Seeing into the Infinite

I think that we have made God too small. In our culture we compose parameters around Him, confine Him to churches, and maybe even just to Sunday worship. It helps us to think of Him like a human being which is easier for our minds to comprehend, but sometimes, I think that we forget God’s divine powers that exist in the known universe.

I own this book of images from the space telescope entitled, Hubble, Window to the Universe by Giles Sparrow. Enclosed within its 225 pages, I get to see Eternity, Home of God. I can see where stars are born and where they die; star fields of infinite beauty that stretch across the pages like an artist’s canvas. Planets spin, galaxies swirl, clusters form and reform; God has shown us the depth and breadth of His worlds. I can only gape in astonishment.

There’s one photograph that is special to me called The Pillars of Creation. It is composed of dark gas, shaped like pillars, glowing with a soft yellow radiance, illuminating the area surrounding them with tints of green, teal, and brown. A fuchsia-colored star is a beacon flashing beyond them, set like a jewel gleaming in
the Great Beyond. Here stars are birthed.

To look at the photographs in this book is to me seeing the hand of God at work in the cosmos. The universe is exploding with color: yellows, oranges, soft blues, purple, violet, greens, pink, yellows, the whole gamut of the spectrum. It is the ultimate watercolor splashed across a telescopic field. Everywhere is infused with stars, bright and bold, soft and hazy, bringing the canvas to life.

For God to empty Himself of all of this to take on a human form is even more astonishing to me. To care about us, to love us, to want to be with us, how could a Being be so contained? And yet, He was. Sometimes, we get a glimpse of that power and majesty that created all of universe, as in when Jesus calmed the storm or was transfigured on the mountain with Peter and John or when the earth was in upheaval when He died. The energy of the Resurrection may be the same energy used by the stars. The hand that brushed the stellar nurseries, that breathed life onto a barren earth at the beginning of recorded time, that controls the where and when of not only space, but of space-time, decided to come to earth to save us all.

In our limited way, the breath of the Universe, metaphorically God’s breath, is visible for all of us to see. When we go outside and look up at the stars, we are looking into the past, a marvel of engineering that involves our brains and sight. The glitter of the constellations shows us signposts that stimulate our imaginations, but underneath all the wonder is the utter marvel of it all, the absolute stupendous power of God’s thought turned into action. Our God is a God of infinite majesty. Let us witness His signature that He left among the stars, this great gift of His to carry in our hearts, and let us remember that even though He holds the galaxies in the His consciousness, so too does He care enough about us to do the same.

- S. Becker

Lesson for the Fifth Sunday in Lent

John 11:33 When Jesus saw  her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. 34 He said, “Where have you lain him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” 36 Jesus began to weep.

It has been said that it is only recently that theologians think of God weeps in sympathy for ills which befall us in life and upon dying in this world. Those theologians are behind the times. Jesus weeps several times in the Gospels, including once (at least profound mourning) for John the Baptist (Matthew 14:13). If we are to take the Trinity seriously, this must signal God’s weeping, seen through Jesus.

In all cases of disaster, either physical or spiritual, God is on the side of all those afflicted and the tears are both of grief and renewal. This is a difference between the Old Testament and the New. Job’s God does not care that Job suffers. The fact that Job is rewarded hardly repays him for his lost family and suffering.

While Reformation theologies of double predestination have an Old Testament ring, giving the impression of an uncaring God, they overlook this message of the Gospel. God weeps when you suffer, and He expects his faithful to relieve your suffering to the best of their ability.

 

Now you say you're sorry
For being so untrue
Well, you can cry me a river, cry me a river
I cried, a river over you
-- “Cry Me a River” by Arthur Hamilton

Published by Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.

Lessons from the Salt Marsh

Having recently returned from South Carolina, I am thinking about the salt marshes of the Low Country, and specifically about spartina grass.  Spartina grass grows in the mud, called "pluff mud", of the Low Country.  When it dies, it provides food for a number of animals, creatures such as oysters and crabs.  Without this sustenance, they would not be able to live.  The spartina grass is an invaluable part of this ecosystem.  Within this muddy environment, all kinds of wonderful things are happening, things of which we could easily be unaware.  But it is important to know that they are happening, and that each element in this process plays a vital role.

