Anxiety and Me
Anxiety and me – we go a long way back.
I am greatly familiar with anxiety . . . it is almost genetic. Maybe I was born of a family of worriers, people who looked for all the worst possibilities, and then ruined a perfectly good day by focusing on things that might – or might not – ever happen.
Today’s reading from Forward Day by Day was just what I needed now, with a tiny newborn grandson who is coughing, and a house inspection which shows some things that need to be done, and a moving process about to take place, and an earth-shaking retirement . . . if you are the praying kind, I would ask for your prayers for peace of mind, strength in service and courage in the face of adversities and challenges.
FRIDAY, February 19
Philippians 4:1-9. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanks-giving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing…if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
Anxiety is a kind of fear–not of God, but of the unknown future. It is unreality. We draw the unreal future into the present and proceed to stab ourselves with it.
How passionately Jesus strove to overcome our delusion of crossing bridges before we come to them! Imagine an able and loving father whose children ran about in panic lest next year they might not have food to eat or clothes to wear.
Anxiety is a symptom. The disease is mis¬trust of our heavenly Father. The cure is to look around and see what he has done for us already and to thank him for it. How many lovely things, how much to praise him for! If anything is needed, ask: and then leave it to God. If he doesn’t give it, so much the better. It wasn’t needed. What God always will give–if we trust him–is his peace, the best gift. (1946)
PRAY for the Diocese of Bath and Wells (Canterbury, England)
Ps 95 & 31 * 35; Ezekiel 18:1-4, 25-32; John 17:9-19
Generosity of Spirit
In our Womens Bible Study Class, the discussion turned to how living in these lands, the cradle of our religion, has illuminated the reading of the bible in new ways for us. As I read this morning’s readings, I thought of all the loving kindness we have been shown at your hands, at the unending generosity of spirit you have shown us, living here, in this dry and thirsty land . . .
Abraham's Departure, by József Molnár
The Hittites tell Abraham he is a mighty prince among them, and welcome to bury Sarah where he would wish. Ephrom refuses to take payment for the cave Abraham wants to buy, insisting that Abraham accept it as a gift. This, near Hebron . . .
Abraham insists on paying for the land, and hands over, piece by piece, 400 pieces of silver.
Would that God would bless the land with a similar spirit, that the Jews and the Palestinians might find a way to share the land and to live together in peace, as a blessing to one another.
Genesis 23:1-20
23Sarah lived for one hundred and twenty-seven years; this was the length of Sarah’s life. 2And Sarah died at Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan; and Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her. 3Abraham rose up from beside his dead, and said to the Hittites, 4‘I am a stranger and an alien residing among you; give me property among you for a burying-place, so that I may bury my dead out of my sight.’
5The Hittites answered Abraham, 6‘Hear us, my lord; you are a mighty prince among us. Bury your dead in the choicest of our burial places; none of us will withhold from you any burial ground for burying your dead.’ 7Abraham rose and bowed to the Hittites, the people of the land. 8He said to them, ‘If you are willing that I should bury my dead out of my sight, hear me, and entreat for me Ephron son of Zohar, 9so that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he owns; it is at the end of his field. For the full price let him give it to me in your presence as a possession for a burying-place.’ 10Now Ephron was sitting among the Hittites; and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the Hittites, of all who went in at the gate of his city, 11‘No, my lord, hear me; I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it; in the presence of my people I give it to you; bury your dead.’ 12Then Abraham bowed down before the people of the land. 13He said to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land, ‘If you only will listen to me! I will give the price of the field; accept it from me, so that I may bury my dead there.’ 14Ephron answered Abraham, 15‘My lord, listen to me; a piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver—what is that between you and me? Bury your dead.’ 16Abraham agreed with Ephron; and Abraham weighed out for Ephron the silver that he had named in the hearing of the Hittites, four hundred shekels of silver, according to the weights current among the merchants.
17 So the field of Ephron in Machpelah, which was to the east of Mamre, the field with the cave that was in it and all the trees that were in the field, throughout its whole area, passed 18to Abraham as a possession in the presence of the Hittites, in the presence of all who went in at the gate of his city. 19After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah facing Mamre (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. 20The field and the cave that is in it passed from the Hittites into Abraham’s possession as a burying-place.
