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READING THE BOOK OF PSALMS

PART XLVI

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Psalms 63 and 73

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Psalms 63 and 73 are similar to each other; they express faith in God, come from circumstances of affliction, and insist that the wicked will reap what they have sown.

The dubious superscription of Psalm 63 links the text to a time when David was hiding in the wilderness of Judah and people were trying to kill him.  This may refer to a portion of the reign of King Saul.  Alternatively, Absalom’s rebellion works as a context for the superscription.  Yet the psalm is a general lament from someone in mortal danger from human beings.  And who is the king in the last verse?  Is the king God or a mortal?  Is this verse original to Psalm 63?  Your guesses are as good as mine, O reader.

The superscription of Psalm 73 attributes the text to Asaph, a Levite and the choir director at the Temple in Jerusalem.  I do know if this attribution is historically accurate.  That question may be irrelevant anyway.  For your information, O reader, the Asaph psalms are numbers 50, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 79, 80, 81, 82, and 83.

The psalmist–perhaps Asaph–notices how many wicked people flourish.  He reports having doubted the purpose of remaining faithful until he visited the Temple.  The psalmist concludes that God will remain faithful to the pious and that the wicked will go to destruction.  This is mostly repetitive from other psalms, so I need not delve into that territory again, in this post.

Instead, I focus on the positive influence of religious institutions and congregations.  Rugged individualism is not a spiritual virtue.  We all rely upon God and each other.  We need faith community to teach and support us in paths of God.  This is why toxic faith and abusive and hateful religious institutions are so harmful; they drive people away from God and damage those whom they deceive.  Many people project their bigotry and spiritual blindness onto God.  In so doing, they create a mockery of religion that violates the Golden Rule.  Yet positive, loving faith community embraces the Golden Rule.

If God has created us in his image, we have returned him the favor.

–François-Marie Arouet, a.k.a. Voltaire (1694-1778)

I, as an Anglican-Lutheran-Catholic Episcopalian with liberal tendencies in South Georgia, U.S.A., belong to a visible minority.  I may belong to the one congregation in my county where I can speak my mind theologically without prompting either (a) concerns that I may be a damned heretic, or (b) certainty of that opinion, with (c) suspicions that I am too Catholic, tacked onto either (a) or (b). The growing influence of Eastern Orthodox spirituality within me places me more out of step with most of my neighbors and renders me more alien to the spirituality of the majority of nearby congregations.  Certainly, I belong to the one congregation in my county I can feel comfortable joining.  If I were a Low Church Protestant with liberal tendencies, I could choose from a handful of congregations.  So, given my spiritual and religious reality, I understand the importance of faith community.  My congregation, which helps to keep me grounded spiritually, is precious to me.

We human beings are social creatures.  Even I, an introvert, am a social being.  My personality type does not exempt me from evolutionary psychology.  Faith is simultaneously individual and communal.  Individual faith exists within the framework of a community.  The two forms of faith interact.  So, a solo person who claims to be “spiritual but not religious” pursues a nebulous path to nowhere.

May we, by grace, understand how much we rely on God and each other.  Then may we act accordingly.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JANUARY 20, 2023 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT FABIAN, BISHOP OF ROME, AND MARTYR, 250

THE FEAST OF SAINTS EUTHYMIUS THE GREAT AND THEOCTISTUS, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOTS

THE FEAST OF GREVILLE PHILLIMORE, ENGLISH PRIEST, HYMN WRITER, AND HYMN TRANSLATOR

THE FEAST OF HAROLD A. BOSLEY, UNITED METHODIST MINISTER AND BIBLICAL SCHOLAR

THE FEAST OF HARRIET AUBER, ANGLICAN HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF RICHARD ROLLE, ENGLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC SPIRITUAL WRITER

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According to the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship (ILCW) Lectionary (1973), as contained in the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) and Lutheran Worship (1982)

Above:  The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins, by Friedrich Wilhelm Schadow (1788-1862)

Image in the Public Domain

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Amos 5:18-24

Psalm 63:1-8 (LBW) or Psalm 84:1-7 (LW)

1 Thessalonians 4:13-14 (15-18)

Matthew 25:1-13 (LBW, LW) or Matthew 23:37-39 (LW)

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Lord, when the day of wrath comes

we have no hope except in your grace.

