Daily reflections on Bible readings

[Willa]

Lord, please deliver those who induge in black magic, the occult and voodoo.  Please set the free from the clutches of satan and help them to know that when they are set free in Christ, they are free indeed.   Amen

[*Deidre*]

Today's readings and reflections......

 

Lamentations 1, 8 – 11

Something to read

Jerusalem sinned grievously, 
so she has become a mockery; 
all who honoured her despise her, 
for they have seen her nakedness; 
she herself groans, 
and turns her face away.

Her uncleanness was in her skirts; 
she took no thought of her future; 
her downfall was appalling, 
with none to comfort her. 
‘O Lord, look at my affliction, 
for the enemy has triumphed!’

Enemies have stretched out their hands 
over all her precious things; 
she has even seen the nations 
invade her sanctuary, 
those whom you forbade 
to enter your congregation.

All her people groan 
as they search for bread; 
they trade their treasures for food 
to revive their strength. 
Look, O Lord, and see 
how worthless I have become.

Something to think about

Personification is a figure of speech, a metaphor in which human characteristics, feelings or actions are attributed to things or abstract ideas.

We are, for example, familiar with Father Time, Mother Earth, and with the custom of giving hurricanes names. The poems in Lamentations chapters 1,3 and 4 use a variety of female images to depict Judah and Jerusalem.

These images weave in and out of one another, sometimes confusingly so it is not clear if several women appear in the poems. But the female representations of Judah and Jerusalem merge into one figure, 'daughter Zion', who personifies Jerusalem.

Zion is the mountain in the centre of the city upon which the Temple was built. Zion was the place where God chose to dwell.  Daughter Zion is both spoken about by a narrator and speaks herself.

Daughter Zion is God's beloved daughter, and a passionate spokeswoman for the people's anguish. At the beginning of the chapter, Jerusalem is compared to a widow, a term used in the ancient world specifically to one whose husband's death deprives her of economic subsistence, completely exposed to the risk of destitution, disease and death.

Today there are two million widows in Afghanistan; Kabul is known as 'the widows' capital of the world.' They experience that same exposure, and like daughter Zion, they are also exposed to abuse and indecency.

Christian Aid works with partners in different parts of Afghanistan providing training, equipment, tools and seeds to help women to grow food for their children and provide them with safe and dignified means of employment and income.

Something to do

Who are the groups in your community for whom life may be particularly difficult or uncomfortable; perhaps homeless people or families of prisoners or carers? Can you take a step towards them; for example by writing to your MP on their behalf or by befriending someone who is isolated?

Something to pray

Let us pray for those whose lives are wilderness 
Those who are hungry and thirsty 
Those who are all alone

Let us pray for those whose own will not receive them 
Those who are not listened to 
Those who live under constant threat

May we stand firm in the gospel of peace and justice 
and follow faithfully in Christ's way of compassion and solidarity 
with those who are poor and excluded, 
wherever it may lead us.

Amen

[*Deidre*]

Today's reading from the website I mention above, is very interesting. Not sure I would have reflected on it quite like this, so it gives me a lot to think about.

Prayers and blessings to you all. 

 

Lamentations 1, 12 – 16

Something to read

Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by? 
Look and see 
if there is any sorrow like my sorrow, 
which was brought upon me, 
which the Lord inflicted 
on the day of his fierce anger.

From on high he sent fire; 
it went deep into my bones; 
he spread a net for my feet; 
he turned me back; 
he has left me stunned, 
faint all day long.

My transgressions were bound into a yoke; 
by his hand they were fastened together; 
they weigh on my neck, 
sapping my strength; 
the Lord handed me over 
to those whom I cannot withstand.

The Lord has rejected 
all my warriors in the midst of me; 
he proclaimed a time against me 
to crush my young men; 
the Lord has trodden as in a wine press 
the virgin daughter Judah.

For these things I weep; 
my eyes flow with tears; 
for a comforter is far from me, 
one to revive my courage; 
my children are desolate, 
for the enemy has prevailed.

Something to think about

Cities and countries are feminine grammatical forms in Hebrew, so it's perhaps understandable how biblical poets came to personify cities as female.

We do the same with our cities; there's a popular modern song called 'Mother Glasgow'. But it's important to be careful with this kind of poetic license.

Theologically, Lamentations explains the disaster that befell the community in terms of the people's sin and infidelity. This, and not God's failure, brought tragedy.

Daughter Zion stands for the whole people, not just the women. Though the story is told through images of female guilt, impurity and humiliation, it would be a travesty of justice to therefore conclude that it was only, or even primarily, women who were sinful and unfaithful.

Casual or careless or self-interested interpretation of such biblical language has led, over generations, to the projection of all kinds of fears and blame onto women, often with disastrous consequences for the women.

As daughter Zion laments her suffering in this passage, she describes herself in language that today calls to mind the circumstances of abused women across the world.

She blames herself for the actions of her tormentor, one whom she trusted. She has no self-worth left. When we speak of real women and not symbolically of cities, this language is painful and illuminating.

Under the Taliban, women and girls in Afghanistan were banned from education, and leaving the house without a male family member. Today they remain marginalised and poor.

