episode 3.10 in which our hosts discover their signature sound

Episode 3.10 IN WHICH OUR HOSTS DISCOVER THEIR SIGNATURE SOUND

We’re still in one of the longest seasons after Epiphany, but it is not too soon to think about Ash Wednesday coming up, and the season of Lent. There’s all kinds of symbolism and tradition mixed in with this season.

Also, baseball begins (https://www.springtrainingonline.com/reporting-dates/).  

Baseball is coming, pitchers and catcher report in a couple of weeks. Time to remember why baseball is better than football with George Carlin’s: Baseball vs Football https://youtu.be/aIkqNiBASfI

Craig’s pretty happy with the two new tunes being sung in his congregation for worship. Walls, by Tommy Emmanuel https://youtu.be/MLhXnquvH6I; and God is not a white man, by Gungor https://youtu.be/-WybvhRu9KU

Twitter: @allthatsholy check out All That's Holy (@allthatsholy): https://twitter.com/allthatsholy?s=09

Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/allthatsholy/?ref=bookmarks

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/user/craigdanm/playlist/4MSLCTYyVIEP7wnQqaNeuV?si=636SBNhWSNW1wXmjtk9cSQ

Looking at themes in the Lectionary

Remembering that the Season after Epiphany is actually not the “season of epiphany”, but is actually numbered as “ordinary time,” Luke’s chronological reading of the life of Jesus will be interrupted by Lent and Easter seasons.  We will pick up the chronological reading of Luke again when we return to ordinary time in the season after Pentecost.

As the Sundays move into Lent, the chronological passages of Luke, give way to more thematic gospel readings. But the Lukan passages will come around again in sequence. One of the the things churches can be thinking about in their proclamation is “who is Jesus?”, not so much as a declarative proposition, but more in terms of a probing question.  Alan Culpepper (New Interpreter's Bible, vol IX) notes the structure of Luke uses Jesus Galilean ministry, previous to his turn toward Jerusalem (Luke 4.14-9.50,

http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=415945039) as a period to ask questions.

Luke 5.21 Who is this speaking blasphemies?

Luke 7.20 Are you the one who is to come?

Luke 8.25 Who is this who even forgives sins?

Luke 9.9 John I beheaded, but who is this about whom I hear such things?

Luke 9.18 Who do the crowds say that I am?

This section concludes with Luke 9.20 and 9.35, answering with “the messiah of God”, and “this is my son, my chosen.”

Questions for congregational life and mission

  • What are the ways the questions about Jesus’ identity are invitations to share in an exploration, rather than an attempt to prove his identity?

  • How can questions invite and expand the welcome of God’s community?

  • What do the “answers” in Luke 9 lead toward in orthopraxy, not just orthodoxy?

Moving from Season after Epiphany into Lent

The Hebrew Bible themes could be an interesting point of departure if you are not looking to preach through the Gospel of Luke for Year C. The Hebrew Bible texts look at key texts in God’s creation of  a people. There are some challenges, but with the Isaiah passages leading toward the final week, there’s a great tie-in to Advent with promise of Immanuel. Or, stay with Luke and move through Lenten themes of in the life of Jesus.

Transfiguration Sunday

March 3, 2019

Exodus 34:29-35 Psalm 99 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2 Luke 9:28-36, (37-43a)

Ash Wednesday

March 6, 2019

Joel 2:1-2, 12-17 Isaiah 58:1-12 Psalm 51:1-17 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10 Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

First Sunday in Lent

March 10, 2019

Deuteronomy 26:1-11 Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16 Romans 10:8b-13 Luke 4:1-13

Second Sunday in Lent

March 17, 2019

Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18 Psalm 27 Philippians 3:17-4:1 Luke 13:31-35 Luke 9:28-36, (37-43a)

Resources:

worthy.jpg

Worthy, by Melanie Springer Mock is a book we are both reading. We’ll be talking with Melanie Springer Mock in the coming weeks and having a give-away contest for her book, Worthy. Stay tuned.

Articles:

The Verge: Take this test to figure out how tone-deaf you are: And then take a quiz to see if you can tell what different songs are used for

Over at Harvard University, the department of psychology has opened a new lab to study the science of music. While this is sure to lead to plenty of interesting research in the future, the important takeaway from this news is that the Music Lab has created a citizen science platform where the general public can take various music quizzes and contribute to research. Currently, the site has four tests, which we can all take to figure out how well we truly understand music. (Right now, the tests are only available on desktop.)

This is an opportunity to become involved with citizen science research. Go over to the Citizen Science Alliance to learn about other projects: https://www.citizensciencealliance.org/

Stop Trusting Viral Videos

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2019/01/viral-clash-students-and-native-americans-explained/580906/

“A controversial video of Catholic students clashing with American Indians appeared to tell a simple truth. A second video called that story into question. But neither shows what truly happened.….it might be better to stop and look at how film footage constructs rather than reflects the truths of a debate like this one. Despite the widespread creation and dissemination of video online, people still seem to believe that cameras depict the world as it really is; the truth comes from finding the right material from the right camera. That idea is mistaken, and it’s bringing forth just as much animosity as the polarization that is thought to produce the conflicts cameras record.”