Make us so to watch for the last days

that the consumation of our hope may be

the joy of the marriage feast of your Son,

Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 29

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O Lord, we pray that the visitation of your grace

may so cleanse our thoughts and minds

that your Son Jesus, when he shall come,

may find us a fit dwelling place;

through Jesus Christ, our Lord,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever.  Amen.

—Lutheran Worship (1982), 89

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We have, in the church calendar, turned toward Advent.  The tone in readings has shifted toward the Day of the Lord (Old Testament) and the Second Coming of Jesus (New Testament).  In Matthew, both options, set in the days leading up to the crucifixion of Jesus, have taken a dark turn.

The Psalms are the most upbeat readings.

Amos 5:18-24 issues a collective warning.  Putting on airs of piety while perpetuating and/or excusing social injustice–especially economic injustice, given the rest of the Book of Amos–does not impress God.  It angers God, in fact.  Sacred rituals–part of the Law of Moses–are not properly talismans.

Matthew 23:37-39 includes a denunciation of supposedly pious people executing messengers God has sent.  We readers know that Jesus was about to meet the same fate.  We also read Jesus likening himself to a mother hen–being willing to sacrifice himself for the metaphorical chicks.

The Parable of the Ten Virgins (Matthew 25:1-13) teaches individual spiritual responsibility.  This is consistent with the collective spiritual authority in Amos 5 and Mattthew 23.  Despite the reality of collective spiritual authority, there are some tasks to which one must attend.

My position on how much of the Church–Evangelicalism and fundamentalism, especially–approaches the Second Coming of Jesus and teaches regarding that matter is on record at this weblog.  Evangelicalism and fundamentalism get eschatology wrong.  The rapture is a nineteenth-century invention and a heresy.  Dispensationalism is bunk.  The books of Daniel and Revelation no more predict the future than a bald man needs a comb.

I affirm that the Second Coming will occur eventually.  In the meantime, we need to be busy living the Golden Rule collectively and individually.  In the meantime, we need to increase social justice and decrease social injustice–especially of the economic variety–collectively and individually.  In the meantime, we need to work–collectively and individually–at leaving the world better than we found it.  We can do that much, by grace.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

AUGUST 23, 2022 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINTS MARTIN DE PORRES AND JUAN MACIAS, HUMANITARIANS AND DOMINICAN LAY BROTHERS; SAINT ROSE OF LIMA, HUMANITARIAN AND DOMINICAN SISTER; AND SAINT TURIBIUS OF MOGREVEJO, ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP OF LIMA

THE FEAST OF SAINT FRANCISZEK DACHTERA, POLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR, 1944

THE FEAST OF THEODORE O. WEDEL, EPISCOPAL PRIEST AND BIBLICAL SCHOLAR; AND HIS WIFE, CYNTHIA CLARK WEDEL, U.S. PSYCHOLOGIST AND EPISCOPAL ECUMENIST

THE FEAST OF THOMAS AUGUSTINE JUDGE, U.S. ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST; FOUNDER OF THE MISSIONARY SERVANTS OF THE MOST HOLY TRINITY, THE MISSIONARY SERVANTS OF THE MOST BLESSED TRINITY, AND THE MISSIONARY CENACLE APOSTOLATE

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Adapted from this post

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Take up your cross and follow me,

Above:  An Oasis

Image in the Public Domain

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For the Eleventh Sunday after Trinity, Year 2

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Lectionary from A Book of Worship for Free Churches (The General Council of the Congregational Christian Churches in the United States, 1948)

Collect from The Book of Worship (Evangelical and Reformed Church, 1947)

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Almighty and Everlasting God, who art always more ready to hear than we to pray,

and art wont to give more than either we desire or deserve;

pour down upon us the abundance of thy mercy,

forgiving us those things whereof our conscience is afraid,

and giving us those good things which we are not worthy to ask,

but through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ, thy Son, our Lord.  Amen.

—The Book of Worship (1947), 204

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1 Samuel 7:5-12

Psalm 63

Acts 12:1-19

Matthew 16:21-28

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Jesus still says to all who have yet to do so.  He says to the rest of us,

Continue to carry your cross and follow me.

