Flower Discovery (and more)

I recently came across this marvelous flower in someone's front garden. NOT photoshopped; I don't know how to do that. I simply took the picture in the early morning while out walking my dog.

A sleuth friend investigated and found the plant has the species name: Nelumbo nucifera and bears the common names: East Indian Lotus, Oriental Lotus, Lotus Root, Sacred Lotus Caspian Nelumbium, Indian Lotus, Sacred Egyptian Bean.  Lotus has been cultivated in China for 3000 years. 

Thea botanical website says the plant's rhizomes need to stand in mucky soil. So I expect while we can't see it here, hidden under the huge leaves and amidst all the other summer plants, it is indeed planted in a plastic container of soaked soil. All the online literature recommends NOT growing it in your pond as it is invasive (it'll take over). But here it is safely contained. More importantly — isn't it wonderful! I had walked the dog for forty minutes through the neighborhoods and something prompted me to take a turn down a street I have no recollection of having ever walked down before. Lucky me!

Lotus (not to be confused with water lily) is sacred to Buddhism and Hinduism where it represents a path to spiritual awakening and enlightenment. Our comatose culture might pay close attention. "For this people's heart has grown dull" (Mark13:15) But I would suggest this: Jesus often invites us to wake up. Waking up is not the same as having religious book knowledge or observing religious practices or obligations. It's not the same as assenting to religious truths. For one to come to spiritual enlightenment or awakening my life needs to be grounded in the muck (mud) of life — especially the mud of one's own life. That's not the same as sin — I have to know myself.  Especially these days, ours is a resentment-laden culture of looking out in suspicion, doubt and the blaming of everyone else. What's really going on inside?

Lotus might say, "Cut it out, don't just stand there admiring me, but go inside and get a good, long look at yourself. Know yourself!" It's risky, but only then have I really started to stand before God.

Do I resist what others tell me about my self?

Do I have to be in control?

Do I form my own mind or am I plugged in to other voices - especially media voices?

Do I consult others who might know better?

Am I a blamer — complainer?

Am I more an observer — standing on the sidelines rather than making a contribution?

Has my prayer (How has my prayer) grown/changed since I was a child?

Have I stagnated or plateaued?

Is only my religion true?

My party? Have I supplanted one for the other?

Am I living in resentment?

Do I think or behave in self-defeating ways?

Is there some part of me that I'm leaving untreated?

Something about myself I don't dare speak about?

What does being a Christic person mean for me? More than being nice?

The Genesis story begins with God saying, Let there be light. But the plants (which need light) aren't made until day three and the sun isn't made until day four. So it seems that the plants first live by God's own light. The first light. What does that signify for me spiritually?

Jesus Heals the Centurion's Slave

 

Here is the 19th century painting by the French artist, Alexandre Bidi of Jesus with the Centurion who had a sick-to-death slave at home. It depicts St. Matthew's version. St. Luke tells it differently — that the centurion, in great humility, sent Jewish elders to speak to Jesus on his behalf. Click here to hear an audio reflection on St. Luke's telling of the story. Luke 7:1-10

Before we begin, notice off in the distance on the left there's some folks leaning over a parapet. They seem to know something is going on. And there's a couple of dogs and a horse on the left too. Even the animals are witnesses to this healing from afar. There are two shiny helmet-d soldiers accompanying the humble officer and some apostles listening in. I sure wish these painters had the insight to include some women in these all-male paintings. Women after all are Jesus' most reliable disciples.

After he had ended all his sayings in the hearing of the people he entered Capernaum. 2 Now a centurion had a slave who was dear to him, who was sick and at the point of death. 3 When he heard of Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his slave. 4 And when they came to Jesus, they besought him earnestly, saying, "He is    worthy to have you do this for him, 5 for he loves our nation, and he built us our synagogue." And Jesus went with them. When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying to him, "Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; 7 therefore I did not presume to come to you. But say the word, and let my servant be healed. 8 For I am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me: and I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come,' and he comes; and to my slave, 'Do this,' and he does it." When Jesus heard this he marveled at him, and turned and said to the multitude that followed him, "I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith." And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave well.

