Blog
Outcry
The One Who Is & Shall Be said to Abraham: “I am sending angels to the place of Violent Fire, to assess the veracity of the people’s cries against it. If their cries are true, I will destroy it.”
Abraham pleaded: “Surely you have more integrity than those who are stoking the Violent Fire. Perhaps you will find fifty or even ten who are still tossing pails of water at the Violent Fire.”
So the One Who Is & Shall Be agreed to search for any relief efforts in the midst of the Violent Fire. When the angels arrived at the place of Violent Fire, Lot offered them shelter, food, drink, and a rag to wash their feet, but he discouraged them from staying more than one night in the place of Violent Fire.
When it became known that Lot had welcomed angels into his home, the Violent Fire raged against him. “Messengers of relief are not welcome in this place,” they shouted. “No knowledge can be allowed except the knowledge of Violent Fire. Send out your angels so we might scorch any hope of reprieve they have to offer.”
Lot went outside to defend his guests, saying, “Isn’t it enough that my whole family resides in the Violent Fire? My daughters grew up in this place; they have chosen husbands from this place. God knows, the Violent Fire will burn them one day.”
But the Violent Fire swelled and sparked: “No judgment against the Fire can be allowed! No hint of relief can be tolerated! If you listen to angels, we cannot tolerate you.” And the Violent Fire rose to consume Lot where he stood with his back to the door.
From inside Lot’s home, the angels reached out their hands and pulled him out of the Violent Fire’s reach. They warned him, “The Violent Fire will not stop until every possible hope of relief has evaporated. We must leave this place of Violent Fire, because the One Who Is & Shall Be cannot nurture life in a place without hope.”
Lot’s family expressed doubt. “It won’t get worse,” said his daughters’ fiancées. “At least the Violent Fire was warm,” said his wife longingly as she looked back over her shoulder. Even Lot said to the angels, “There’s too much to risk if we resettle somewhere new.”
But the One Who Is & Shall Be extinguished the place of Violent Fire. Abraham saw the smoke billowing up from that place and grieved that the angels had found no signs of mercy or hope there.
a retelling of Genesis 18:16 – 19:29
Reminders
“When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between [me] and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” – Genesis 9:16 (NRSV)
The world needs more reminders.
Guns need not just one safety lock but five safety reminders, plus a mandatory essay about violence, before each firing of a single bullet. Bombs need civilian ballot measures that pass by majority vote before being detonated against an enemy. Our emails should come with a tone-check, in addition to a spell-check, that we must review and approve before sending. Our picket fences should be engraved with “borders are a social construct” on every post, lest we forget that no one really “owns” the property on which they live.
We need more reminders that we are interrelated, fewer indicators that we are islands. We need more prompts to slow us down before we cause harm, and fewer restraints that limit us from love.
Make it a bow around the finger or a bow in the sky, but make it something that effectively deters us from destruction. Even God needed such a reminder. How much more humanity?
God set a reminder in the clouds to never again allow flood waters to separate living creatures from God’s presence. Paul expanded the list: It’s not only flood waters that cannot separate us from God; neither can angels or empires, histories or futures, perils or threats, nor anything else imaginable separate us from God.
With this assurance, we must remind ourselves constantly not to be separated from one another either.
Prayer: You remember, O Eternal God, what I too easily forget: that I am not my own, that I am inherently caught up in and bound to all others. Remind me.
cross-posted with the Daily Devotional (ucc.org)
Cry Out!
How long, O Peace, will we hold one another hostage?How long will we demand endless penalty for every debt? "Make straight and wide a path in the wilderness so that all might travel safely in God's presence,"said the prophet -- but no, we insist, it can't be so easy....
Rock Bottom
O God, the nations have defiled your holy temple; they have laid Jerusalem in ruins. They have given the bodies of your servants to the birds of the air for food. - Psalm 79:1-2 (NRSV) The bleakness of early Advent – these first few days when the lectionary readings...
Riotous Reign
The Lord reigns! Let the earth rejoice! Clouds and thick darkness are all around the Holy One. Fire goes before the Lord, consuming adversaries on every side. God’s lightnings light up the world; the earth sees and trembles. The mountains melt like wax before the...
In the Wee Small Hours
On that day when the Lord gave the Amorites over to the Israelites, Joshua spoke to the Lord; and he said in the sight of Israel, “Sun, stand still at Gibeon; and Moon, in the valley of Aijalon.” And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, until the nation took...
As Far as the Western Sea
Not me, O Life, but us. Not mine, O Life, but ours. As far as the eastern horizon, as far as the western sea, all that is and all that can be. Not us or them, O Life, but every. Not us or theirs, O Life, but all's. From the first wisp of dust to its final sighing...
Bargaining
You have said to me, "Come," but you have left me to wander in search of your desired "where." You have named me, "Blessed," but you have been unrelenting with every trial on my life. You have said to me, "Be still and know," but you have covered the eyes of my heart...
At the Altar
deep breath roll your stiff neck: right, slowly left, slowly right, slowly left, slowly deep breath listen: you are god's testimony, a sign of god's repentance deep breath pause from your race-of-a-journey: curl your toes, slowly flex your toes, slowly turn your face...
Thunder and Lightning
Spare us, Most Holy One, from the rolling thunder of your voice as it quakes our weary souls and sends us scurrying for lesser comforts. Let our comforts not be secondary gods, false idols, exploitation or cruelty or jealousy or lies. Spare us, Most Holy One, from the...
Dear God: Do Better
During the day when I’m in trouble I look for my Lord. At night my hands are still outstretched and don’t grow numb; my whole being refuses to be comforted. I remember God and I moan. I complain, and my spirit grows tired. - Psalm 77:2-3 (CEB) There are houseplants at...
