LENT SLOGS ALONG

Half way. We are half way to Easter. I like that better that half way from Ash Wednesday. Genesis moves along. Joseph bails out his family. Jacob prepares to die. It occurs to me having leafed through the Ecclesiastes' readings for Wednesday's class, that we pay much to little attention to the other books in the Bible. We are such a Gospel oriented people, that Proverbs and Ecclesiastes were certainly eye openers for me.

Proverbs had quite a lot to say about living. Day to day living. What to do, what and whom to avoid. How to conduct oneself in society. Likewise Ecclesiastes but mostly in trite sayings rather than admonitions. Perhaps if we were to pay more attention to these books, the Gospels would not be so difficult to live out. Given Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, the Gospels should be a piece of cake. But they're not because we haven't been given the rules and regulations about how to live life. It is like we are thrust into the middle of it all and expected to get it right off. Only, of course, we don't. Because we don't have the tools. So much of our learning is the explanation and interpretation of the Gospels. Maybe if we had a better background it wouldn't be so hard.

BUT, we are where we are and we know what we know. So, make the best of it. Work harder at understanding and living the Gospel. For me, that means lighten up. Relax. Don't be so intense. Let God do most of the work. Accept. Have a sense of humor. God must do a LOT of laughing at our awkwardnesses with life, we may as well do some of the laughing with God.

WATER AWARENESS

Some years ago we were instructed to NOT run the water while brushing our teeth. I can't remember how that message got to us or when. I remember it was a hard lesson for me to learn. I don't remember whether I had to teach it to my children or if they were already there. Time folds back on itself when you get to be seventy. Anyway, we learned to brush our teeth without the running of water; using just enough to rinse off the toothbrush and then to rinse and spit. We must have saved a lot of water this way.

Now I soap my hands and rinse in cold water. I don't take baths. Quick showers. Well, not too quick but I don't stand under the water in contemplation either. The dishwasher is crammed to the edges before I run it. We have even started to save the shower water that runs before the water gets warm. I save the water that rinses out the coffee pot. Bill is not quite so fanatic and I frequently find myself admonishing him for wasting my great-grand children's water. He has become a little more careful.

For Book Club some time back we read "The Road" by Cormack McCarthy. It was a heart wrenching depiction of a father and son struggling to survive after what must have been an atomic cataclysm. Water was full of char and had to be filtered through ash soaked rags. This book made such an impression that I carry the worrisome images with me daily. It has made me even more conscious of my water usage.

Over on Lois' blog she has written a really neat piece about witnessing the natural activity of a beautiful hawk in her back yard while she was making tea. Water is a consideration here, of course.

When we do Bible study we frequently use the "African Method" wherein the scripture is read the first time through aloud to us and we are asked what phrase jumps out for us, and the second time for a particular word that strikes us. The third time is for what God is calling us to do but that doesn't matter in this discussion. When I listen to someone read I see the words. Maybe some black and white pictures, fuzzy gray , really -- stills. But when I READ the words I see the pictures like live TV, color, action. When I read about Lois' tea making, the only thing I could SEE was water going down the drain. I had to go back and reread the whole piece in order to really capture the delight of the hawk and the plight of the sparrow.

TOO MUCH TO READ

The book we are reading for the Book Club is "Straight Man" by Richard Russo. The review we read before making this choice said that it was humorous. Not humorous. I am thirty pages in and have not cracked a smile. In fact I have felt much pain and pathos for his characters. Even embarrassment for them. But I will plow ahead. 361 more pages to go by March 17th when next we meet.

At the same time Lois, our priest, has asked us to read the Book of Genesis. I did that in EFM several years ago. At great length with much discussion and theological reflection. Two years ago in Year Two of the Daily Reading for The Episcopal Church, I read the prescribed Genesis stories. Now we are in Year Two again and I am reading the stories again -- and hearing very different things than before. I may blog more about that. Needless to say, I am NOT going to read the whole of Genesis again. I am feeling that it is better read in parts and taking the time to refelct upon the stories. At least for me.

Saul Haffner, who is leading our Lent series on Wisdom Literature of the Hebrew Bible, gave us a syllabus and sort of encouraged us to read ahead for the next session. The Book of Proverbs. I am using Peterson's "The Message" to at least read the selected readings and perhaps I can even get into it and read some more. We'll see.

AND over on Jeffri's blog, he has begun the readings that are leading up to the Lambeth Conference. Readings from the Gospel of John. Go on over there for links, the reading list, and Jeffri's commentary. I don't have time. I will just catch his commentary as he puts it up.

BIG PROBLEMS IN PUPPYLAND

My dog is seven years old, weighs in at eight and a half pounds, and because my 'boys' are grown and out of the house, Gabriel is my delight. He generally sleeps in the crook of my bent legs during the night. He prefers that I walk him but has come to tolerate Bill holding the leash -- if he is desparate enough. I always prepare his food unless I am away visiting my sister. He is MY dog and I love him beyond reason. When he lost sight in one eye I opted to have a false eye implanted so that he would look the same. In fact it is hard to tell that he doesn't see with the false eye. If you didn't know, you wouldn't know. He is such a good dog that I take him out on the property (1/5 acre) without a leash. He stays right with me and follows simple commands: this way, wait, in, no. And so we have a relaxed walk around the yard.