 

Intercessions ~ Twenty-Second Sunday in Ordinary Time

Little girl being lifted over a wall at the Kabul airport

God of creation,/ be with us in the healing of our planet./ In the warming,/ melting and burning/ may we come quickly to the new awareness of what we must do in the face of our climate crisis./ Heal us of greed, entitlement and waste./ Bless those who help where there are fires,/ floods and destructive storms./ We pray to the Lord.

God of the nations,/ the world needs skilled and honest leaders./ Give  them gifts of courage and resolve./ Heal those in government who have become obstructers,/ imprisoned by grudges./ Free those who are enslaved to party loyalty,/ especially those who are Christian and have forsaken the Gospel Word./ We pray to the Lord.

God of beauty,/ may we grow in our powers of awareness and observation./ Give us grateful hearts./ Bless those who help to maintain the world as a beautiful place — who protect the forests,/ oceans,/ plants and animals./ We pray to the Lord.

God of wisdom,/ may we be open to new ideas./ Bless those who teach,/ who research and ask questions that will lead to new discoveries that will improve and protect life on this planet./ Give the light of wisdom to religion/ often marred and weakened by human failure./ Bless the deniers of many kinds./ We pray to the Lord.

God of compassion,/ be a rescuer to the displaced,/ the despairing,/ those who live in chronic sickness,/ wound,/ darkness and addiction./ Help the grieving./ Heal our pitiful divisions by a unifying love for the world's children./ May no child be left in tears and fears./ We pray to the Lord.

God of resurrection,/ take to yourself the departed dear ones from among our families and friends,/ the soldiers,/ sailors and civilians of every nation killed in our awful wars,/ the too many who die by our sinful veneration of guns./ Raise us up to your divine,/ vast,/ pro-life mind./ We pray to the Lord.

Discoveries Eager to Share

I recently discovered a litany prayer from the Eucharistic liturgy of the Ethiopian Orthodox church. I have adapted the prayer (significantly), making it less insular, more expansive, praying for all and not just those who belong to their church. I give the prayer's ecological ideas enhanced attention. Ethiopian Christianity is ancient. Islam having cut it off from the rest of Christianity, it is lived in a primitive and pristine form. Congregants, exuberant in their Christ-life, sing and dance rhythmically to hand bells and drums.

Before the Litany however, you might like to see the short video above titled Ethiopian Chapel in the Sky - an introduction to the chapel carved into rock — a 650 foot cliff-hanger climb made by many native pilgrims including the elderly and women with infants strapped to their backs. I'm thinking for a moment of Catholics I've met who complain about having to walk six stairs to enter their church.

Litany Prayer

O God, far from anger, super abundant in kindly deeds, accept our daily prayer, our supplications, thanks and repentance, in humility and service before your heavenly ark and before your holy, heavenly and spotless altar. Make us eager to hear the Gospel Word and keep and bless us that we may be fruitful in love, thirty, sixty and a hundred fold through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Remember Lord, all who are sick; visit them in your mercy and heal them in your compassion.

Remember Lord, our parents, our sisters and brothers and friends who travel this day; bring them back to their homes in safety and peace.

Remember Lord, the coming down of rain and the oceans, seas, rivers and streams, and bless them, keeping them clean and alive.

Remember Lord, the forests and plants, the seeds and the food given to us from the ground every year, bless them and make them abundant.

Remember Lord, the safety of your own holy people and in all the places where Christians live, especially where they suffer for love of you.

Remember Lord, our own safety and all the animals — the earth itself. 

Remember Lord, all who have fallen asleep, whether they be believing or unbelieving.

Remember Lord, all the families of every kind around the world; safeguard the children, the elderly and the frail. Bring to love those who do evil things.

