[Propertalk] Proper 17 c rcl

[Robert P Morrison]

This is up for tweaking, but is for Sunday morning. I have yet to write a brief homily for the blessing of a civil union for Sunday afternoon.

The end piece after the footnotes may or may not be incorporated.

Happy Gospelling!

Bob

THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF ST. ALBAN, ALBANY  	    THE FOURTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
JEREMIAH 2:4-13			   					    PROPER 17 C RCL
HEBREWS 13:1-8, 15-16		       				       29th AUGUST, 2010  
LUKE 14:1, 7-14			           				          PSALM 81:10-16

	One of the movies which has made a lasting impression on me is “A Beautiful Mind.”   It tells the story of the brilliant mathematician, John Nash. If you haven’t seen it – and maybe this is good nominee for a movie discussion group sometime – if you haven’t seen it, I won’t give away the whole plot, but it deals with a man who engaged in something incredibly fascinating, but whose surface I can barely even contemplate scratching, never mind actually penetrating. I always enjoyed algebra and general arithmetic in school, but never carried them too far. Still, I’m intrigued when I hear of things that seem endlessly fascinating – things whose depths appear unplumbable, yet which suggest that the further one can submerge one’s self in them the closer one might draw to the Creative Impulse of God – even to the self of God.
	The main plot of the story, which draws the viewer in almost as a participant, is what’s happening in, to and with John Nash’s mind, how it deals with incredible intricacies as well as sweeping general theories.
	I was reminded of the movie this week when I came across a story about the death of a Czech physicist Jiri Niederle. “The academy professor was well known internationally for his work in elementary particles,”   And that, in turn, made me look to find just what an elementary particle is.
	Not to turn this into an academic lecture, but “In particle physics, an elementary particle or fundamental particle is a particle not known to have substructure; that is, it is not known to be made up of smaller particles. If an elementary particle truly has no substructure, then it is one of the basic building blocks of the universe from which all other particles are made.”  
	What these stories were talking to me about at the beginning of this past week, then, all revolved around minds restless to discover the origins of life and of the relationship between the Universe and its Creator. This to me becomes centred in the expression of our petition to God in the Collect of the Day: “Graft in our hearts the love of your name; increase in us true religion; nourish us with all goodness; and bring forth in us the fruit of good works.” We pray that God will keep us mentally and physically alert to whatever it takes for us to bring creation and its inhabitants to know and to enjoy the fullness of God’s love, to discover God’s reign in full flower here in our midst.
	It’s a huge assignment we have – but it’s one that we’re all invited to share as we live out the baptismal promises we renewed five weeks ago. Yet as huge a task as it may seem, it grows out of the tiniest of building blocks which set themselves in seeming opposition to nature.
	It seems the character of nature to exist in some sort of tension between harmony and competition. This extends into the realm of humanity also. Few of us live for contention. Most of us long for peace, for amicable disposition of property and resources, for a space of our own that promises peace. Yet there’s something in us that compels us to wriggle around until we come out on top of whatever social heap with which we’re engaging. Whoever makes the decisions, I want to be in control so that first I, then my family, won’t have to be controlled or defined by anyone else.
	This may seem to be something which formed these western states in which we live, but the ideas still lie within us. Control, recognition, freedom for the self above others – we think that being in that position will bring satisfaction. But it creates two problems. First, if we, as individuals, make the decisions and take the honours, then someone else is automatically put down. And second, in order to keep our rank, we have to be on our guard, constantly looking over our shoulders, comparing how many toys we have, considering whether our resources are in need of replacement, wondering if our relationships are set up so as to make us look well and good.
	It’s a constant struggle to live like that. We’re never satisfied. There’s always a better pair of shoes somewhere in town; a newer book which we can casually leave on the coffee table so conspicuously so that we impress our visitors. We even do it in Church and between Churches. WE had eight baptisms on the first of August. Where were YOUR candidates?
	Who makes decisions? Who carries them out? Who’s in charge around here?
	Anyone want to sing a couple of choruses of “Anything you can do …”?
	Put like this it seems SO silly. Is that what really happens?
	“Yes,” sighs Jesus. “It happened with My first disciples and the societies then, just as it happens today.”
	What Jesus was getting at; what Jeremiah was talking about; what the writer to Hebrews was pointing out is that if we change about how the basic building blocks of life interact and fit one another, then we frustrate the will of God. These quarks, and leptons, and gauge bosons – all elementary particles of life – are made to work together. In my limited knowledge of particle physics, I don’t sense a terrific sense of competition among them. They don’t all fulfil the same functions, yet apparently they play into one another’s hands so that whatever one is required to do under certain circumstances it’s helped to do that, to live its life to the fullest.
	The funny thing is that as far as I can tell, all these particles exist and operate within us, as much as everywhere else. They all have the potential to produce harmony, and peace, and ease. It’s only when something happens to dislodge one of them from its appointed round that we find relationships starting to be warped, and institutions threatened, even our planet itself begin to shift.
	“It should be enough for you,” says Jesus, “to know that you as an individual are important as fully vested member of Creation. You’re in – no questions asked. And you’ll have what you need in order to fulfil God’s will for you. So don’t worry about who gets to sit where; or who gets to get to the head of the line; or even who’s here with you and Me right now. We’re ALL part of God’s production – and that’s sufficient.”
	Where this becomes difficult, of course, is understanding how we’re supposed to interact. Of course, someone has to make decisions. But there’s no harm in letting others take the lead. Some people, just like the quarks, and leptons, and bozons – some people are expected to lead. The important thing to do is to recognise this and to follow, gladly and gratefully, happy simply to be included as a participant.
	Sadly, but perhaps not unsurprisingly, we live life in a society where power is everything. WE, you and I, want to be the ones to tell people where to place whatever it is – from a large department store to a convenience store; from one group’s Church to another’s Mosque. And, so we’re told by strident voices, whoever dictates where each goes – or doesn’t go – shows superiority. It may not be expressed that way, but that’s what power is about – telling someone else where to go and how to get there – without benefit of $200!
	It’s heart-wrenching to see this go on, especially within our own families – who gets invited to the summer picnic; whom do we not phone or e-mail – or call so late they can’t come?
	It’s extremely troubling to see this go on at all levels of government – I think incivility and an almost total inability to offer another respect is one of the greatest problems facing this country – at ALL levels of government. 
	It’s unbelievable that this should happen in religious congregations – but it does, perhaps among worship groups more than anywhere else.
	So many seem reluctant to allow another to give direction – so ALL suffer.
	Eliza Griswold, the daughter of our former Presiding Bishop, was interviewed and had her book reviewed extremely favourably on the front page of last Sunday’s “New York Times Review of Books”.   Two things she said in the interview struck me. One was that she’s convinced that the greatest religious clashes today occur WITHIN each of the religions, not between different religions. We know about that – in fact we have Jesus’ comment from a couple of weeks ago – “Mother against daughter, son against father,” and so on. As in families, so in Churches, and every other human institution where ego and self-centredness can run rampant.
	Eliza’s other story involved going with a missionary into an African village where the cattle were dying. The missionary was told, “Do you have medicine? We don’t need your talking, your teaching. You’ve told us before. How are you putting that Gospel into practice?”
	ALL the small building blocks of life HAVE to work together, and there are times when I imagine that you and I can be among the smallest! The only size, the only power, the only rank we ever need is what GOD gives us.
	How many of us can say this, as a wise friend wrote: “Did you know that we have exceptional people in our parish?  We do!  Sometimes I sit in the back of the congregation and my breath is just taken away by the gifts in each of the people in our parish.  It was so exciting to listen to these fabulous women talk tonight.”
	There’s nothing wrong with the back of the bus, or the back of the Church, or anywhere else – as long as we NEVER, and I really DO mean NEVER, EVER – as long as WE NEVER put anyone there ourselves.
	Whether we’re the most elementary particle in the universe or not, let’s seek out the place that GOD chooses for us – and hold back, not out of false modesty, but out of joy that there are so many whom God has blessed.


