matthew 13:31-33; 44-52.

after reading this text, i realized that to express the variety of my thought, i have to break it down.

as for verses 31-31, i read this to be a metaphor for the magnitude of not only God, but God's work in the Church. as a Body we are called to love God and love people and through that we plant mustard seeds. in even the smallest actions we may create a haven so that "the birds of the air," or others around us who need help, can "come and perch in its branches," feeling the warmth of love.

moving on to verse 33, in much the same way, the body is encouraged through the fact that work done to show love for God and compassion to our neighbors are like yeast. they work throughout the dough of the fullness of time. whatever we may do, small or grand in our eyes, assists in the dough that could possibly bring the Bread of Life to those around us.

also, to be honest, after reading i had two main questions about phrases in the texts:

--how are we to interpret the thought that, as is suggested in verse 44, maybe the kingdom of heaven is meant to be hidden?
--in verse 52, what is meant by "new and old treasures"?

one thing i see though, that seems to blow these questions out of the water, is something i got out of verse 46 - that regardless, the kingdom of God is worth treasuring. that the kingdom of heaven is worth selling everything to take part in it.

matthew 13:24-30; 36-43.

in all honesty, one verse reigns supreme out of the entire text to me -- verse 30. "let both grow together until the harvest." within the call to love God and love people, there is no room for humankind to judge. at the time of the harvest (whatever that means), a ridiculous amount of things may happen. sure, there may be fiery furnaces. sure, there may be gnashing of teeth. this all seems of little importance though when the mind is focused on living out the first and second commandment.

i don't think it is insane, or doing any violence to the biblical texts, to realize that the texts were written by people. divine inspired? sure. but don't put it past a human writer, regardless of inspiration, to push their own agenda.

are the references to fiery furnaces and gnashing of teeth simply metaphors? of course not, there is no such thing as a simple metaphor. but what's important here is to remember that only in the fullness of time will we truly understand the end times. until then, i firmly believe that there are two concerns -- loving God and loving people.

random mentions.

first, i would like to ask for prayer for me and my family. we are dealing with many issues, one of which being the decision about whether or not to put my grandmother in a nursing home. my grandmother (grandmere, as we call her) is one of my favorite people in the world and it breaks my heart to think of her in a nursing home. she has lived with us since ninth grade, but with my mother working full time and not having daughters around the house to assist, a nursing home may be the only answer. i've heard that people in nursing homes sometimes do not live long, and that's my biggest fear. plus, it is a financial issue we did not expect.

speaking of finances, we are having a tough time dealing with financial things and making sure my education will be paid for for me to graduate. i keep thinking about abraham and the sacrifice of his son and how, in the narrative, as soon as he was willing to give it all (namely, his son), what would have been a land that reminded him of the death of his son and sincere grief, was transformed into what is called "the land of the Lord will provide." i am faithfully awaiting the transformation of the worrysome soil i stand on to being "the land of the Lord will provide."

regardless of anything, thanks be to God.

ps: a silly question for those of you with mad blogspot skills. how do i put links on the right hand side of the screen? i'd like to blog some of my readers that i know about, as well as sites i enjoy. any help is appreciated. thanks. :)

a response.

on a previous post i received titled "the great I AM" a comment from a reader named todd which i would like to respond to.

todd wrote:
A thought, though, regarding all of humanity being in the image of God and our defining who gets to use the name "Christian:" - Does your article consider that the image of God in us has been marred by sin? That our sinfulness keeps us all "outside?" That there is a need for the grace of God in Christ to call us and to restore that divine image in us? That there are those who reject such grace?

