Thursday, March 27, 2020

Lenten Antiphon Ps 95 

Harden 

not your 

hearts,

listen 

to his 

voice

  Before the original 

building  in which St David’s Church generally gathers  burned down in an arson fire,I did
my morning meditation in that enclosing 
space before that beautiful wooden altar. 
One day I came out and announced in ash-
ton- ishment,  “When Jesus died he was dead-
er than a doorknob.”  Epiphanies, when spoken
aloud, often seem distressingly  obvious  and
the rector and the deacon who were standing
talking in the hallway looked at me with  “Well
 DUH”expressions.  It had just never reached into my core and landed with such a thud
that  when Jeusus  died, he was actually, 

totally,  physically and decidedly  dead. 

And still th words give me a shiver.

I had a similar realization today in Morn-

ing Prayer, which may bring a similar be-
mused reaction to you standing in the hall…
 The first read-ing is the familiar story of
Moses in the bullrushes (Exodus 2.) For 

the first time today I heard the miracle
in the mundane facts.  When Pharaoh’s
daughter found the little guy,  “she took
him as her son.”  And this despite  her

father’s stated public policy of killing all
male babies born to “Hebrew women,” 

That was pretty cool but then  in the Gospel
reading (Mark 9)  Jesus  is “taking “James and
John” and going up the mountain toof trans-
figuration. ”. And there, with Jesus, is Elijah
And Moses  Moses, who would not have
survived at ALL except for individual
women’s decisions and actions.  

There’s a lot about getting older that I 
don’t like and wouldn’t choose. . But see-
ing how stories come together, how the
individual  pieces fit,  how things turn 
out, is one of the best things I know. 

And it’s even brighter for me personally 
sincee today is the anniversary of  my 
 baptism, when I was plucked from the 
bullrushes and raised  God’s own child. .