NOTES:
 	“A Beautiful Mind”. A Ron Howard Film, starring Russell Crowe. Universal Pictures © 2002.
2	Report from http://www.radio.cz/en/subscribe   © 2010, Radio Prague - the international service of Czech Radio, all rights reserved. http://www.radio.cz, E-mail: cr at radio.cz  
3	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elementary_particle
4	Book Review Podcast: Eliza Griswold - ArtsBeat Blog - NYTimes.com  Aug 20, 2010 • Eliza Griswold discusses her book "The Tenth Parallel," and Chrystia Freeland examines the problem with business journalism. www.artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/20/book-review-podcast-eliza-griswold/?ref=arts   


extra - to be incorporated or not ....

An instrument for Growing Into Christ’s Likeness
 
Being perfectly assured of your salvation, with your whole life proclaim gratitude.  
Reject nothing, consecrate everything.
Be the good of love, for God, for neighbor, for all creation.
Judge no one, not even yourself.
Love beauty. 
Maintain inner silence in all things.
Show hospitality; err only on the side of generosity.
Speak truth to power, especially power with out love.
Let your only experience of evil be in suffering not its creation.
For us there is only the trying, the rest is none of our business.
 
             Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Breakwater, Victoria, Australia

	Via Janet jproth at verizon.net (via Susan Church)


--
Robert P. Morrison
Interim Vicar
The Episcopal Church of St Alban,
P.O. Box 1556,
Albany, Oregon, 97321

541-921-1076 (cell)
541-967-7051 (church)