Remember Lord, those who face difficulties or who have taken a dangerous path.

Remember Lord, those who have been forced to leave their homes, where the earth has become uninhabitable by flood, fire, drought or wars.

Remember Lord, the afflicted and distressed, the hopeless, and those addicted or afraid.

Remember Lord, the bishops, priests, deacons, monks and nuns; may they be among the clean of heart.

Remember Lord, and banish from the hearts of those who have been baptized, every form of idolatry — power, money, ignorance, defense of violence, and that idolatry which is an affiliation not with you but with party loyalty.

Remember us Lord, that we may live in the power of your word, in which we have been instructed and in the appointed time make us ready for the new birth and for the forgiveness of our sins and prepare us to be an ark of the Holy Spirit.

Glory to you, Lord our God almighty, who has made me to hear the word of Christ's Holy Gospel and greet it and rejoice in it, that you would write the word of the Gospel in my heart, strengthen me to love that word especially the mandate to love and forgive my enemy. Send your mercy and compassion upon us and upon all your people, through your only begotten Son, for glory and power are yours eternally. Amen.

Feast of Mary's Queenship ~ Isn't it a Pity

Fifty-Eight year old Viktor Orbán is the Prime Minister of  Hungary. In a recent interview he said: "We must defend Hungary as it is now. We must state that we do not want to be diverse and do not want to be mixed. We do not want our own color, traditions and national culture to be mixed with others."  This man leads a country that is 62% Roman Catholic. He says "we" — who is he speaking for?

Of course these thoughts echo those of not a few people in our own country. Some U.S. senators went public in agreeing with the Prime Minister. This week the 2020 Census report came out in the United States and for the first time ever the white population has decreased to below 60%. The numbers of black, brown, Asian, Pacific Islander and even indigenous peoples are increasing and there are people who are not happy about that. One commentator said, "Perhaps they are afraid these minority peoples will become powerful and influential enough that they will start to treat the white people the way their own people have been treated by whites." 

George Harrison's 1970's song, Isn't it a Pity, comes to mind. It is said the song is a masterful and timeless lament for the deterioration of relationships. Perhaps George is lamenting the break up of The Beatles themselves? But George was a deeply spiritual man — we may well imagine he was thinking about the world. Perhaps he was giving voice to God's heart, broken over the way we are on this planet?

Isn't it a pity?

Now isn't it a shame?

How we break each other's hearts and cause each other pain

How we take each other's love without thinking anymore

Forgetting to give back

Isn't is a pity?

Some things take so long, but how do I explain

When not too many people can see we're all the same

And because of all their tears

Their eyes can't hope to see the beauty that surrounds them

Isn't it a pity?

What a pity

What a pity, pity, pity...

The word pity is sung fifty-one times in the seven-minute song. Synonyms for pity might be: shame, crime, misfortune, sadness, distress, sorrow.  Isn't it a shame? Isn't it a sin? Isn't it a sorrow? 

Today is the Feast of the Queenship of Mary — the 8th day of what used to be an Assumption Octave. This year the feast falls on a Sunday and does not take precedent over the Sunday. But here, at the top of the post, is an Ethiopian Mother of God being crowned Queen-Mother by the Father and the Son with Holy Spirit hovering above. We see angel celebrators below. All black, exuberant, smiling, wearing brilliant clothes and golden haloes. They'd find no welcome in Catholic Hungary (at least officially). And here? "Isn't it a pity." 

Anyway, the new 2020 Census Report reminds us we're a changing country — always. It seems to me, these "patriots" (they like to think of themselves that way) better get over it fast or get a new religion which makes a home for the likes of Viktor Orbán et al.

Intercessions ~ Twenty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time

 

Sacred Heart Church ~ Haiti

We pray for populations which are battered by drought,/ fire,/ storms,/ sickness and insurgencies./ We pray for people who are forced to leave their  homes./ For the children and elderly./ For the restoration of security./ We pray to the Lord.