An estimated one in three women is subject to emotional, physical or sexual abuse and only 13% of women are able to read and write.

Christian Aid and its partners in Afghanistan work with women to  protect and enshrine their rights and their children's rights, not only within the community but also in Afghan law. 

Something to do

Spend some time thinking about the people you love and trust and often take for granted. Think especially about women who have been important in your life. Give thanks for them and, if you can, thank them personally.

Something to pray

Reconciling God, we give thanks 
for women who have confronted warring powers, challenged violence 
and offered the peace of Jesus Christ to all they met. 
So we pray for a world that deals justly with its most vulnerable members, 
especially those who experience gender violence, abuse and exploitation, 
and for all who ask questions, protest injustice 
and work for communities in which all may live in peace 
God in your mercy 
Hear our prayer

[*Deidre*]

[*Deidre*]

Today's reading and reflection

Lamentations 3, 22 – 30

Something to read

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, 
his mercies never come to an end; 
they are new every morning; 
great is your faithfulness. 
‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, 
‘therefore I will hope in him.’

The Lord is good to those who wait for him, 
to the soul that seeks him. 
It is good that one should wait quietly 
for the salvation of the Lord. 
It is good for one to bear 
the yoke in youth, 
to sit alone in silence 
when the Lord has imposed it, 
to put one’s mouth to the dust 
(there may yet be hope), 
to give one’s cheek to the smiter, 
and be filled with insults.

Something to think about

People in pastoral ministry learn about the stages of grief; shock, denial, anger, deep sadness.

There is wisdom in these words from Lamentations; they remind us that there are times when it is good to sit alone silently, laying down all the busyness, noise and distraction we use to defend ourselves from the experience and painful emotions of deep grief, regret, guilt, loss.

For by the grace and deliverance of God, if we make space to name and lament what we have lost, to repent hurts we have caused, there comes a time when we are able to let go of clinging to a broken past and move forward into new life.

Climate change is bringing about great natural and human catastrophe and suffering.

In the last 35 years alone, the human species has destroyed one-third of its non-renewable resources. We are losing around 10,000 species of life every year. In the west, perhaps we are somewhere between denial and anger with regard to climate change.

But the sadness will come, as it has for those who have either experienced or studied in depth the scale of what is happening. Such immense sorrow can have a paralysing effect.

The biblical tradition of lamentation – the public voicing of pain - is one important way in which people in huge crisis have responded and sought to find a way through their disempowerment.

The poems of the book of Lamentations are still used today in both Jewish and Christian liturgy. They have allowed people to name their loss, their complicity and their fear, to turn passive despair into active mourning and to release the energy trapped in maintaining denial into energy for action and change.

Lamentation has been an important aspect of all movements for justice, peace and freedom.

Something to do

Spend some time in silence thinking about all humankind has lost in the last 35 years. Let yourself feel the sadness of that. Offer it up.

Something to pray

Lord, by the glories of your creation, which we did not devise, 
by the assurance of your freeing us, which we could not accomplish, 
By the wind of your Spirit, fanning our faith to flame, 
fill us with life anew. 
George MacLeod, adapted

 

[*Deidre*]

Today - Feb 12th readings and reflections...:)

Lamentations 3, 40 – 48

Something to read

Let us test and examine our ways, 
and return to the Lord. 
Let us lift up our hearts as well as our hands 
to God in heaven. 
We have transgressed and rebelled, 
and you have not forgiven.

You have wrapped yourself with anger and pursued us, 
killing without pity; 
you have wrapped yourself with a cloud 
so that no prayer can pass through. 
You have made us filth and rubbish 
among the peoples.

All our enemies 
have opened their mouths against us; 
panic and pitfall have come upon us, 
devastation and destruction. 
My eyes flow with rivers of tears 
because of the destruction of my people.

Something to think about

Sometimes words fail us. Mouths open but minds don’t engage. This happens when we’re experiencing extreme emotions, pain or bewilderment. It’s at these times we often need someone else’s words to give expression to something too difficult for us to talk about.

Lamentations is a series of acrostic poems and a psalm at the end completing the work. An acrostic poem has the first letter of each sentence either spelling out a message or, as in Lamentations, running through the alphabet.

This form of writing was used to help people memorise the text. The author of Lamentations uses this literary device to help the people make full confession and repentance of the sins that they had committed that they believed had brought about the destruction of Jerusalem.

A similar idea is behind church liturgy. When we are taking part in a church service we may also use another’s words when making confession together. This helps us to be clear about the sin we’ve committed and our need for forgiveness, both individually and corporately. 

Something to do

In your worship today, join in with the spirit of Lamentations.  Make your confession together with those with whom you share worship, as the church seeks to ‘…examine our ways, and return to the Lord.’

Something to pray

Lord God 
We have sinned against you; we have done evil in your sight. 
We are sorry and repent. 
Have mercy on us according to your love. 
Wash away our wrongdoing and cleanse us from our sin. 
Renew a right spirit within us and restore us to the joy of your salvation, through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
Amen

 

[*Deidre*]

Have been slacking with posting these daily! 

