wrangling with God when things aren't so good

led by Kari Henkelmann Keyl on Thursday, September 3, 2009

First Reflection: Mark 7:24-37  (Contemporary English Version)
24Jesus left and went to the region near the city of Tyre, where he stayed in someone's home. He did not want people to know he was there, but they found out anyway.
25A woman whose daughter had an evil spirit in her heard where Jesus was. And right away she came and knelt down at his feet. 26The woman was Greek and had been born in the part of Syria known as Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to force the demon out of her daughter. 27But Jesus said, "The children must first be fed! It isn't right to take away their food and feed it to dogs."     28The woman replied, "Lord, even dogs eat the crumbs that children drop from the table." 29Jesus answered, "That's true! You may go now. The demon has left your daughter." 30When the woman got back home, she found her child lying on the bed. The demon had gone.
31Jesus left the region around Tyre and went by way of Sidon toward Lake Galilee. He went through the land near the ten cities known as Decapolis.  32Some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk. They begged Jesus just to touch him. 33After Jesus had taken him aside from the crowd, he stuck his fingers in the man's ears. Then he spit and put it on the man's tongue. 34Jesus looked up toward heaven, and with a groan he said, "Effatha!"  which means "Open up!" 35At once the man could hear, and he had no more trouble talking clearly. 36Jesus told the people not to say anything about what he had done. But the more he told them, the more they talked about it. 37They were completely amazed and said, "Everything he does is good! He even heals people who cannot hear or talk."

We pray...  O God, these stories of healing can remind us of the healing that we ourselves need. Heal our sadness and anger as we deal with loss. Heal our fearfulness as we deal with uncertainty. Heal our physical selves of the stresses and pains we carry.  Get your Spirit swirling with our spirits, that our relationships with you might find healing as well. In your name we pray… amen.


Second Reflection: Blessed by Simon and Garfunkel
listen at:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rf2kbdbuhiw

Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit.
Blessed is the lamb whose blood flows.
Blessed are the sat upon, spat upon, ratted on,
O lord, why have you forsaken me?
I got no place to go,
Ive walked around soho for the last night or so.
Ah, but it doesnt matter, no.

Blessed is the land and the kingdom.
Blessed is the man whose soul belongs to.
Blessed are the meth drinkers, pot sellers, illusion dwellers.
O lord, why have you forsaken me?
My words trickle down, like a wound
That I have no intention to heal.

Blessed are the stained glass, window pane glass.
Blessed is the church service makes me nervous
Blessed are the penny rookers, cheap hookers, groovy lookers.
O lord, why have you forsaken me?
I have tended my own garden
Much too long.

We pray...  God, thank you for songs like this that speak honestly of pain and feelings of abandonment. There’s so much of that in our world, God, and in our own lives. Help us to see what part you have in all that. Give us the permission we need to wrestle with you, to search with you and with each other. In your name we pray… amen.


Third Reflection: The Authority of Those Who Have Suffered  by Richard Rohr

(Context for the quote below: Richard Rohr has been talking about how true spiritual authority is the power to “author” life in others. And that’s what Jesus does when he feeds us his bread, the bread that not only becomes LIFE in us but becomes GOD in us. Our bodies become places where humanity and divinity coexist, and we then can “author” life in others.)

I cannot give up on Jesus. He puts flesh and Spirit together, which is the essential religious task. Jesus is such an easy one to believe, to follow, and to love. The genius of Jesus’ ministry is that he uses tragedy, suffering, sin, betrayal, and death itself to bring us to God. There are no dead ends for Jesus, which is the ultimate message of hope for humanity. Everything can be transmuted and everything can be used in the economy of grace. EVERYTHING! You could even say that Jesus makes the devil work for him, and for us, which is surely evil’s ultimate defeat.
(Adapted from The Authority of Those Who Have Suffered by Richard Rohr)

God, plant within us your own life. We need your energy, your compassion, your peaceful presence. Help us to see you, not as the one who has given us problems and pains, as if we are your chess pieces… but instead as the one who lives our pain with us, suffers with us, and leads us through our pain to find a deeper relationship with you. In your name we pray… amen