph’s, Boynton Beach
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