Sept. 20, 2019
Dear Village Family,
This Sunday we are turning to the prophet Daniel. The first half of the book is a collection of short stories that are dramatic. The two of these stories are the most familiar. The first is about the guys with impossible names, “Shadrach, Meshack and Abednego.” It makes me grateful my mother named me Tom, rather than Abednego. These guys were tossed into a fiery furnace, but by the grace of God emerged unscathed. A few pages later, Daniel was thrown into a den of lions. After spending the night, he greets the morning unharmed.
On their face, these short stories may seem so far removed from our life of faith that as one Biblical Scholar asks, “Why would preachers carry these stories into the pulpit these days?” (A preacher secret: when you are preparing for a sermon and the scholar asks that question…it’s not the kind of help you are looking for!) It’s a fair question. My sense is that these stories are not helpful if they are read to suggest that you don’t have to worry about the trouble in your life. We know things don’t always work out well. Yet, if I understand the text, these are stories about courage and about letting our faith be our guide. So, I hope you will come Sunday. If you know someone who is facing a difficult time, invite them to come with you. I think the message Sunday could bring some inspiration.
Speaking of courage, I had a conversation with the newly elected officers this past Tuesday evening and I shared with them a poem that I have discovered recently. I have included it for you today. I think you will like it.
Blessings,
Tom
Dear Village Family,
This Sunday we are turning to the prophet Daniel. The first half of the book is a collection of short stories that are dramatic. The two of these stories are the most familiar. The first is about the guys with impossible names, “Shadrach, Meshack and Abednego.” It makes me grateful my mother named me Tom, rather than Abednego. These guys were tossed into a fiery furnace, but by the grace of God emerged unscathed. A few pages later, Daniel was thrown into a den of lions. After spending the night, he greets the morning unharmed.
On their face, these short stories may seem so far removed from our life of faith that as one Biblical Scholar asks, “Why would preachers carry these stories into the pulpit these days?” (A preacher secret: when you are preparing for a sermon and the scholar asks that question…it’s not the kind of help you are looking for!) It’s a fair question. My sense is that these stories are not helpful if they are read to suggest that you don’t have to worry about the trouble in your life. We know things don’t always work out well. Yet, if I understand the text, these are stories about courage and about letting our faith be our guide. So, I hope you will come Sunday. If you know someone who is facing a difficult time, invite them to come with you. I think the message Sunday could bring some inspiration.
Speaking of courage, I had a conversation with the newly elected officers this past Tuesday evening and I shared with them a poem that I have discovered recently. I have included it for you today. I think you will like it.
Blessings,
Tom
Crocus-Minded
by Jo Sorley
It takes courage
to be crocus-minded.
God, I’d rather wait until June,
Like wise roses,
When the hazards of winter are safely behind,
and I’m expected,
and everything’s ready for roses.
But crocuses?
Highly irregular.
Knifing through hard-frozen ground and snow,
and sticking their necks out,
because they believe in spring
and have something personal
and emphatic to say about it.
God, I am by nature rose-minded.
Even when I have studied the situation here
and know there are wrongs that need righting,
affirmations that need stating,
and know also that my speaking out may offend . . .
for it rocks the boat . . .
Well, I’d rather wait until June.
Maybe later things will work themselves out,
and we won’t have to make an issue of it.
God, forgive,
Wrongs don’t work themselves out.
Injustices and inequities and hurts don’t just dissolve.
Somebody has to stick her neck out,
Somebody who cares enough
to think through
and work through hard ground,
because she believes
and has something personal
and emphatic to say about it.
Me God?
Crocus-minded?
Could it be that there are things that need to be said,
and you want me to say them?
I pray for courage.
by Jo Sorley
It takes courage
to be crocus-minded.
God, I’d rather wait until June,
Like wise roses,
When the hazards of winter are safely behind,
and I’m expected,
and everything’s ready for roses.
But crocuses?
Highly irregular.
Knifing through hard-frozen ground and snow,
and sticking their necks out,
because they believe in spring
and have something personal
and emphatic to say about it.
God, I am by nature rose-minded.
Even when I have studied the situation here
and know there are wrongs that need righting,
affirmations that need stating,
and know also that my speaking out may offend . . .
for it rocks the boat . . .
Well, I’d rather wait until June.
Maybe later things will work themselves out,
and we won’t have to make an issue of it.
God, forgive,
Wrongs don’t work themselves out.
Injustices and inequities and hurts don’t just dissolve.
Somebody has to stick her neck out,
Somebody who cares enough
to think through
and work through hard ground,
because she believes
and has something personal
and emphatic to say about it.
Me God?
Crocus-minded?
Could it be that there are things that need to be said,
and you want me to say them?
I pray for courage.