Have Aliens Found Us? A Harvard Astronomer on the Mysterious Interstellar Object ‘Oumuamu

https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-new-yorker-interview/have-aliens-found-us-a-harvard-astronomer-on-the-mysterious-interstellar-object-oumuamua

And…

Mysterious radio signals from deep space detected

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-46811618

These two articles should have received more press than they did, but we were all side-tracked following the exploits of the nincompoop occupying the people’s house. These and related stories remind us that there is a lot going on in the not-so-quiet depths of space.

Why Ex-Churchgoers Flocked to Trump

https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/why-ex-churchgoers-flocked-to-trump/

This is a challenging study, due in large part to the circumstantial evidence (correlational evidence), is pretty convincing. Where church adherence is low (and churches are closing), the American Dream feels dead, there is where the highest percentages of Trump voters are found.

“The most Mormon county in the U.S., however, is not in Utah, but is Madison County, Idaho, home to BYU Idaho. Trump’s share of the primary vote there: 7.6 percent, making the most religious county in America Trump’s worst county in the primaries. The more people worshipping and studying with neighbors with whom they shared a higher cause, the less belief that the American Dream was dead.”


A Dutch Church’s 24/7 Vigil to Protect Refugees Ended With a Government Deal

http://time.com/5517327/netherlands-bethel-church-24-7-service-refugees/

“The church service began Oct. 26 to protect the Tamrazyan family — including the parents, their two daughters and a son. Dutch law prohibits authorities from entering a church building while a service is underway.”

Books:

The Last Temptation of Christ

Movies:

John Q.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0251160/

John Quincy Archibald’s son Michael collapses while playing baseball as a result of heart failure. John rushes Michael to a hospital emergency room where he is informed that Michael's only hope is a transplant. Unfortunately, John's insurance won't cover his son's transplant. Out of options, John Q. takes the emergency room staff and patients hostage until hospital doctors agree to do the transplant.

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

The War

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111667/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

Vietnam War vet Stephen Simmons must deal with a war of a different sort between his son and
    their friends, and a rival group of children. He also must deal with his own personal and
    employment problems that have resulted from his Vietnam experiences.

For Children:

Amazing Grace, by Mary Hoffman, Illustrated by Caroling Binch

    https://www.amazon.com/Amazing-Grace-Mary-Hoffman/dp/1845077490

When Grace learns of her class’s production of Peter Pan, she immediately dreams of taking on the lead role. But her classmates don’t think she is right for the part because she is a girl and because she is black. Grace tells her family about her classmates’ comments. Her mother and grandmother encourage her and take her to a performance by a ballet dancer from Trinidad. When the time comes for auditions, Grace shines and leaves behind the hurt she experienced a few days earlier.

Rufus and His Angry Tail, by Elias Carr, Illustrated by Mike Garton

https://www.amazon.com/Rufus-His-Angry-Tail-Frolic/dp/1506410499

In the story of Rufus and His Angry Tail, Rufus quickly becomes agitated by Ava and her mud pies.  Ava doesn’t mean to upset Rufus although it happens. Ava continues to get into Rufus’ space and Rufus becomes more and more upset. When Ava pushes him too far, Rufus escapes to collect himself and says a prayer about feeling angry. Upon his return to Ava, they apologize and forgive one another, returning to their friendly relationship.

Inside Out

Music

I couldn’t find the Gungor song to put onto our Spotify playlist https://open.spotify.com/user/craigdanm/playlist/4MSLCTYyVIEP7wnQqaNeuV?si=kCAveeUjSv-tl9MuLuu0Cg . So there is a YouTube link below.

Tommy Emmanuel and Christine Lenee, Walls, https://youtu.be/MLhXnquvH6I

Some walls are build on pride

Some keep the child inside

Some walls are build in fear that

Love let go will disappear   

If there is any hope for love at all

Some walls must fall

Gungor, God is not a White Man, https://youtu.be/-WybvhRu9KU

Atheists and Charlatans and

Communists and Lesbians

And even old Pat Robertson

Oh God He loves us all

Catholic or Protestant

Terrorist or President

Everybody, everybody

Love, love, love, love, love, oh

Yeah, I say God is love

God is love

And He loves everyone

Stop the hating

Please just stop the hating now

'Cause God is love

SWEET WEBSITE FINDS

    Prayer & Politiks

    http://www.prayerandpolitiks.org/

    At the intersection of spiritual formation and prophetic action.

“Practicing prayer-and-politiks is not the pursuit of an impossible ideal, or the fantasy of
    woolly-headed day dreamers, lost in the fog of sentiment and segregated from the
    blood-smeared face of history. The care we extend to the broken, battered and bruised parts of
    creation is a form of prayer before it is an act of ethics. For it is from the margins, where life is
    coming unraveled, that our hearts are most open to the beat of God’s promised future. ‘It is
    from the ash heap God is seen.’ (Archibald MacLeish in J.B.)”