 

Lamentations 5, 31 – 39

Something to read

Remember, O Lord, what has befallen us; 
look, and see our disgrace! 
Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, 
our homes to aliens. 
We have become orphans, fatherless; 
our mothers are like widows. 
We must pay for the water we drink; 
the wood we get must be bought. 
With a yoke on our necks we are hard driven; 
we are weary, we are given no rest. 
We have made a pact with Egypt and Assyria, 
to get enough bread. 
Our ancestors sinned; they are no more, 
and we bear their iniquities.

Something to think about

The last chapter of Lamentations resembles the Psalms of communal lament, such as Psalms 44 and 80, in which similar corporate language is used to speak to God of the people’s shame and desperate need for deliverance.

In our passage, the writer of Lamentations describes the people of Judah as orphans and widows; figures that throughout scripture stand for those who are the poorest of the poor.

These are those who have been left behind in Judah and have become a dispossessed people forced to work for others to survive. They struggle to eke out an existence and are forced to pay for basics, like water and wood, that before would have been their own.

In Bangladesh, where virtually the entire population is precariously perched just above sea level, predicted rises would leave millions displaced and dispossessed.

There is, quite literally, nowhere for them to go. Already, families have to move every couple of years, as increased melt water from the Himalayan glaciers sweeps their land and fragile livelihoods away.

Without concerted efforts to alleviate these effects, say the experts, we can forget about making poverty history – climate change is set to make it permanent.

Something to do

When you next take a drink today, pause for a moment to remember that there are millions living with the threat of having everything they’ve ever known washed away, and then pray for quick and effective action on climate change.

Something to pray

Compassionate God, make your loving presence felt to refugees, torn from home, family and everything familiar. Warm, especially, the hearts of the young, the old, and the most vulnerable among them.

Help them know that you accompany them as you accompanied Jesus, Mary, and Joseph in their exile to Egypt. Lead refugees to a new home and a new hope, as you led the Holy Family to their new home in Nazareth.

Open our hearts to receive them as our sisters and brothers in whose face we see your son, Jesus.  Amen.

[*Deidre*]

Hope you are doing great, today's reading...

 

John 2, 1-5

Something to read

On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, ‘They have no wine.’ And Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come.’ His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you.’ 
New Revised Standard Version

Something to think about

This is a precious, precious story. We are allowed to eavesdrop on a conversation between Jesus and his mother. And is it too much to suppose that Jesus, surrounded by his disciples, still has something to learn?

Jesus has things organised, at least in his head: his mission lies ahead, his destiny awaits. Mary – because she’s a woman, because she’s a mother – has no time for grand plans. ‘They have no wine.’

Awkwardness and embarrassment are about to descend on their hosts. She doesn’t know what Jesus will do, but knows that the situation demands that he do something.

This is the woman we honour for the way she accepted God without question: the Theotokos, ‘God bearer’. We see that acceptance again here, but there’s nothing passive about it. Mary’s strength leaps out of the page.

If she argued or pleaded with Jesus, it would show doubt and uncertainty. As it is, she ignores him, turning to the servants: ‘Do whatever he tells you.’ What a woman!

Something to do

If you are able to, contact your mother and tell her how much you owe her. If that’s impossible – and there are plenty of good reasons why it might be – try to be more attuned to the sorts of things mothers notice: domestic problems, potential embarrassments, ways in which you can help your neighbours.

Something to pray

If we consider ourselves servants of Christ, here are our orders: ‘Do whatever he tells you.’ If, as we see later this week, we are invited into his family, here is our model, too: we must know him as thoroughly as Mary does.

Lord, increase our faith so that it turns from hope into certainty. You have known us from the time we were formed in our mother’s womb. Allow us to know you, too. Amen

[*Deidre*]

I especially love this reading and reflection today...

 

Matthew 23, 27-28

Something to read
'Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which on the outside look beautiful, but inside they are full of the bones of the dead and of all kinds of filth. So you also on the outside look righteous to others, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.' 
New Revised Standard Version

Something to think about
This illustration of hypocrisy in outward appearances is a daring one. The purpose of whitewashing tombs was not to make them look nice, but to make them stand out, so that people did not brush against them and unwittingly make themselves unclean.

Although they did indeed look better than tombs that have got dirty and have been left to the mercy of the weather, there's no escaping the fact that what's inside is unpleasant and ritually unclean.

Contrast this obsession with avoiding touching things – or people – that are considered to be unclean with Jesus' own ministry. He deliberately reached out to the sick and to women; he healed people, most notably lepers, by touching them.

Jesus' continuing criticism of the Pharisees is that their preoccupation with details of ritual cleanliness covered a multitude of sins. And there will be few of us who are not aware of a certain disconnect between our outer appearance and the reality inside us. Simply recognising that is a good first step to putting things right.

Something to do
Look around your home or your church for cupboards or drawers that hide chaos. As you tidy them up, think about something less tangible in your life that also needs to be put in order.

Something to pray
Lord God, you know all the secrets of our hearts. May your Holy Spirit so cleanse us that we may worship you with pure hearts and dirty hands that come from serving you in your world.