Obeying God is imperative in any situation.  Doing so may not ensure military victory or an angelic jailbreak, but disobedience still caries negative consequences.

Psalm 63 uses the imagery of desert and water.  Water is especially precious in a desert.  May as many of us as possible pray with the author of Psalm 63:

O God, you are my God; at dawn I seek you;

for you my soul is thirsting.

For you my flesh is pining,

like in a dry, weary land without water.

I have come before you in the holy place,

to behold your strength and your glory.

–Verses 2 and 3, The Revised New Jerusalem Bible (2019)

And may as many of us as possible continue to do so.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JANUARY 18, 2021 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF THE CONFESSION OF SAINT PETER THE APOSTLE

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READING 1-2 SAMUEL, 1 KINGS, 2 KINGS 1-21, 1 CHRONICLES, AND 2 CHRONICLES 1-33

Above:  Samuel Relating to Eli the Judgments of God Upon Eli’s House, by John Singleton Copley

Image in the Public Domain

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PART IV

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1 Samuel 3:1-4:1a

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My soul is content, as with marrow and fatness,

and my mouth praises you with joyful lips,

When I remember you upon my bed,

and meditate on you in the night watches.

–Psalm 63:5-6, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)

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Years ago, while I was perusing religious books in a thrift store in Athens, Georgia, I saw a volume entitled How to Find God.  The author was wrong.  Nobody finds God.  No, God finds us.  How we respond or react is crucial.

God found Samuel, who eventually, with Eli’s help, realized who was calling in the pre-dawn hours.  Samuel listened.  Eli insisted on hearing the truth about what God said.  Eli heard the difficult truth and replied,

He is the LORD; He will do what he deems right.

What one says can be at least as important as how one says it.  And how well one listens then responds or reacts is likewise crucial.  One can imagine, in this case, young Samuel’s discomfort in repeating the unpleasant prophecy.  And one can imagine Eli’s discomfort in hearing it.  If one is honest, one must admit that Samuel and Eli did well that day.

Indeed, Samuel was Eli’s legitimate immediate successor.  And the old man was better than his sons, Hophni and Phinehas.

I invite you, O reader, to put yourself in Samuel’s position then in Eli’s position, or visa versa.  How might you have behaved and felt in that circumstance?  Would your desire to spare feelings lead you to lie?  Would you have lashed out at Samuel after hearing the bad news?  Would you dismiss the truth as “fake news”?  Or would you have acted as Samuel and Eli did?

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

AUGUST 14, 2020 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF WILLIAM CROFT, ANGLICAN ORGANIST AND COMPOSER

THE FEAST OF JOHN BAJUS, U.S. LUTHERAN MINISTER AND HYMN TRANSLATOR

THE FEAST OF JOHN HENRY HOPKINS, JR., EPISCOPAL PRIEST AND HYMNODIST; AND HIS NEPHEW, JOHN HENRY HOPKINS, III, EPISCOPAL PRIEST AND MUSICIAN

THE FEAST OF SAINT MAXIMILIAN KOLBE, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR, 1941; AND JONATHAN MYRICK DANIELS, EPISCOPAL SEMINARIAN AND MARTYR, 1965

THE FEAST OF SARAH FLOWER ADAMS, ENGLISH UNITARIAN HYMN WRITER; AND HER SISTER, ELIZA FLOWER, ENGLISH UNITARIAN COMPOSER

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READING 2 KINGS 22-25, 1 ESDRAS, 2 CHRONICLES 34-36, EZRA, AND NEHEMIAH

Above:  Darius I

Image in the Public Domain

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PART XII

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1 Esdras 5:47-53

Ezra 3:1-4:5

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O God, you are my God; eagerly I seek you;

my soul thirsts for you, my flesh faints for you,

as in a barren and dry land where there is no water.