Where the nation's in-house fighting is born of partisan loyalties,/ laziness or willful ignorance,/ forgive us/ and lead us to that true patriotism which empowers us to protect the children,/ the elderly and the most vulnerable./ We pray to the Lord.

We  pray for Christians who have lost their way,/ whose faith is formed by media personalities and media outlets./ And for ourselves to know and love the mind of Christ in his Gospel Word,/ even to putting at risk defensive and comfortable old thinking./ We pray to the Lord.

We hold the troubled nation of Afghanistan in our hearts,/ where so many are living in danger,/ terror and dread./  We ask for solutions which will restore and secure the wellbeing,/ security and happiness of its people./ For the many who are trying to help./ We pray to the Lord.

We pray boldly for cooler days and the gift of rain where it is needed./ And yet again we pray to know what to do to alleviate the climate crisis which is wrecking havoc around the world,/ and the will and sacrifice  to do it./ We pray to the Lord.

Another earthquake has further weakened Haiti./ The churches of Our Lady of the Rosary,/ Our Lady of Perpetual Help,/ St. Anne,/ St. Peter,/ Sacred Heart and Immaculate Conception/ have been destroyed./ They are symbolic of broader devastation./ May we worship with grateful hearts/ and a resolve to do something to help./ We pray to the Lord. 

Assumption Overflow

Up until the mid 1950's, Mary's Assumption Feast had an octave — a liturgical eight day overflow. Each day's Mass prayers hearkened back to the 15th. Indeed, there were so many octaves for different feasts they sometimes overlapped. The liturgical calendar was rather like an over decorated room. Still, now that things are so pared down, maybe we can afford to give Mary's Assumption a little extra attention. We can pretend today is Tuesday in the Octave of the Assumption.

I found this charming postcard in Paris decades ago when I was a new priest. The photograph was taken by the French photographer Albert Monier in the 1950's. Of course, it is of four nuns standing alongside the much-loved Notre Dame Cathedral which is now being restored after the devastating fire of April 15, 2019.  The construction of Notre-Dame de Paris (Our Lady of Paris) began in 1163 and was not completed until 1345. 

Perhaps the sisters were on their way to early Mass and have stopped to listen to the Angelus bells which ring at 8 A.M. I'd also like to think that after the Mass the quartet went off to a nearby patisserie where they shared Pain au Chocolat, Tarte Framboise, Millefeiulle and café crème. 

Patty Griffin is an American singer/song-writer. Click below to hear her sing J'irai la voir un jour, a hymn to the Virgin Mary in her Assumption, written by Father Pierre Janin (born November 30, 1824). The singer remembers that her French Canadian grandmother used to sing the hymn to her as a lullaby. 

The lyrics celebrate Mary's Assumption and that we will see her again in heaven. It is a hymn of comfort, hope and love. This recording was made at a live performance after a terrorist attack in Paris. We might be mindful of the great efforts being made even today as the cathedral is being brought back to life and that terrorist attacks are now frequent in many places around the world. Here are the lyrics to the hymn's first verse: 

I will see her one day

in heaven, in my garden

Yes, I will see Mary

my joy and my love

in the sky, in the sky, in the sky

the last verse: I will go near her throne to receive my crown....

Assumption Prayer

This photograph was taken inside the Tomb of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Kidron Valley in Jerusalem. An elderly priest prays up front. Perhaps he is the chapel's caretaker or his group of pilgrims has gone off for lunch and he has stayed behind for some minutes of solitude. But look, there is room on the bench for us. I expect he would be glad for our presence. Here is the prayer I would offer. You can, of course, create and offer your own.

To the Mother of God on the Feast of Her Assumption

Your Easter, O Lady,

Your mid-August rising —

Nature's last great push of

  flower and fern,

  grass and leaf.

What have you left behind for us —

  a tunic?

  a slipper?

  a veil?

  a name for the perfect white rose?