During the Lenten season, we examine our lives to see what parts of ourselves--unhealthy habits, destructive thoughts, etc.--we may need to give up in order to more closely follow our Lord.  Sometimes we get caught in the mud, in the places we would rather not examine, but God works in those places even when we are unaware of it.  The habitat of the Low Country salt marshes is a good reminder of how God works to bring about new life in the midst of the murky areas of our lives, and how God provides us with resurrection hope when we are mired in uncertainty.  It also reminds us that the Spirit calls all of us to work together, to help each other walk through the darkness and into the Light.  Each of us is called to work with God, to bring about the rebirth and wholeness of all creation.  Every person plays a vital role in God's kingdom here on earth.  May we trust that God is working in the muddy, murky areas of our lives, and may we help one another to see the miracles that are happening there.

Knowing When to Wait

“O tarry and await the Lord’s pleasure...wait patiently for the Lord.”

I just finished typing up the weekend’s announcements. In the section reserved for UPCOMING events, it makes me happy to turn on the BOLD and RED formatting to list the services of Holy Week. I know that it is nine days away (who’s counting?). And I also am happy to list the Easter Vigil--the most mysterious and moving service of the year, when we drag ourselves sorrowfully to the dark, cold tomb with the Myrrh-bearing Women and the Apostles--only to be greeted by an explosion of light, sound and joy. Vigil is 16 days away, after the somber notes of Tenebrae, after the desolation and anguish of Good Friday, after the echoing emptiness of Holy Saturday.

Seems like a long time from today. We will traverse spiritual and emotional universes between now and then. I am usually tempted to jump to Easter and the shouts of the beloved A-word. Not so much this year. It seems to me that it is the waiting which makes the sacred Days so full of awe, and the release from the burden of death and sin so over-the-top freeing. It is like knowing that if you wait one more day to eat the temptingly delicious looking pear it will be fragrant and sweet in a way that it would not be today.

But if I wait too long, Ietting my focused attention stray, I could miss the wonder of Easter and the lusciousness of the pear. Perhaps I am beginning to learn how and when to wait. But patiently? That still needs praying for.

--Laura Howell

A few days ago I realized that almost all my assignments at Lehigh are due on the day after Easter. Company is coming for the holidays as well. The last two weeks of Lent suddenly become less a contemplative journey through the desert and more a mad rush to get everything done. I feel as if I am back working in a church!

Outside, the sun is shining, birds are singing, and spring green is starting to softly spread back over the earth. Inside, seeds are sending forth green shoots beneath the grow lights. In the sound and in the silences, life and hope surround me, and God’s presence does too, sustaining me just as air and water and sun sustain the emerging plants.

Lord, amidst the business of these days, help me to pray and to breathe in your Love, so that I may have the strength to make it to the end of this long race. Amen.

-Kathleen Knaack

Psalm 109:25-26

25 Help me, O LORD my God;*

save me for your mercy's sake.

26 Let them know that this is your hand,*

that you, O LORD, have done it.

As I finish my time at the Sugar Shack, I wonder if the time I spent in service to our community is purposeful.  I find myself smiling as I trek back up the path to my car.  My coat is sticky with the residue of sweet syrup.  I think it even coats my skin and hair.

And so it is with God’s love.  I am covered in the sweet love of God.  Covered by God’s grace and mercy.  A film that can never be washed away.  Maybe it can’t be seen by anyone else.  But I know it’s there and it changes the way I wake up everyday, how I spend my time, who I am from the inside out.  

Thank you God for the life you have given to me.  For the health and able-bodiedness which allows me to share my time in service.  Thank you for the pileated woodpeckers, the nut-hatches, the red-shouldered hawk, the cool spring water, and for the wise mentors who have shared their time and experience with me.

-Ellyn Siftar

The Joke's on Us!

I ran across a collection of Internet memes (if you're unfamiliar with the term, memes are essentially captioned photos which serve to illustrate some point or another, usually with a degree of snark and humor) yesterday which was titled, "27 Pranks You Need to Really Own April Fool's Day." They included things like covering a car in Post-It notes, using an air horn as a doorstop, and putting an office mate's desktop items inside the local vending machine. From the distance afforded by my computer screen, they were funny, though I'm not sure I would have appreciated them nearly as much had I been the intended target. Regardless, one has to appreciate the thought, and preparation, that went into them. Covering an entire car in 3-inch-by-three-inch Post-It notes is not just the stuff of genius, but takes a lot of work to plan and execute as well.

So too does Easter require preparation. Raising Jesus from the dead might just be the biggest prank of them all. While it's questionable how much help God needed from us in pulling it off in the first place, there isn't any question we're asked to do some work in the here and now as we prepare to commemorate those events. Instead of gathering up piles of Post-It notes and stealing stuff from our friends' desks, we're asked to gather up our very selves and walk with Jesus into Jerusalem. It takes work, and it won't be easy, though if we're willing to at least make an effort, we too will be able to share in his resurrection and join in sharing that last laugh. 

- Amy+