–Psalm 63:1, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)

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I detect chronological confusion in each text and between the two of them.  Ezra 3:1-4:6 places these events circa 538 B.C.E., during the reign of Cyrus II and shortly after the conquest of the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire.  Yet Ezra 3:1-46 also names Zerubbabel as the governor.  In objectively correct  chronology, we find that Zerubbabel received his appointment after the death of Cyrus II.  (Cyrus II died in 530 B.C.E.)  On the other hand, 1 Esdras 5:47-73 correctly places these events and Zerubbabel’s governorship post-Cyrus II.  Nevertheless, 1 Esdras 5:73, following the lead of Ezra 4:5, mentions Cyrus II as being one of the kings during these events.  These hiccups are minor matters.  Now I turn my attention to major issues.

Proper worship of YHWH in Jerusalem had been impossible for decades, since Nebuchadnezzar II had taken (in stages) sacred vessels from the Temple to Babylon.  The restoration of proper liturgical worship in YHWH in Jerusalem (whenever that occurred) was a great joy and a communal blessing.  It was essential to communal restoration.  Many local Gentiles delayed the rebuilding of the Temple, unfortunately.

By the way, 1 Esdras 5:47-73 acknowledges that Gentile opposition while softening the attitude evident in Ezra 3:1-4:6.  1 Esdras is less hostile to Gentiles than Ezra.  1 Esdras 5:50, for example, says that some of the

other peoples of the land

joined Jews in preparing the altar of the God of Israel.

I can only imagine what joy those returned exiles must have felt when they could worship God properly, according to the Law of Moses.  I can identity with not being able to worship God as part of a congregation.  I write these words during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Attending church each Sunday consists of watching a video on YouTube, and I cannot take communion.  This seems to be the pattern I will continue to live indefinitely.  I know that, when the vaccine will be widely available and the pandemic is over, returning to church services will be especially joyful.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

AUGUST 8, 2020 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT MARY MACKILLOP, FOUNDRESS OF THE SISTERS OF SAINT JOSEPH OF THE SACRED HEART

THE FEAST OF SAINT ALTMAN, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF PASSAU

THE FEAST OF SAINT DOMINIC, FOUNDER OF THE ORDER OF PREACHERS

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O God, you are God–

it is you I seek!

For you my body yearns;

for you my soul thirsts,

In a land parched, lifeless,

and without water.

I look to you in the sanctuary

to see your power and glory.

For your love is better than life;

my lips shall ever praise you!

–Psalm 63:2-4, The New American Bible–Revised Edition (2011)

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One’s life is the continuous process of becoming the next version of oneself.  Former versions of oneself are legion; the next version of oneself awaits.  We all change in a plethora of ways throughout life.  Hopefully, we improve.  Hopefully, we deepen in faith.  Hopefully, we become kinder and more forgiving.  Hopefully, we become more knowledgeable.  Hopefully, we become more compassionate.  Hopefully, we become better at work.  Hopefully, we improve at all worthwhile pursuits.  Hopefully, our language skills will improve.  Hopefully, we will improve (in a number of activities) with practice.  Hopefully, we become more grateful.  Hopefully, we become more loving and less judgmental.  Hopefully, we become more aware of social injustice and refuse to turn a blind eye to it and to defend it any longer.  Hopefully, we practice the Golden Rule more often.

I can speak and write only for myself.  That is all I try to do in this post.

I have noticed changes in myself.  Times of loss and great stress have led to spiritual and emotional growth.  Even during times loss and great stress have not defined, I have changed spiritually.  I have, for example, started growing into mysticism.  Nobody has found this more surprising than I have.  I have also shifted theologically; I have moved toward the center, overall.  I have retained my propensity to ask questions and understand doubts as gateways to deeper faith, though.  When I was an undergraduate at Valdosta State University, Valdosta, Georgia, one of the other residents in the dormitory told me I would go to Hell for asking too many questions.  I have never changed my mind about her; she did not ask enough questions.  God, who gave us brains, does not intend for us to check our intellects at the church door.  Healthy faith is never anti-intellectual.  I could name some people who do not consider me a Christian, but I will not do so in this post.  To them I say, “You know who you are.”