But this,

  transcendent perfume,

  a secret scent 

  from your redolent tomb.

First among us,

  we're scent-d too —

  baptism chrism,

  born of breath,

  petal and spice,

  taking us beyond the physical

  to a place without vanity,

  enjoining us to fragrance the earth

  with all that's 

  highest and

  best —

  like your own maternal kindness,

  your eyes of love compassionate,

  your patting the bench,

  drawing us close

  for a heart to heart prayer

  to heal our weary world.

Intercessions ~ Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time (August 15 ~ Assumption)

 

This week in Singapore/ a baby born just short of 25 weeks and weighing 7.47 oz./ the weight of an apple,/ was sent home after thirteen months of intensive care./ May we know who lives in the womb./ We pray to the Lord.

"May our hearts be broken only by the things that break the heart of God," * — lies disseminated to protect power,/ injustices that keep people poor,/ the neglect and greed that leaves our planet in flames,/ hatred born of willful ignorance./ We pray to the Lord. 

School is resuming in some places,/ and the adults are often fighting over vaccines and masks./ May we do only what is best for the health and safety of children/ and the faculty and staff who serve them./ We pray to the Lord.

Elected officials are frequent sources of disinformation/ — sewing chaos, suspicion and fear./ Not a few of them are Christian./ We pray for them to rediscover themselves as servant-unifiers and healers./ We pray to the Lord.

We join Pope Francis in lamenting the murder of Father Olivier Maire of the Company of Mary last weekend./ We pray for our terribly violent world,/ for the victims of violence/ and those who cause harm, injury and death./ We pray to the Lord.

For Christian communities around the world gathering this Sunday./ May we be healed of every inclination to stigmatize,/ demonize or marginalize people/ contributing to the energies which already reject so many./ We pray to the Lord.

*This slightly amended quote belongs to Bob Pierce, the founder of World Vision-Samaritan Purse. It echoes the Prophet Jeremiah, called the Weeping Prophet 8:9.

Van Gogh's Lost Sunflowers

This is one of twelve sunflower depictions the Dutch artist Vincent Van Gogh created between the summer of 1888 and the winter of 1889 in Arles France. Van Gogh, an often sad, disappointed and self-destructive man, even to being committed to a sanitarium, wrote that sunflowers were a symbol of gratitude for him. 

This painting is titled Six Sunflowers. It was sold to a Japanese collector and shipped to Japan in 1922, but was destroyed in a fire after the U.S. bombing of Osaka on August 6th — the same day as the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima at the end of the Second World War. The other Van Gogh sunflower paintings are found in museums in Munich, Tokyo, Amsterdam, London and Philadelphia. One is in a private collection. We are fortunate to have this photograph of the painting that was a casualty of war.

We seem not to be able to stop making war. We call some of them, great, but they are not. Wars are waste. Wars are born of human stupidity, hatred and increased by revenge. Wars solve nothing. We always seem to come up with an excuse as to why they are needed. Wars are sinful, especially when people (even Christians) make money off of them. They are called war profiteers.

Wars create orphans,

widows and widowers.

Wars kill children,

their mothers and fathers.

Wars create starvation,

homelessness and

refugees.

Wars destroy forests,

rivers and streams —

they poison the ground

turned to dust.

Wars kill animals and plants —

they leave species extinct.

Wars steal from the poor —

they leave people depressed,

emotionally and physically shattered,

tearful,

mournful.

Wars destroy churches,

great cathedrals that took centuries to build,

synagogues and mosques,

markets, 

museums,

zoos and parks,

gardens and farms.

Wars destroy works of art,

like Van Gogh's sunflowers.

Isn't it interesting — the sunflower in the upper right hand corner is vibrant and alive, even fiery perhaps, while the sunflower in the painting's bottom left has died and is even in a state of decay. Are we prisoners to living in this tension?