Abraham bargains with God
When I hear people say God never changes his mind, I think of this story. From today’s reading in the Lectionary, Abraham, Father of the Jews, the Christians and the Moslems, bargains with God not to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah:
Genesis 18:16-33
16 Then the men set out from there, and they looked towards Sodom; and Abraham went with them to set them on their way. 17The Lord said, ‘Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, 18seeing that Abraham shall become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?* 19No, for I have chosen* him, that he may charge his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice; so that the Lord may bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.’ 20Then the Lord said, ‘How great is the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah and how very grave their sin! 21I must go down and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me; and if not, I will know.’
22 So the men turned from there, and went towards Sodom, while Abraham remained standing before the Lord.* 23Then Abraham came near and said, ‘Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; will you then sweep away the place and not forgive it for the fifty righteous who are in it? 25Far be it from you to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?’ 26And the Lord said, ‘If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will forgive the whole place for their sake.’ 27Abraham answered, ‘Let me take it upon myself to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes. 28Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking? Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?’ And he said, ‘I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.’ 29Again he spoke to him, ‘Suppose forty are found there.’ He answered, ‘For the sake of forty I will not do it.’ 30Then he said, ‘Oh do not let the Lord be angry if I speak. Suppose thirty are found there.’ He answered, ‘I will not do it, if I find thirty there.’ 31He said, ‘Let me take it upon myself to speak to the Lord. Suppose twenty are found there.’ He answered, ‘For the sake of twenty I will not destroy it.’ 32Then he said, ‘Oh do not let the Lord be angry if I speak just once more. Suppose ten are found there.’ He answered, ‘For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.’ 33And the Lord went his way, when he had finished speaking to Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place.
Qatar Arrests Three for Sorcery
From today’s Gulf Times
Three sorcerers, who were preying mainly on women, were arrested by the preventive security department, a statement issued by the public relations department at the ministry of interior said yesterday.
The accused, who are from an Arab country, confessed that they were practising sorcery in some Gulf states before coming to Qatar and that most of their victims were women and girls, the statement added.
A number of books, amulets, local and foreign currency were seized from the suspects who were staying at a hotel.
Lieutenant Colonel Manahi Khaled al-Hajiri, the head of the preventive security department urged the public to be cautious and report any suspicious acts to the police on: 4471444, 4947888 or send an SMS to 92994 or e-mail: aladeid@moi.gov.qa
I don’t believe in sorcery. The thought of it, to me, is just laughable. I can only imagine that the women these guys were preying on must have been desperate, and I can only try to imagine what their issues are – a straying husband? casting a love spell? some troublesome neighbor? wanting a baby?
My religion forbids us to have anything to do with sorcery – even fortune telling. I am guessing in the US people could be arrested for fraud, unless they could prove that their ‘sorcery’ worked, but I don’t know that practicing sorcery as such is against the law. So I have to wonder about all those women on late night TV who you can call and they will tell your fortune? That’s legal?
The Law of the Harvest
A small group was huddled, talking about volunteer work, and how people are afraid to commit, when the duties are actually very light, and easily accomplished, then we drifted into giving generously . . .
“It’s called The Law of the Harvest” one of my favorite women popped in as I was trying to explain that when you give, open-handedly, give with your heart, it all comes back to you multiplied.
We all turned to her. “Remember the seeds? You sow the seeds and then it is multiplied?”
Of course! It’s so simple! Why didn’t I think of that?
Ladies Bible Study in Doha
“Tell me the story of Noah” our priest said, and we all chimed in. Everybody knows the story of Noah, how God told him to build an ark, and how he did it. How everyone laughed at him, but he faithfully built. How he filled the ark with animals, and then it started raining and rained for forty days.
“OK, stop there” the priest said. “Is that what the bible says?”
Well, of course that’s what the bible says! We all know the story!
“Wrong!” he exclaimed!
“We have many stories with facts not in the bible, information gathered from another source – the Qur’an.”
We sat there, our eyes wide.
“No where in the bible will you find that Noah was living in a dry and arid place, or that his neighbors laughed at him – that’s in the Qur’an.”
The Episcopal lectionary is in Genesis right now, and so I have had a chance to read – and re-read – the story of Noah. The priest is right. There are details we all take for granted, not there.
One of the other details was that until Noah, the first instructions to Adam and Eve were that they could eat from every tree – no mention of meat. After the flood is the first mention of meat – but NO blood.