I am becoming the next version of myself.  Who will he be?  May he be the person God wants him to be.  Those to whom I say, “You know who you are,” will think what they will think.  So be it; I do not answer to them.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JULY 15, 2020 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT BONAVENTURE, SECOND FOUNDER OF THE ORDER OF FRIARS MINOR

THE FEAST OF SAINT ATHANASIUS I OF NAPLES, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP

THE FEAST OF DUNCAN MONTGOMERY GRAY, SR.; AND HIS SON, DUNCAN MONTGOMERY GRAY, JR.; EPISCOPAL BISHOPS OF MISSISSIPPI AND ADVOCATES FOR CIVIL RIGHTS

THE FEAST OF GEORGE TYRRELL, IRISH ROMAN CATHOLIC MODERNIST THEOLOGIAN AND ALLEGED HERETIC

THE FEAST OF SAINT SWITHUN, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF WINCHESTER

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If dissent were unpatriotic, we would still be British.

Above:  Icon of Micah

Image in the Public Domain

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The Collect:

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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The Assigned Readings:

Micah 3:5-12

Psalm 63:1-8

Titus 3:1-15

Luke 22:1-6, 39-53

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Psalm 63 is a royal text.  Titus 3:1 instructs Christians to obey civil authorities.  Yet in Luke 22 and Micah 3, the authorities (civil and religious) are corrupt.  The stance of faith is to confront corruption, not to support it or accept its bribes.

In full disclosure, the founders of my country rebelled against the British Empire.  I think of a line from Man of the Year (2006):

Furthermore, nuances regarding obedience to the civil magistrate exist in Christian theology.  For obvious reasons, when to resist and when to obey civil authority has been a question in segments of German theology since 1933.  One may think, for example, of the great Karl Barth (1886-1968) and the Theological Declaration of Barmen (1934), anti-Nazi.  Nevertheless, extreme law-and-order-affirming Christian theology exists.  One historical prime example of this attitude I found during research into conservative Presbyterianism (the Presbyterian Church in America, or PCA, to be precise) comes from The Presbyterian Journal, the magazine that midwifed the birth of the PCA in 1973.  In the October 30, 1974, issue, the editor agreed with a letter-writer, one Joan B. Finneran, “an elect lady of Simpsonville, Maryland.”  Finneran wrote that God establishes governments and commands people to obey earthly authority, therefore

When a Herod or a Hitler comes into power, we must thereby assume this is the LORD’s plan; He will use even such as these to put His total plan into effect for the good of His people here on earth.

Finneran needed to read the Theological Declaration of Barmen.

What should we do in good conscience when systems are corrupt and inhumane?  Corruption leads to collective ruin, after all.  Timeless principles are useful, but they are also vague.  Proper applications of them varies according to circumstances.  If I say,

Oppose corruption and work against the exploitation of the poor and the powerless,

I sound like the Law of Moses, various Hebrew prophets, and Jesus.  I also provide no guidance about how best to follow that counsel.  Proper application of timeless principles depends upon circumstances–who, when, and where one is.

That guidance must come from the Holy Spirit.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MARCH 25, 2020 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF THE ANNUNCIATION OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST

THE FEAST OF SAINT DISMAS, PENITENT BANDIT

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Adapted from this post:

https://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2020/03/25/devotion-for-the-third-sunday-in-lent-year-c-humes/

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Above:  Christ Exorcising Demons

Image in the Public Domain

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For the Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany, Year 1

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Lectionary from A Book of Worship for Free Churches (The General Council of the Congregational Christian Churches in the United States, 1948)

Collect from The Book of Worship (Evangelical and Reformed Church, 1947)

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Almighty God, who knowest us to be set in the midst of so many and great dangers,

that by reason of the frailty of our nature we cannot always stand upright,

grant to us such strength and protection as may support us in all dangers,

and carry us through all temptations;

through Jesus Christ, our Lord.  Amen.

—The Book of Worship (1947), 131

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Isaiah 51:1-12

Psalm 63

Romans 3:21-26; 5:18-21

Mark 1:29-45

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When we despair, as we frequently have sound reasons to do, do we wallow in that emotion?  Or do we look to God?  We, as human beings, need to release our emotions.  Crying out to God is a healthy way of doing so.  We may, as the author of Psalm 63 did, pray that God will smite our enemies.  We may also recall Romans 12:10-21, however.  Yet we feel what we feel.  If we give it to God, we let go of a great spiritual burden.