Every day we might do something to advance peace. "When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the earth." Psalm 104:30. Putting away old thoughts of others, some stereotyping, ignorance or indifference. I'm thinking of the voices of prejudice and anti-Semitism I heard from neighbors and even relatives when I was a boy. The many nasty names for anyone who wasn't like us. To list them here would be embarrassing to our nation. This hatred seems to be experiencing a new life. Something awful has been unleashed. But peace is created when we respond to those messages with intelligence.

AA says, "If it doesn't apply, let it fly," in which case — what fresh learning is there for me to undertake that might promote peace? A couple of thoughts:

• Every group that comes here is at first hated.
• Once they become acclimated and accepted they often become haters of the next group.
• We often think we know the history of groups that come here - but history is written through the eyes of the winners.
• The story of religion in this country is not infrequently soiled with hate and the desire for power — even up to today. 
• Do groups that come here necessarily lose their souls?

A Child's Grave and Prayers for the World

 

"It's good for an old priest to work in a cemetery," my friend said. And that's what I do. Some weeks ago I came across the grave of Baby Charles who lived only ten days from July 4 to 14, 1951. He and I were born only a few months apart. 

His grave isn't found among the rows of graves but under the edge of some azalea and laurel bushes about eight feet from the side wall of the church.  I don't know anything about his family or the circumstances of his death. I just imagine a kindly rector offered his parents a place near the church after his baptism. So I cleared off the leaves, pulled the weeds and cut back a couple of branches that were blocking the sun. I see his stone every day. I like to think someday he and I will meet in heaven. Our joy will be seeing the face of Jesus together.

But until then, his grave prompts me to prayerfully hold in my heart all the world's children who also die young. I am also aware that most of their deaths were and are preventable. We needn't blame God for it — That's on us.

Some countries now seem to pride themselves on having eradicated Down Syndrome by abortion. That's on us.

There is sufficient food to feed the world, yet thirteen million children in the United States alone are expected to be short of food this year. How many die of malnutrition? That's on us.

The children who die by firearms — who are shot dead while sitting in the car waiting for their mothers or while the sidewalk on an errand. That's on us.

The untold thousands of children who were bombed at Hiroshima/Nagasaki. That's on us.

The death of children to coronavirus while the grownups fight about masks and vaccines. That's on us.

The murder of the four little African American girls in 1963 at the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham. That's on us.

The recent discovery of thousands of unmarked graves of indigenous children in North America. That's on us.

The Mediterranean Sea being called by Pope Francis, "The world's biggest cemetery." The thousands of children lost there as they flee horrors in make shift "boats." That's on us.

The firebombed children of Vietnam and Cambodia. By the way: Catholic teaching forbids the bombing of civilian populations. That's on us.

Climate Change is real and some parts of the world are becoming uninhabitable by it (perhaps including our western states). The children are suffering the most. That's on us. 

Maybe Baby Charles was just weak from the start. But many millions of children die because of the sins of adults. For me, the child's grave seems to suggest repentance. Maybe you can join me standing at the grave of this tiny boy and prayerfully ask for the expansion of hearts and the changing of human minds.

Intercessions ~ Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

 

Forest fires raging in Siberia,/ Sardinia,/ Turkey,/ Greece and the United States are depleting incomprehensible amounts of water and oxygen/ claiming human lives,/ destroying buildings/ and causing the extinctions of thousands of plant,/ animal and insect species./ May we learn to love our planet./ We pray to the Lord. 

Pope Francis teaches that God's style has three aspects:/ closeness,/ compassion and tenderness./ May Christian congregations be places of hospitality for those who are accustomed to rejection./ We pray to the Lord.

We ask for world leaders who respond to the needs of their people — honest,/ self-forgetting and perseverant in seeking what promotes the well-being of others/ May they pander to no one./ We pray to the Lord.

In these days of covid increase,/ comfort the sick,/ sustain those who rally to heal them,/ bless those who are careless or even hostile in their resistance to help./ We pray to the Lord.