Enter a big, bad dog. Next door. Next door with the neighbors that do not speak to us. Two days ago I had Gabriel out for a routine walk down the driveway and into the front yard. And then. AND THEN. Suddenly he turned and looked next door. And there in the driveway was a huge, HUGE, dark Lab. On a leash. But the human at the other end of the leash was struggling and being pulled forward. Gabriel is a friendly dog. He wants to play with everyone and so he charged right over to 'play.' The big, bad dog is straining at the leash, barking, snarling. Gabriel is right in front of him barking. Wagging his tail. Wanting to play. Fortunately, I was able to walk up behind Gabriel, scoop him up and take him into the house before the jaws of the lab closed over his tiny little head.

So now we walk him on his leash ALL the time. Even in the yard. Better safe than sorry. BUT, this afternoon when Bill took Gabriel out for a walk, the big, bad dog was pulling the next door teen ager on his sake board. Pell mell down the street and when the big bad dog saw Gabriel, he headed straight for him. The teen ager couldn't get off the board to stop the dog. Bill kneed the dog to fend him off, and finally the kid got off his board. A few choice words were exchanged. Harsh words from Bill. And the kid is laughing. Bill is furious.

I don't know how this is going to play out. It is really an awful situation.

LENT DAY ???

Well, I gave the ERD Lent Meditation a try and just couldn't do it. The scripture was so sparse that I couldn't get my teeth into it at all. Just a few lttle words hangng out there with no context at all whatsoever. And I just could NOT get past the pasty faced, middle class people in the illustration-cartoony things. Even brought down my gel pens and gave them blue kinky hair and orange skin and bushy eyebrows and heavy mustaches. Didn't help. Not one bit. And the ERD message was alright but not 'Lenty.' Whatever that means.

So I am forging ahead on my own. Still reading the Old Testament and the Gospel reading appointed for each day. Still trying to keep myself in prayer. Not spending money by going out for dinners or even ordering in -- although we never do the latter anyway. AND, I am keeping to my own personal Lent discipline. It is hard but it is making for a better relationship here. I promise to let y'all know how I fair come Easter.

Soup Suppers continue at church on Wednesday evenings and Saul Hoffman is going to be talking about Wisdom Literature for the next four Wednesdays. That should be really good. Last Lent he did the prophets of the Old Testament. Not ALL of them, just some of them. My contribution will be chicken noodle soup that I have been doing in stages since Sunday night.

And so Lent moves along. Not with as much religiosity as I had intended. But, hey, I'm still hanging in there with scripture and prayer and my own brand of fast and a new discipline. So I'm not doing too badly. I might even be doing well.

BURRS

....or something. Gabriel came up on my lap tonight after dinner, as usual. Settled in for some loving and companionship. And then I discovered burrs, or something, on his chest. I stood him up and tried to work them out to no avail so took him into the grooming table -- my vanity in the bathroom. Now Gabriel HATES grooming. Tolerates it because he knows he will get a treat. But this time not squiriming or nipping. He stood calm and quiet while I worked the pesky things our of his hair. They really must have been bothering him he stood so still and quitely. Patiently and tolerantly, actually. It didn't take too long and so I did the hair around his eyes too.

And when I finished, I just picked him up and carried him back to the chair where we had been and he settled right down on my lap. No treat. Those pesky things must have really been a bother. Strange how we can tolerate the intolerable when it is necessary to remedy an uncomfortable situation. Sort of like undergoing knee surgery to eliminate the pain . Suffering pain to get rid of pain. I could probably relate this to a lot of other stuff but I'm too tired.

JOSEPH THE JERK

Now that we are past the First Sunday in Lent, we are back to the Genesis readings. The story of Joseph being the current thread. Joseph is in the pit -- Genesis 37:12-24. Alone. Stripped of his beautiful coat. What did he expect? Dreams sometimes need to be remain undisclosed. But, oh, no, not Joseph. In his first dream he and his brothers are binding sheaves; his stands upright, the others bow in homage. In the second dream, the sun and the moon and stars are bowing to him. Stupidly he relates both dreams to the brothers who already hate. Stupid kid. Really! Not a good plan. His brother, Reuben, however saves him from death by putting forth the idea of the pit, thinking that he will come back and save him. But the pit has no water and the outlook is not good.

This whole Joseph story is strange. He is the favorite of his father. His father makes no bones about that at all. And then the 'long robe with sleeves' is given to him by his father. A coveted gift no doubt. No wonder the brothers hate him. Then the flaunting of the dreams. These stories are always difficult for me when there seem to be obviously bad choices being made by ALL of the players. Perhaps that is the point. Scripture frequently points out to us that there are frequently choices to be made. Not always, but many times. Maybe the point is that there are consequences.