Human Obliviousness and Disharmony with God

Above:  Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes, by Francisco Herrera the Elder

Image in the Public Domain

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Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning:

Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them,

that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of life,

which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ,  who lives and reigns

with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

—The Book of Common Prayer (1979), page 236

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Genesis 2:15-25 or Acts 20:1-12

Psalm 120

Revelation 1:9-10

John 6:1-15

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Genesis 2:15-25 presents, in the format of a myth, a portrait of life in harmony and innocence in the Garden of Eden.  That is not the kind of life known during any documented epoch of the human past, or the of the present.  Therefore, an encounter with God may seem frightening.  Or it may seem intimate and comfortable.  Or  it may astound.  Given the variety of encounters with God, both direct and indirect, as well as the range of people and circumstances, one cannot legitimately say that an encounter with God will definitely proceed in a given manner.

To ask that we have more than a very short-term memory of the encounter is reasonable, though.  We read of the Feeding of the Five Thousand in John 6:1-15.  If we keep reading, we reach the events of the next day, in the immediate area.  We read in John 6:30-31:

So they said, “What sign will you yourself do, the sight of which will make us believe in you?  What work will you do?  Our fathers ate manna in the desert; as scriptures says, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.

—The New Jerusalem Bible (1985)

Jesus must have rolled his eyes and muttered an ancient equivalent of,

Oy vey!

The author of the Gospel of John did not record that reaction, of course.

Not being oblivious to God is one step toward living in harmony with God.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JANUARY 15, 2021 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR., CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER AND MARTYR, 1968

THE FEAST OF ABBY KELLEY FOSTER AND HER HUSBAND, STEPHEN SYMONDS FOSTER, U.S. QUAKER ABOLITIONISTS AND FEMINISTS

THE FEAST OF BERTHA PAULSSEN, GERMAN-AMERICAN SEMINARY PROFESSOR, PSYCHOLOGIST, AND SOCIOLOGIST

THE FEAST OF GENE M. TUCKER, UNITED METHODIST MINISTER AND BIBLICAL SCHOLAR

THE FEAST OF JOHN COSIN, ANGLICAN BISHOP OF COSIN

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Adapted from this post:

https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2021/01/15/devotion-for-proper-9-year-d-humes/

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