Dearest e-votees,
Blessings to you and yours during this Holy Week where we are hunkered down in fear ( [ ] = terror [ ] = respectful awe (check all that apply) ) not of the Romans and the religious leaders but of COVID-19. This is a strange Holy Week indeed. You might find This Easter Celebration by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette of interest. Many churches and church members are doing what they can to flip over to new means of worship--may God's grace and are own patience and charity abound for all of us during these changes.
Wherever we may be locked away Jesus is coming. Maundy Thursday Jesus prepared his disciples by instituting communion, washing their feet, giving them the commandment to love one another (which is what the "Maundy" is about). Good Friday Jesus paid the full and sufficient price for our salvation and redemption. Easter Vigil is when the church waited in hope, fear, doubt and faith (perhaps we can relate) to see if Jesus' resurrection promises were reliable. Easter is when Jesus rose from the dead as a foretaste of our own resurrections. Jesus is coming. He will find us locked away in fear, in hiding, in quarantine and practicing a safe physical distance. He will come with his traditional greeting of "Peace be with you." May we all know, experience, abide and share that peace during these less-than-peaceful times.
Peace,
Karl
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FEAR can have several meanings.
FEAR can be terror or fright. I remember the first time I went swimming after unwisely watching Jaws. I was seeing dorsal fins (I think I was swimming in a fresh water lake but that's besides the point) and abounding with fear. I was terrified that a shark might come and get me. You can only see so much when you're in the water and swimming suits offer not so much protection. Clearly I am not alone in such fear of the apex predators as evidenced by a whole cottage industry of shark movies including: Jaws and its sequels, The Meg, Open Water, the ridiculous Sharknado franchise and Soul Surfer (the latter being a remarkable story of faith and perseverance, worth putting on your queue) and so very many (and some very unnecessary) others. We've all got to eat and the thought that we might end up on someone else's dinner plate terrifies us. (another one for your queue is the classic Twilight Zone episode "To Serve Man").
FEAR can be a deep, respectful or reverential awe. When you find yourself being pulled by undertow while in the ocean you have a sense of being in the presence something much more powerful than yourself. Wisely applied fear just might get you past a circumstance that might otherwise do you in. Our reptilian brains know that fight or flight is sometimes the best option (which evidences fear of both sorts). The annals of the Darwin Awards (given posthumously to people who have removed themselves from the gene pool) are replete with people with insufficient fear. Our adoration of celebrity might be a manifestation of this second sense of fear. People falling down as if dead in the presence of angels or in reverence of the presence of Jesus (particularly the post-resurrection Jesus) manifest this fear as well.
We are living in fearful times. But the Bible says in 1 John 4:18 that perfect love casts out fear. Jesus is the fulfillment and manifestation of God's perfect love. Death will get us, if not COVID-19 then something else, but not even death, according to Romans 8:38-39, can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Rather than fearing being consumed by Jesus we are invited and welcomed to consume him through bread and wine; body and blood. For as often as we eat this bread and drink this cup, as Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 11:26, we proclaim Jesus' death until he comes again. I'll grant you that we aren't communing as often as I would like these days but "this, too, shall pass". Let us proclaim Jesus' death until he comes again. Jesus is coming liturgically this Sunday at Easter. Jesus is coming into our very lives and circumstances as Jesus always does. Jesus is coming at the end of all time. Amen, come Lord Jesus.
Jesus, come to us again (and again and again). And speak to us your traditional greeting: "Peace be with you". Amen.
Blessings to you and yours during this Holy Week where we are hunkered down in fear ( [ ] = terror [ ] = respectful awe (check all that apply) ) not of the Romans and the religious leaders but of COVID-19. This is a strange Holy Week indeed. You might find This Easter Celebration by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette of interest. Many churches and church members are doing what they can to flip over to new means of worship--may God's grace and are own patience and charity abound for all of us during these changes.
Wherever we may be locked away Jesus is coming. Maundy Thursday Jesus prepared his disciples by instituting communion, washing their feet, giving them the commandment to love one another (which is what the "Maundy" is about). Good Friday Jesus paid the full and sufficient price for our salvation and redemption. Easter Vigil is when the church waited in hope, fear, doubt and faith (perhaps we can relate) to see if Jesus' resurrection promises were reliable. Easter is when Jesus rose from the dead as a foretaste of our own resurrections. Jesus is coming. He will find us locked away in fear, in hiding, in quarantine and practicing a safe physical distance. He will come with his traditional greeting of "Peace be with you." May we all know, experience, abide and share that peace during these less-than-peaceful times.
Peace,
Karl
------------
FEAR can have several meanings.
FEAR can be terror or fright. I remember the first time I went swimming after unwisely watching Jaws. I was seeing dorsal fins (I think I was swimming in a fresh water lake but that's besides the point) and abounding with fear. I was terrified that a shark might come and get me. You can only see so much when you're in the water and swimming suits offer not so much protection. Clearly I am not alone in such fear of the apex predators as evidenced by a whole cottage industry of shark movies including: Jaws and its sequels, The Meg, Open Water, the ridiculous Sharknado franchise and Soul Surfer (the latter being a remarkable story of faith and perseverance, worth putting on your queue) and so very many (and some very unnecessary) others. We've all got to eat and the thought that we might end up on someone else's dinner plate terrifies us. (another one for your queue is the classic Twilight Zone episode "To Serve Man").
FEAR can be a deep, respectful or reverential awe. When you find yourself being pulled by undertow while in the ocean you have a sense of being in the presence something much more powerful than yourself. Wisely applied fear just might get you past a circumstance that might otherwise do you in. Our reptilian brains know that fight or flight is sometimes the best option (which evidences fear of both sorts). The annals of the Darwin Awards (given posthumously to people who have removed themselves from the gene pool) are replete with people with insufficient fear. Our adoration of celebrity might be a manifestation of this second sense of fear. People falling down as if dead in the presence of angels or in reverence of the presence of Jesus (particularly the post-resurrection Jesus) manifest this fear as well.
We are living in fearful times. But the Bible says in 1 John 4:18 that perfect love casts out fear. Jesus is the fulfillment and manifestation of God's perfect love. Death will get us, if not COVID-19 then something else, but not even death, according to Romans 8:38-39, can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Rather than fearing being consumed by Jesus we are invited and welcomed to consume him through bread and wine; body and blood. For as often as we eat this bread and drink this cup, as Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 11:26, we proclaim Jesus' death until he comes again. I'll grant you that we aren't communing as often as I would like these days but "this, too, shall pass". Let us proclaim Jesus' death until he comes again. Jesus is coming liturgically this Sunday at Easter. Jesus is coming into our very lives and circumstances as Jesus always does. Jesus is coming at the end of all time. Amen, come Lord Jesus.
Jesus, come to us again (and again and again). And speak to us your traditional greeting: "Peace be with you". Amen.
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