The Gravity of the Supremes

An Inkling

With the media fixated on the same sex marriage cases before the Supreme Court this week, hardly anyone has noticed another momentous case before them – this one challenging the law of gravity.  The Court will determine whether the law of gravity is inevitably discriminatory in its application, bearing more heavily on some than on others. If they so determine, they will certainly rule the law unconstitutional. 

This case is before the Court because of a suit filed by seven people who believe it is unjust that they are considered heavy.  Ike Newton, attorney for the plaintiffs, declared that it is long since time for America to bring freedom for all who have previously borne the burden of extra pounds.

The seven plaintiffs prepared for the Court hearing with a service at their church, where the Reverend G. B. Shaw led a ceremony in which the seven were pronounced “light.”  During his homily the Reverend Shaw declared, “I don’t know what kind of bigoted blindness led the deity to put the law of gravity into effect, but the Supreme Court now has the opportunity to right a great wrong.” 

At a reception following the ceremony, the newly light celebrants were giddy with their new status.  One of the women declared that she can hardly wait to wear a size five dress. 

Meanwhile the Presbyterian Church has convened a study commission, which will consider the Church’s broad diversity of theological positions on gravity, and will bring a report in 2024.

“He who sits in the heavens laughs.”  And the joke is on us.

Lord have mercy,

Keith

Simple Truth

An Inkling

God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but have eternal life.

If you were to pick a single verse to summarize the good news, which would it be?  Many choose the verse above, John 3:16.  It is about as basic as our faith gets, and yet it expresses some of the gospel’s central mysteries.

Often we think of “the basics” as something we endure so that we can move on to what really matters.  We begin with basic grammar so that we can move on to competent writing, and with basic math so that we can move on to calculus.  But “the basics” are not lost; they are just assumed.  You can’t work a derivative equation without the assumptions of basic math.

So too with our faith.  We begin with the basic understanding that God so loved…  Only we do not really move beyond that.  We may study complex theological issues about the nature of God, or ethical questions about war and abortion.  And sometimes we lose track of “the basics” in the complexity of such matters.  But if faith remains Christian, then we can never leave behind those basic gospel truths.

In fact, one reason I’m persuaded of the gospel’s truth is that its deepest mysteries are found in its simplest truths.  It is not as if we ever move beyond John 3:16.  And we need not, for there is more than enough depth there for a lifetime of pondering, and more than enough good news there to make life worth living.  Thanks be to God!

Thinking simple thoughts,

Keith

The GRAND Stand View

An Inkling

Do you ever wonder how the Communion of the Saints works?  You know, that phrase we slide through in the Apostles Creed?  How does that it work?  I’ve been thinking about that this week, because this Friday is the premiere of Job’s Unbridled Faith.  And I’m wondering if Bob Wendell will be watching.

You may have heard about how Bob and Ed Keating collaborated on writing this musical telling of the story of Job.  They sensed the Holy Spirit moving through them as they pulled music and verse together.  Bob lived long enough to partner in the writing, but not long enough to see it performed – at least in the expected way.

I’ve been practicing with the choir for this premiere, and I can report to you that it really does capture the profundity and mystery of Job, and it does so in a way that is both moving and fun.  “Moving” you’d expect.  “Fun?”  From Job?  You’ll have to see for yourself, Friday at 7:30, here at St. Giles, complete with choir and orchestra.

Back to the Communion of the Saints.  It’s not about ghosts sneaking back into our realm.  Rather it describes the sense the scripture gives us that the community we have in Jesus Christ extends beyond the boundaries of this life.  Death changes, but does not end, those relationships.

So might Bob be watching Friday night?  I’d like to think so.  In fact, I’d like to think Bob would have the best seat in the house, watching from the GRAND Stand.  By that I mean he will watch with the knowing eye of one who sees fully what we can only glimpse in Job, and describe in terms of mystery.  Job’s Unbridled Faith does that well, and Bob will take it in with a far grander understanding than we have as we perform it.

You can see the video trailer I’ve attached, made from footage of a practice last week.  Share this link with your friends.  Tell them you found some folks who can have fun telling Job’s story.  That ought to interest them.  I think there will be a lot of joy on Friday.  And the happiest “Bravo” will sound from the GRAND stand.

Blessings,

Keith

The Latest and the Timeless

An Inkling

Have you heard the latest?  Probably not.  Because the flow of information and news is so fast now that the latest has a shelf life of about ten minutes.

It is well to be informed.  But even if we could keep up with the latest, what would we have?  Not much.  The vast majority of it is rightly forgotten in a few minutes.  Marketers of the latest have successfully led us to expect that we simply must know what’s happening everywhere, and that we must know it now.  Really?

And maybe you’re smart enough to bring that off.  But given my own very limited brain power and time resources, I have decided that I won’t even try to keep up with the latest, but will avail myself of news summaries every day or two.  And as I wean off, maybe I’ll be able to move to every week or two.  That will be somewhere closer to the neighborhood of sanity.

Then to give a bit of perspective on the latest, I’m going to give more time and brain power to the timeless, and particularly to the words of Jesus:

• Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
• Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
• Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.
• I am the vine, you are the branches.  Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.

Somehow those seem more worthy of thought than the latest tweets on who wore what to the Academy Awards, or the latest polls on who is winning the sequester debate.  Who is better informed – the one who knows the latest or the one who ponders the timeless?

Blessings,

Keith

Finding the Needle

An Inkling

Last fall, in preparation for the grand finale worship service of St. Giles’ 75^th anniversary, I wanted to find out how they ordered worship in 1937, when our church began, and to shape our service that way.  So I went to the seminary library in search of examples. 

When I inquired at the desk, their eyes grew wide, and they sent me to the Reference Librarian, Paula Skreslet, saying, “she’ll know.”  And sure enough, she did!  She led me back into the voluminous archives, went to just the right section, and in a moment had an order of worship from St. Giles’ first year – just what I needed.

Any of the librarians could have shown me how to find something via a computer search of catalogued books, articles, etc.  But Paula was the one who knew where to find an uncatalogued needle in a whole row of haystacks!  What a gift – to be able to find the right knowledge at the right moment from a vast archive!  This was a woman who had lingered long in that treasure store of resources, and who, thus, knew her way around.

I was reminded of that this week when I was praying through Jesus’ Kingdom parables, and came to this one:  “He said, ‘Then you see how every student well-trained in God’s kingdom is like the owner of a general store who can put his hands on anything you need, old or new, exactly when you need it.’” (Mt. 13:52 in The Message.)

In a world where the haystacks of information are growing exponentially, one of the joys of Kingdom living is that it comes with the promise of timely wisdom from the vast treasures of God’s truth.  The Spirit himself gradually shows us how to find our way around the central store of that truth, the scripture.  And like with Paula, as we linger in its midst and learn to love it, the Spirit forms in us a knack for finding the right word at the right time, making God’s ancient truth newly relevant in our lives.  Even Google can’t do that!

Thanks Paula!

Keith