Skip to main content

Solitude in the pit

Monday – Holy Week

Daniel is one character from the Old Testament that remains predominantly the lore of children’s stories. I remember singing with my kids the catchy children’s songs when the lessons would come home from Sunday School. Daniel as a character for adults though is not often considered. The story is colorful, full of wonderful descriptions and has a clear moral lesson…be true to God and God will rescue the faithful.
In reading today, I have to admit my white point of view, when I never considered (as the book reminds us) how slave spirituals would hold up Daniel as a man of God and hope for their desperate situations.
In our world today (and especially with so much news coming at us 24 hours a day with the most salacious details getting national news) people who live with integrity and follow as God commands are not lifted up at all.
Two quotes from author Havercamp stood out to me today:
“The story of Daniel is about being who God made us to be and knowing that we can be punished for being faithful—punished, in a way, for being our truest selves.” 
and
“In reality, dark nights and lion’s dens rarely have just, simple or happy endings. And yet, when we’re facing down the forces of death and destruction in our lives or communities and feeling trapped in a solitude we did not choose, we like Daniel, can hope to hold onto our identity and our faith in the midst of great threat, to survive with trust in God’s ultimate power and with our integrity intact.”
On this Monday of Holy Week, I am mindful of the drama that swirled around Jesus in Jerusalem. He remained his true self, despite the Hosannas that rang on Palm Sunday, and the temple cleansing that occurred the day after his triumphal entry. Jesus’ integrity remained intact.
Daniel’s integrity remained intact.
As citizens of this country, we are called to have our collective integrity intact.
But perhaps even more importantly, as citizens whose true home is with our creator, our faith in Jesus calls to each of us as Christians to remain faithful to all that God asks of us.
‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’

Such simple words, but living them fully takes everything we have. We may be thrown in the pit, but God will be with us, and frankly, that is everything.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pondering the journey

Betty Hollister writes Judi assured me this week would be easier—more about a journey, maybe even something as simple as a walk in nature.  Ok.  Maybe. I admitted to her that even though I didn’t “like” the week of “Solitude and Struggle,” it did make me think, and I liked that.  And, the thinking, of course, didn’t stop this week.   Monday’s lesson reminded us how Jesus sought solitude by walking away from the crowds after periods of “greatest exertion or emotional distress. ”  That made complete sense.  If Jesus, fully human, but also fully divine, needed time alone to talk to His father and renew his strength to heal the next in line or preach to the next crowd that made complete sense.  Even Tuesday’s suggestions about labyrinth walks to “get lost in God’s creation” made sense to me.  Then, I read about the “blue-gray-green monks” who turned that color due to hardship and fasting and Mary of Egypt who wandered for decades alone in th...
2 comments
Read more

Julian of Norwich

From Rachel Matthews: Today we read about Julian of Norwich, one of my favorite anchoresses. Tuesdays have been wonderful reflection points but today I find myself with not much to say. Things that I have put off since we moved here are looming over me. I turned down a wonderful gift of hospitality last night to be with the Monday Munchers. That made me sad but I did get some stuff done I really need to do. Mornings that are stressful are exactly when I am most grateful for the discipline that nudges me to sit and think and pray just for 10 minutes. The rush of life needs Julians who will listen and offer a prayer and word of guidance. I need Julian of Norwich to say to me, "All will be well, all manner of things will be well." She lived it. What strikes me most this morning about her is that she was there at a calling of God but she was not there alone. There were political structures that approved and encouraged and paid for her well being in that little house, the chur...
2 comments
Read more

Holy Saturday

From Rachel Matthews - Today I have been chopping, measuring, mixing, cooking, mixing some more, kneading, baking, waiting, waiting, tasting, arranging, cleaning, preparing.....and preparing....for guests. It is what you do at a funeral. Either you are preparing to serve and comfort the bereaved or, as the bereaved, you are preparing to receive the community, the family, the loved ones to walk with you to the grave and back again. Holy Saturday feels like the days before a funeral. Suspended between death and life, you just carry on. You work, as usual, but not. That's what the women who loved the Rabbi were doing: preparing the spices, arranging the body (Christ's body), wrapping, loving and weeping, and waiting, and waiting and preparing....for guests. I am giddy thinking about the surprise that awaited them - the Guest!! And, I am giddy waiting for our guests to come to our home. My boys won't be here, so there is grief. I miss them so much. But, the new Amer...
Post a Comment
Read more