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first of all, thank you. i appreciate your beautifully challenging comment. now, a response.

i'd like to look back at the metaphor i used of humankind as a portrait/painting of God. this metaphor, in my opinion, recognizes the sinfulness of creation as well as its beauty. if you see a painting of the Grand Canyon, you may be taken back with awe at its beauty, but that reaction could not compare to seeing it with your own two eyes. can humanity truly reflect God perfectly? certainly not. but i do believe that in looking upon creation, beauty can be found. and within that beauty, a feeling can be evoked that may just be as close to being able to transcend humanity and reach divinity as any of us will come, while clothed in flesh.

in regards to your comment that sin keeps us all "outside," i have a simple reaction. exactly. my point (well, part of it) is that within the church we are all outside perfection and that to then point fingers at some, or not love others, shows a sense of spiritual arrogance that seems to suggest we've forgotten the very "need for the grace of God in Christ" that you speak of.

as for those that reject such grace, i cannot bring myself to exclude them from the portrait simply because of their lack of adherence to the same faith we hold dear. being human, they share the same sinfulness, they just handle the issue of faith differently. with that said, my argument was not really towards those that do not follow Christianity, but instead to those who claim fellowship with Jesus and their place within the Church, and then believe that with their title of "Christian" they can formulate a definition of "being a good Christian" that is truly just the definition they give themselves. when issues of belief or unbelief begin to have credentials that encompass race, gender, sexuality, political views, etc the faith becomes more and more like the socially constructed credentials than the radical beauty of divinity.

i hope this helps me explain myself. also, just to note, i didn't write a response to argue with you, but to take consideration to your thoughts. i think we see rather eye to eye. :)

blessings to you!

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note: comments accepted from anyone, not just todd. ;)

Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

so, in an effort to make myself write at least on a weekly basis (as future writers should do) i've decided to try to start doing a weekly reflection on the gospel text from the lectionary. nothing profound, nothing incredible, nothing worth publishing. just random thoughts i have whilst reading a gospel text, put into paragraph. but, why not share? so, here's the first... this is the text from last sunday.

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At first glance, I definitely see this text and its words as being a call to community. The author writes that we must hear the word and understand it. How exactly does a person do this? As usual, this call seems to be one that is easier said than done. Hearing the word? Easy. Plenty of people hear the word. But understanding it? A call of huge proportions.

Understanding requires a person to hear the word, then hold on to what is good, as Paul writes (I do believe). It requires a person to live and experience and apply perspective, exegesis, and the aforementioned community to whatever text they intend to read and interpret. Is there a reason this verse is so vague in its call on how to understand? I believe it’s possible that this verse is a call for the beauty of perspective and celebration of differences in one another’s reading of the Bible.

So what perspective do we entertain and celebrate? I believe we celebrate all, while hearing the word and discerning what to hold on to, discerning what is good. In addition, I believe we celebrate the beauty and love we find in the Church. We entertain the opportunities to read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest a radical gospel together that is worth our time and celebration.

the great I AM.

We do not know God from His essence. We know Him rather from the grandeur of His creation and from His providential care for all creatures. For through these, as though they were mirrors, we may attain insight into His infinite goodness, wisdom, and power.
--St. Maximos the Confessor

i've had a thought lately that i would like to put in paragraphs, if only a few. i want to expand this, but i haven't blogged in a while so here i go.

i'm consistently baffled by the lack of diversity that plagues large portions of the Christian community, myself included. there is a constant struggle between believers over who is fit to wear the name "Christian" and who lives up to the expectations that are entailed, and so forth and so on.

my problem with this is simple. if we believe (yes, i am writing this specifically to those who are Christians) that God created humankind in God's likeness, why are we not ushering in every variety of person under the umbrella of humankind into fellowship?

we believe God is vast, God is beautiful, God is faithful... but if someone differs from us, they are unworthy of the same title we claim ourselves? it only makes sense that when God creates humankind to give a portrait of divinity itself, that God would create this portrait to encompass every hue imaginable.

so, with that said, i speak every aforementioned word to myself as a reminder of the calling i have to love my neighbor, love my enemies, and truthfully, love every single piece of creation that was brought into being in an attempt by God to show humankind the infinite nature of who God is, physically and tangibly for all time, in a way that humankind should have been able to grasp.

it is my only regret that i, as well as others i would argue, have rejected this portrait, asking instead for photographs of ourselves.

but, as always -- just a thought.