Grace is free, costly, and scandalous.  If falls upon us, people like us, those unlike us, and our enemies.  Grace ignores our socially-constructed categories and our psychological defense mechanisms.  Grace makes us whole, if we permit it to do so.  If we reject grace, we do not remain as we are.  No, we became worse off.

The pity of Christ provides us with a model to follow.  Do we pity others as often as we ought?  Do we want them to be their best selves, physically, spiritually, et cetera?  Assuming that we do, do we know how to act accordingly?  Aye, there is the rub!

I live in Athens-Clarke County, Georgia.  I frequently see panhandlers at or near busy intersections.  One cannot walk through downtown Athens for long without encountering panhandlers.  Signs in downtown Athens advise giving funds to certain organizations that help homeless people instead.  This makes sense to me, for many panhandlers are capable of getting jobs and make much money, too.  This breed of panhandlers cast a pall of judgment upon those actually in desperate straits.

Where is the border separating clear-eyed realism from uninformed judgment and bad tactics from good tactics?  Finding that boundary can be difficult.  Realism can resemble insensitivity.  Good-hearted foolishness can look like the proper course of action.  May we, by grace, be as innocent as doves and as shrewd as serpents as we seek to follow Christ and have pity for each other.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MARCH 17, 2020 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT PATRICK, APOSTLE OF IRELAND

THE FEAST OF EBENEZER ELLIOTT, “THE CORN LAW RHYMER”

THE FEAST OF HENRY SCOTT HOLLAND, ANGLICAN HYMN WRITER AND PRIEST

THE FEAST OF SAINT JAN SARKANDER, SILESIAN ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND “MARTYR OF THE CONFESSIONAL,” 1620

THE FEAST OF SAINT MARIA BARBARA MAIX, FOUNDRESS OF THE CONGREGATION OF THE SISTERS OF THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY

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On my bed when I think of you,

Above:  A Domestic Scene, December 8, 2018

Photographer = Kenneth Randolph Taylor

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I muse on you in the watches of the night,

for you have always been my help;

in the shadow of your wings I rejoice;

my heart clings to you,

your right hand supports me.

–Psalm 63:6-8, The New Jerusalem Bible (1985)

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In my U.S. culture, the time from Thanksgiving (late November) to New Year’s Day is quite busy.  Holidays populate the calendar.  Some of these holidays are, for lack of a better word, ecumenical.  Others are religiously and/or culturally specific, though.  Christmas, originally the Christ Mass, has become an occasion, for many, to worship the Almighty Dollar at the high altar of commercialism.  This is how many Evangelicals of the Victorian Era wanted matters to be.

On the relatively innocuous side, this is the time of the year to populate one’s calendar with holiday social events, such as parties, school plays, and seasonal concerts.  Parents often like to attend their children’s events, appropriately.  Holiday concerts by choral and/or instrumental ensembles can also be quite pleasant.

Yet, amid all this busyness (sometimes distinct from business), are we neglecting the innate human need for peace and quiet?  I like classical Advent and Christmas music, especially at this time of the year (all the way through January 5, the twelfth day of Christmas), but I have to turn it off eventually.  Silence also appeals to me.  Furthermore, being busy accomplishing a worthy goal is rewarding, but so is simply being.

The real question is one of balance.  Given the absence of an actual distinction between the spiritual and the physical, everything is spiritual.  If we are too busy for God, silence, and proper inactivity, we are too busy.  If we are too busy to listen to God, we are too busy.  If we are too busy or too idle, we are not our best selves.

May we, by grace, strike and maintain the proper balance.  May we, especially at peak periods of activity, such as the end of the year, not overextend ourselves, especially in time commitments.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

DECEMBER 14, 2018 COMMON ERA

THE THIRTEENTH DAY OF ADVENT, YEAR C

THE FEAST OF SAINT VENANTIUS HONORIUS CLEMENTIUS FORTUNATUS, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF POITIERS

THE FEAST OF DOROTHY ANN THRUPP, ENGLISH HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF SAINT JOHN OF THE CROSS, ROMAN CATHOLIC MYSTIC

THE FEAST OF ROBERT MCDONALD, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND MISSIONARY

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https://neatnik2009.wordpress.com/2018/12/14/holiday-busyness/

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