first reading: Awareness by Joyce Rupp
Every day I am offered the tremendous gift of sipping from the mystery of life, tasting the exquisite beauty in what the universe offers me from the vast cup of the cosmos. And in the midst of this beauty, I am also invited to hear the groan of suffering that arises from our bleeding and wounded planet…
…Daily I must set out, again and again, to have an open mind and a compassionate heart. Daily I must perk up my external senses and commune with my internal ones, as well. The cosmos holds out her cut of life to me, filled with invisible packets of energy. I need only respond with a desire and an intention to receive. It is then that I enter into the cosmic dance with awareness and gratitude, and hear again the inner voice urging me toward oneness.
from The Cosmic Dance: An Invitation to Experience Our Oneness by Joyce Rupp, pp. 12 and 33.
Amazing Creator, you invite us to open our eyes and really SEE, to perk up our ears and really LISTEN… not just when we’re standing on the edge of the Grand Canyon or listening to the ocean’s ebbing symphony. You invite us also to pay attention in the normal everyday moment, with the sights and sounds we take for granted… the wonders of technology, the sweetness of the oxygen we breathe, the awesomeness of life lived in communion with you… Speak to us now of your wonders. Refresh in us the sense of awe that we so easily lose... not because we deserve it, not because of who we are, but because of who you are. In your name we pray... amen.
second reading: Mark 10:35-45
35James and John, Zebedee's sons, came up to him. "Teacher, we have something we want you to do for us."
36"What is it? I'll see what I can do."
37"Arrange it," they said, "so that we will be awarded the highest places of honor in your glory—one of us at your right, the other at your left."
38Jesus said, "You have no idea what you're asking. Are you capable of drinking the cup I drink, of being baptized in the baptism I'm about to be plunged into?"
39-40"Sure," they said. "Why not?" Jesus said, "Come to think of it, you will drink the cup I drink, and be baptized in my baptism. But as to awarding places of honor, that's not my business. There are other arrangements for that."
41-45When the other ten heard of this conversation, they lost their tempers with James and John. Jesus got them together to settle things down. "You've observed how godless rulers throw their weight around," he said, "and when people get a little power how quickly it goes to their heads. It's not going to be that way with you. Whoever wants to be great must become a servant. Whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave. That is what the Son of Man has done: He came to serve, not to be served—and then to give away his life in exchange for many who are held hostage."
from Eugene Peterson’s The Message
Gotta love these guys, God, these friends of yours named James and John! They totally miss the boat, but through Jesus, they end up showing us the way. God, help us see how we take Jesus for granted, how we keep on asking for more when we already have so much. Help us to see how we search for recognition… power… greatness… and lead us to find our greatness in you. In your name we pray… amen.
third reading: The Call to Downward Mobility by Kenneth Carder
The cup from which Jesus drank is self-emptying love, the giving of one’s own life for others. The baptism with which he was baptized is a burial of the old world with its power games and the rising of God’s reign of justice, generosity and joy. This is downward mobility.
The world’s image of greatness is hierarchical, with the greatest at the pinnacle of the pyramid and God hovering over the top. The closer one gets to the pinnacle, the closer one is to greatness and to the image of God. Success, upward mobility and being served are signs of faithfulness to a hierarchical god.
The way of Jesus leads in another direction. (Henri) Nouwen writes: "The way of the Christian leader is not the way of upward mobility in which the world has invested so much, but the way of downward mobility ending on the cross. . . . It is not a leadership of power and control, but a leadership of powerlessness and humility in which the suffering servant of God, Jesus Christ, is made manifest."
from “The Call to Downward Mobility” by Kenneth L. Carder, http://www.christiancentury.org/.
Dear Teacher Jesus, it is so tempting to buy into our world’s notions of what “the good life” is… and what it means to have power… and what it means to be close to you. Teach us how to be downwardly mobile, Jesus, because without you we can’t do it. Teach us how to empty ourselves of all of our dead-end values, so we can embrace the value of true servanthood, of serving out of the deep well of gratitude to you. In your name we pray… amen.
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