Genesis 9:1-17
9:1 God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. 2 The fear and dread of you shall rest on every animal of the earth, and on every bird of the air, on everything that creeps on the ground, and on all the fish of the sea; into your hand they are delivered. 3 Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you; and just as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything. 4 Only, you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. 5 For your own lifeblood I will surely require a reckoning: from every animal I will require it and from human beings, each one for the blood of another, I will require a reckoning for human life.
6 Whoever sheds the blood of a human,
by a human shall that person’s blood be shed;
for in his own image
God made humankind.
7 And you, be fruitful and multiply, abound on the earth and multiply in it.’
8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, 9 ‘As for me, I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you, 10 and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the domestic animals, and every animal of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark.* 11 I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.’ 12 God said, ‘This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: 13 I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16 When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.’ 17 God said to Noah, ‘This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.’
Now I have to go find a Qur’an and read what it has to say about Noah and the ark. I like it that our traditions don’t have to be at war with one another, but can illuminate and enrich one another.
Start your Day with a Smile
My good friend in Kuwait sent me this wonderful film in a market in Spain. Watch all the way to the end, and see the sign. I love creative advertising!
Different Languages, Different Tribes, One God
This is the meditation from yesterday, from Forward Day by Day. I really like it. We all talk about tribalism, as if we were not ourselves from tribes, even self-made tribes. It can be a tribe based on family, or based on nationality, or, in the USA, sometimes on nation-of-origin. It can be a tribe that calls itself Alpha Beta Zeta, or Rotary. Any kind of grouping that distinguishes between “us” and “them” is a kind of tribalism, in my opinion. And it costs us so much, in terms of energy and focus and resources, when, as i see it, we are all one family under God.
Psalm 118. I called to the LORD in my distress; the LORD answered by setting me free.
In the depths of the long civil wars here, the people cried to the Lord in their distress and were set free. The results have been amazing: the crossing of tribal lines to form one people whose most precious commonality is their belief in Jesus. Sitting in church on Sundays, that lesson comes true. When we pray the Lord’s Prayer, or recite the creeds, or sing our favorite hymns, we do so in our own languages, so that a cacophony of voices rises to the heavens. It is not unusual to hear 12 or 13 languages spoken simultaneously, all praying the same thing at the same time.
We are set free when we forget to which human tribe we belong and focus on being members of God’s tribe of beloved children. This is how peace will be achieved, not just in this land, but in all of creation: by ignoring our differences and focusing on the freedom we have in God and from God.
Some days, listening to all the languages and praying in my own, I am moved to tears by the beauty of the holy noise we are making. We are set free in those moments, and our distress falls away.
PRAY for the Diocese of Aguata (Province of the Niger, Nigeria)
Feast of the Epiphany in Doha
Our priest at the Church of the Epiphany has been instructing the children on how the church year differs from the marketing year. While “Christmas” may start in October – or even July! – to merchants eager to sell their wares, for church-going Christians, Christmas starts on Christmas Eve – and is celebrated, each and every day, until the Feast of the Epiphany, celebrating the Three Wise Men traveling to find the Christ Child in Bethlehem.
“I know what I want for Christmas this year,” I said to my startled friend, “I want you to fix my camel. I have all the things, or most of them, but I haven’t a clue where to start.”
My friend is a very busy woman. She has so much on her plate. But there was not a sign of reluctance on her face. “I LOVE doing camels!” she exclaimed!
“I want it to look like a camel coming with the Wise Men to bring gifts to the Christ Child,” I told her, and she got it without any explanation – yep, gold, frankincense, myrrh . . .
The camel is everything I had dreamed of – and more. She made little bags, she created a treasure chest of gifts, she even included my sewing machine and a coffee grinder!
I have three little Wise Men following the camel, bringing gifts. The Qatteri Cat has inflicted some damage; one is missing a foot and I can’t find it anywhere. I was able to glue a head back on, and a feather on another . . . The Qatteri Cat does not get Epiphany.
A lawyer from Texas A&M did a wonderful film, sent to me by my sweet daughter-in-law’s dear aunt, called The Star in which he presents the result of his research to find scientific evidence that a Star might have stood still over the little city of Bethlehem at the the time pinpointed for the birth of The Christ. It’s an amazing and insightful video, the life work of a devoted man.
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