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

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

Thoughts on Lent and Deuteronomy

From David Bauer: Holy Solitude We learn a variety of ways that help us find solitude: fasting for a set time, changing a daily schedule, time out to be alone. In college I discovered there were times I did my best study by going to the busy student union. In the midst of the hubbub, I found meaningful inner space that helped me focus. In retirement I often get up at 5:00 a.m. to engage in biblical and theological study. I may ask myself: how does this idea or view help me better understand my faith? Why? Ok. Recently. I asked myself, who was King Josiah? (My dad used to talk about his Uncle Josiah who lived in Taylorville). King Josiah was said to be a good king among many who were not good in the time after King David and King Solomon. Yes, people went through the rituals of religion but had little heart or understanding. Selfish and idolatrous behavior was all over the place. Anyway, King Josiah decided to have a fund drive to raise money to repair the temple in Jerusalem. Work...
Post a Comment
Read more

Sound of Sheer Silence

If you google "Sound of sheer silence" you will find our passage for today. Today’s scripture is 1 Kings 19:11-13. The passage is set after Elijah had killed the prophets of Baal then fled for 40 days in the desert. I cannot fathom what it was like for Elijah. He had defended God, shown God’s power by killing all the prophets of Baal, shed so much blood, and the dramatic calling down of fire from heaven to burn the soaking wet offering to Baal. Terrified that Queen Jezebel would have him murdered, Elijah left to seek God’s presence, but first he had to get to God’s holy mountain, on the other side of the desert. That desert comes up again.   The desert is a place of great beauty (as one of you shared with me this week) and terrible danger; people die of exposure and dehydration in deserts. Elijah must have been completely spent by the time he reached the holy mountain. Once there, Elijah felt confident that on this holy mountain, he would hear what God had to say to h...
1 comment
Read more