GIVING THANKS – FOR COMPASSION

A light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

                                                           John 1:5

               I once heard a description of heaven and hell that has stayed with me.  I have no idea of its origins.  It goes like this:  In hell, there is a great banquet laid, with all of the most wonderful food that you can imagine, and everyone is gathered around the table.  But no one is eating.  They cannot feed themselves because their arms don’t bend at the elbow.  They are eternally tempted but unable to enjoy.  In heaven, the same feast is laid, and everyone is gathered around the table.  They are laughing and talking and eating and enjoying themselves.  Their arms don’t bend at the elbow either, but instead of worrying about feeding themselves, everyone is feeding their neighbor. 

               So it is in life.  When we are concerned about ourselves, and whether we have our share (whatever that might be) and whether it is as much as the folks next door have, we are doomed to unhappiness, to dissatisfaction.  When we only give of our leftovers, after we have “enough,” there is never “enough.” But when look to others, when we see their need and offer to them something of ourselves, a listening ear, a meal, a spare coat, some labor to fix the house, some time together, a place to stay, a refuge from the storm, financial help, then we know our own blessings, and the blessings of fellowship.  As the prayer attributed to St. Francis teaches us, “It is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.” 

Rembrandt, The Good Samaritan

           

AN OPEN LETTER IN GRATITUDE

TO THE MOST REVEREND MICHAEL CURRY,

PRESIDING BISHOP OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH

"I do not want the Church to support animals simply to conform to secular pressure, rather I want the Church to see that its own Gospel requires opposition to cruelty."

                                                  ~Andrew Linzey, Creatures of the Same God 

Dear Bishop Curry:

               I do not mind telling you that as someone who tries to work for justice and compassion within the Christian community in general and the Episcopal Church in particular, I am often discouraged.  But on the eve of Easter this year, I was blessed to be in attendance at the Washington National Cathedral to take part in the Easter Vigil and to hear your wonderful and heartening sermon.  Your words have refreshed me and offered me encouragement, and for that I am grateful.  

               You spoke of us, a followers of Jesus, being Why Not People in a Why Weary World; of Christians – even Episcopalians – needing to press on with new ideas in both the Christian and secular communities to make the world a better place.  In world beaten down and made weary by seemingly intractable injustice, we, as followers of the risen Lord, are to hold on to hope, to continue to ask “why not” for a better world. You asked, and recalled others who asked:

•        Why not a world where children do not go to bed hungry?

•        Why not a world where we are all the children of God and we treat each other as God’s human family?

•        Why not scientific truth and knowledge instead of intractable fundamentalism?

•         Why not an empire that is better and more noble instead of one trading in human flesh?[1]

•         Why not a world where women and girls are given equal access to education?

Why Not People dream of new possibilities and know that all things are possible with God, despite all evidence to the contrary in a Why Weary World.  So, refreshed and encouraged, I will ask:

ANIMALS IN THE BOOK OF JONAH

“And should I not be concerned about Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also many animals?”

                                      ~ Jonah 4:11

               I’ve been wanting to write about the Book of Jonah for some time now, and it is fitting that I am finally able to do so during the season of Lent.  Jonah’s story is deceptively simple, and with its action and adventure and animals and (some would say) fanciful elements, it is a favorite for teaching children.  Once we begin to dig into the story, however, we find that it is a profound story of faith, repentance, forgiveness, and the limitless nature of God’s love and care for all that He has made.  No wonder it is a staple of Jewish services on Yom Kipper, the Day of Atonement, perhaps the holiest day of the Jewish year. 

               Most of us remember the “whale” (which is never called a whale in scripture, but is identified in scripture as a “great fish”), but the Book of Jonah, not unlike the city of Nineveh, is filled with many animals.  (For brevity, this post assumes familiarity with the story.  The book is only four chapters long, however, and is worth re-reading. )  The great fish is provided by God to save Jonah; the fish returns Jonah to the dry land in faithful response to the word of God (in contrast to Jonah’s unfaithful response to God’s call); the animals in the city of Nineveh participate in the fast and wear sackcloth; they are called upon by the king to cry mightily to God and to turn from their ways; a worm follows God’s instructions to remove Jonah’s shady vine, and the animals of the city are expressly identified as creatures of God’s concern in the closing words of the book.              

               The story of Jonah is impossible without the animals.  They move the action; from scene to scene the animals are there, doing God’s work, crying out to the Lord, receiving His mercy.  They also underscore some of the central themes of the book, including faith, repentance, and the all-encompassing love of God.  They deserve, but rarely receive, our thoughtful attention.