Wednesday Wondering - January 3, 2024

Scripture

Psalm 30: 5

“Weeping may linger for the night,    but joy comes with the morning.”

John 16: 20

“Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy.”

2 Corinthians 6: 10

“As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.”

Reflection

I have been wondering lately about this world in which we live and our experiences of it. We are living in the midst of deep fundamental struggles in the world. We live with war, violence, anger, separation, marginalization, and a whole host of other issues. There is homelessness, poverty, environmental destruction, climate change, it seems as if no matter where we turn there are challenges.

Living in the midst of all of this it might be challenging for us to find hope, joy. happiness, laughter, but as Christians we have to believe that there is something more. But I think that in looking for that something more, we might just miss something important. The readings I chose speak to the idea of sorrow and rejoicing existing together, that there is weeping and lament, but there is also rejoicing, that sadness may come but joy will also be present. We are not simple beings, we are complex, emotional individuals, and we are sometimes contradictory in how we feel. The challenge is to recognize that that is okay. Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, the American poet, offers this poem for us to consider:

I want a word the means

okay and not okay,

more than that: a word the means

devastated and stunned with joy.

I want the word that says

I feel it all all at once.

The heart is not like a songbird

singing only one note at a time,

more like a Tuvan throat singer

able to sing both a drone

and simultaneously

two or three harmonics high above it -

a sound, the Tuvans say,

that gives the impression

 of wind swirling among rocks.

The heart understands swirl,

how the churning of opposite feelings

weaves through us like an insistent breeze

leads us wordlessly deeper into ourselves,

blesses us with paradox

so we might walk more openly

into this world so rife with devastation,

this world so ripe with joy.

Our world is full of paradox. We have the devastation of so much that is happening and we have the beauty of creation and those whom we know that exude peace and love. Our lives are full of paradox as we love, laugh, grieve, cry, sometimes at the same time. To be human is to exist in the midst of this paradox, remembering that even in the midst of pain and suffering, sadness and grief, there can be joy, laughter, and happiness. Sometimes, as the poem states, we feel it all at once and I believe that that is okay. Yet, our scriptures remind us of something important. The scripture passages remind us that God is with us through it all, that the presence of God will be there when we cry, when we lament, when we rage, when we laugh, when we sing, when we smile, always.

In the midst of all of the paradox, in the midst of all of the contradiction, that life throws at us, God is with us. We have a hymn in our More Voices hymn book which has the line, “Spirit open my heart to the pain and joy of living/As you love may I love, in receiving and in giving/ Spirit open my heart” In the midst of all of the challenges that the world bring to us, may we open our heart to the presence of God with us. May we love as God loves us. May we find those moments of joy, peace, and love, in the midst of everything challenging in our lives. I pray that each of us can live into the paradox of being fully human with all that that entails.

Prayer

God of all experiences, may we have the courage to live within the paradox, the contradictions, of our lives and the world. We ask for your guidance and presence when the world seems overwhelming, that we might find you and your joy in the midst of the challenges, and sadness, of life. Help us to open our hearts to you at each moment, when we are happy and joyful, and when we are sad and lamenting. May we find you in every moment, offering your gentle assurance, your gentle presence, your gentle love, as we navigate what it truly means to be human. We ask this in the name of Love Incarnate, God With Us, your son, Jesus. Amen.

Advent Reflections - Week 4 - Love - Rev. Amadeus Pyralis

Wednesday Wondering - December 20, 2023

Scripture

Hebrews 11: 1

"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”

2 Corinthians 5: 7

"For we walk by faith, not by sight.”

Luke 2: 8 - 10a

“In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid.’”

Reflection

It is that time of year, for myself, when I start to really think about my faith. I wonder about what it means to be a person of faith in the world today, but also in my own life. As the scriptures allude too, faith can be a difficult thing to define. It is something that we might understand in our lives, but it is hard to put into words because it is based on those things that we cannot see but yet we know that it exists. This week we will, most likely, hear the story of Jesus birth as told in Luke’s gospel and when we think about it was come to see that this is a story of faith. Mary and Joseph both had faith in God in the midst of what was happening to them in their lives. They each trusted in God, even though there must have been many unknowns that they faced. So they travelled to where they needed to go because they had faith. 

But there is another part to this story as well and it is the knowledge that the important part of this story unfolded in the midst of the dark of night. Joseph and Mary came to that stable at night. The shepherds were watching their flocks at night when the angels came to visit them. The visitors followed that star that shone at night. This story is one that is told in the midst of darkness. But the truth is that we have come to be wary of the darkness. Quite often we equate darkness with danger. We talk of dark times in our lives, and in the world, in the negative. We speak of light coming to a dark world. But I have been wondering if there is a gift that might just be found in the midst of darkness. I wonder if it is in those dark times when we truly find our faith. Edward Teller, the late Hungarian-American physicist, has stated about the concept of faith and darkness, “When you get to the end of all the light you know and it’s time to step into the darkness of the unknown, faith is knowing that one of two things shall happen: either you will be given something solid to stand on, or you will be taught how to fly.” So maybe our faith finds itself in the midst of the unknown. The scripture from the Letter to the Hebrews speaks to faith as  the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of those things not seen. It might just be speaking of those things that exist in the darkness as those things not seen. Maybe our faith has something to do with us being willing to enter into the darkness rather than avoiding it.

If we understand that our faith is based in those things we can’t see, we can see that our faith exists not only in the midst of the good times of life, but also the dark times. What then are we called to do in faith? Elizabeth Gilbert, the American journalist and author of the book Eat Pray Love, speaks to this idea of what our faith calls us to do, in the following way, “Faith is walking face-first and full-speed into the dark. If we truly knew all the answers in advance as to the meaning of life and the nature of God and the destiny of our souls, our belief would not be a leap of faith and it would not be a courageous act of humanity; it would just be….a prudent insurance policy.” Our faith is not an insurance policy, it is a courageous act in a world that says faith doesn’t exist because it can’t be seen or measured. Yet we know that our faith exists. We feel our faith deep in our souls.

We, in faith, have been preparing for that which we cannot see, the coming of Love Incarnate into the world. We have been trusting in our faith in the midst of a dark time in our world knowing that our faith exists in the midst of the darkness, as well as the light. We trust in our God who is unseen and yet ever-present. We continue to hope in that which we cannot see. This coming week is based in the story that speaks deeply to us, as it unfolds in the darkness, that God is with us all, today and every day. That is truly our faith.

Prayer

God of darkness and light, help us to remember that the story of your coming takes place at night, in the dark. Help us to know that our faith is not only lived out in the light, but also in the dark. Give us the courage to trust in your presence, your guidance, your love, in the midst of the dark places of our lives. Help us to feel you with us always as we enter into dark places knowing that we are not alone. We ask this in the name of Love Incarnate, your son, Jesus. Amen.