While there is more than enough food on this planet for everyone to be fed,/ forgive the sins of waste/ and corruption/ which leaves so many hungry/ even to death./ Change hearts./ We pray to the Lord.

Bless travelers and vacationers with safety,/ our families and friends with health and strength where they struggle with problems and challenges./ We pray to the Lord. 

Catbird

 

Antoine de St. Exupery, author of The Little Prince, said: "The meaning of things lies not in the things themselves, but in our attitude toward them." He then goes off a bit attempting to nuance the word "attitude." I don't know that he needed to do that — how about simply an attitude of joy, of delight, of gratitude, of awe, of having our breath taken away.

I'm the caretaker of a public garden adjacent to a nearby railroad station. It's a pollinator garden where all the plants have been selected to attract assorted bees and butterflies. It's also a bird haven — these days bright yellow finches arrive daily to breakfast on coneflower seeds.

During these hot and dry summer days I go over to the garden early in the morning to drag out the hoses and water everything by hand. Sprinklers waste water. While I had the hose trained on the summersweet, a lovely flowering, sweet fragranced bush, a young catbird essentially flopped out of the nearby witch-hazel  and into the stream of cool water which was pouring out of the nozzle. He then disappeared into the hydrangea leaves. When I came around to the back of the garden he appeared again out of the bottom branches of the yew and into the water. Then turning around he went off in the direction of the yellow coreopsis. I thought, "This bird is playing with me." 

May we pay attention these August days, when nature is in full flood — its last big push before autumn. A morning will come when we won't hear the birds again till the spring. Catbird will have headed south, to Mexico and the Caribbean Islands for the winter. 

"...and when a flood arose..."

46 "Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord,' and not do what I tell you? 47 Every one who comes to me and  hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: 48 he is like a man building a house, who dug deep, and laid the foundation upon rock; and when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house, and could not shake it, because it had been well built. 49 But he who hears and does not do them is like a a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation against which the stream  broke, and immediately it fell, and the  ruin of that house was great."  Luke 6: 46-49

In these three verses Jesus wraps up the instruction he began in verse 20. We've all seen houses being built. We've all seen houses destroyed. And while Jesus uses the images of house building, he is not really talking about architecture or engineering. Rather, his message is, dig deep within your self and allow my divine word to be the foundation of  your life.

Jesus is speaking to his disciples. A disciple is not simply a follower (a tag-along) but a learner. And if I'm a real learner (the real deal) I will dig within myself until I get to the hard part — the real challenge of Jesus teaching. What is that for you, for me? Watch the news and it becomes clear that more than a few Christians don't "get" this. The January 6th insurrection in Washington was brought on by angry, white, Christian men. Christian discipleship (wise building) is a deep and personal inner dig and the laying of a solid rock foundation.  

And what's that? The previous chapter 6 verses make it clear: Live in an awareness of the blessings. Love your enemies — do good to those who don't love you. Stop judging — stop condemning. Don't return curses. Live non-violently. Forgive and give generously. Know yourself in honesty and humility — be teachable) Do good to all — regardless. 

I think the most difficult aspect of Christ's teaching is the forgiveness piece. The very least, forgiveness means that I wish for the offender everything he/she needs for salvation. Side note: the priest has to learn this lesson as much as anyone else.

It all comes down to a choice. Jesus doesn't sit in the temple all day debating religious laws, codes and dogmas. Rather, he tells simple stories about our having choices. Like the two men who decide how they are going to build their homes — one with a foundation and the other not. The one sure thing is that there will be storms. No one escapes struggle, pain, loss, sadness and disappointment. And in their faith stories many Christians will tell of how they were able not only to survive the storms but endure, carry on and even grow, because they had made the choice to lay a sure foundation grounded on and in the life style of Jesus' teaching. 

Pity the gospel fellow who built his new home without a foundation. I bless God for the teaching-word of Jesus, and that I might choose and have the clarity and courage to live that teaching well.