UNBELIEVABLE!

Is Ritual and Ceremony Important to God?

I was challenged over Christmas by a family member who said that ritual and ceremony were not important to God, only your relationship to Him is important. .

Let's just look at our relationship with God. If I treat God at least the way that I treat my beloved friends and family, I would find out more about Him. What are His habits, likes and dislikes, what kind of information do I have to base my relationship with this all-important person in my life?

Well I have the Bible and some other early writings of people who knew Jesus Christ first or even second-hand. If I start in the Bible, in the Old Testament i come to places where God specifically called for ritual and ceremony, He ordered a place of meeting, at first a tent, then later a building or temple. He also ordered statuary and vessels for the ceremonies. He proscribed the way that He was to be worshiped and adored in the tent or temple. Hmmm. Well, you ask, I thought Jesus did away with all that stuff?

Let's look at Jesus, He went to the temple and he had a Bar-Mitzvah, and he read his Half-Torah. He went to the temples first to preach until they threw Him out. He kept passover, we know this for certain and He honored the local marriage Ceremony with his presence also.

What about His followers did they seem to think that ceremony and ritual was now passe"? Well when we look at our earliest record of Jesus followers they risked their lives to get together for mass(breaking bread together).

I would conclude that in my relationship with Jesus Christ, I better get on board and embrace Ritual and Ceremony.

Let's Digress into Humor a Bit

Because laughing is supposed to tighten up stomach muscles!!! lol

The Fat Man's Prayer

Lord, my soul is ripped with riot,
Incited by my wicked diet.
We are what we eat, said a wise old man,
And Lord, if that's true, I'm a garbage can!
I want to rise on Judgment Day, that's plain,
But at my present weight, I'll need a crane!

So grant me strength that I may not fall
Into the clutches of cholesterol.
May my flesh with carrot curls be sated
That my soul may be polyunsaturated.
And show me the light that I may bear witness
To the President's Council on Physical Fitness.

At oleomargarine I'll never mutter,
For the road to hell is spread with butter.
And cake is cursed, and cream is awful,
And Satan is hiding in every waffle.
Mephistopheles lurks in provolone,
The devil is in each slice of bologna,
Beelzebub is a chocolate drop,
And Lucifer is a lollipop!

Give me this day my daily slice -
But cut it thin and toast it twice.
I beg upon my dimpled knees,
Deliver me from Jujubees.
And my when days of trial are done
And my war with malted milks is won,
Let me stand with the saints in heaven
In a shining robe - Size 7!

I can do it, Lord, if you'll show to me
The virtues of lettuce and celery.
If you'll teach me the evils of mayonnaise,
The sinfulness of hollandaise
And pasta a la milanese
And potatoes a la lyonaise
And crisp fried chicken from the south!
Lord, if you love me, SHUT MY MOUTH!

Victor Buono

The Barrow Wight

I listen to the singing of the Barrow Wight

As I lie helpless upon the slab

The Cold seeping up from my feet

Into my heart, fogging my brain

I reach across to my best companion

Upon the slab next to me

But cannot see him, or find his hand to grasp

I cannot remember the song

To summon the fellow in the Bright Blue cap

Long years of Westernesse lie upon me

The bright jewels scattered about are useless baubles

With no sun to illuminate them

In this Barrow Mound

S

The Bed of Pain

God speaks to us in many ways, one of them, noted in scripture, is The bed of pain.

I have been home for over a week with severe Bronchitus. It is very similar to the time I had pneumonia. I have been stuck in the house, alone most of the time, with no one to talk to but cats. Now cats ARE wonderful companions but they are a little bit selfish and lazy. They never bring me breakfast or lunch or any other meal in bed, or any of the other accouterments of a good nurse.

So, as in most of my life, if there is a significant change, i look up and say "Why God? What are You doing? What do you want from me?".

This time HE took his time letting me know(or was it me not listening...). But I am starting to get the message, that He wants more of my time and to make some course corrections.

I really wish i was not so dense and heard His voice without the "bed of pain" but I am not....Sigh...

Apart From Me You Can do Nothing.

From today's reading in Luke 5:

After he had finished speaking, he said to Simon,
“Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch.”
Simon said in reply,
“Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing,
but at your command I will lower the nets.”
When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish
and their nets were tearing.
They signaled to their partners in the other boat
to come to help them.
They came and filled both boats
so that the boats were in danger of sinking.

So many times in our lives we are working so hard for God. But have we asked God what He wants us to do? The disciples found that when they followed Jesus Instructions the catch was overwhelming!

I have been chagrined to find that my efforts get nowhere, but when i commit them to God He makes them bear fruit. Sometimes He lets me know i am fishing in the wrong place and sometimes, I believe, He just needed me to acknowledge His Lordship in what i am doing to bring forth a blessing.

Are You a Pharisee?

Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead.


I have heard this story from Luke 10 all my life. I always imagine that if i saw a car accident, or some poor victim lying in the sidewalk, of course, I would help them. But what if Jesus meant ANY situation like this?



As I was driving to work yesterday and pondering my relationship with a difficult co-worker, this parable came to mind. I realized that God was speaking to my heart. That He was saying that my petulant, and immature co-worker was the man in the story. No, he had not fallen in with robbers, or had he? The more I thought about it, the more i realized that God was opening my eyes for hte first time to show me that he had. That the poor the wretched and the lame are not always that obvious.


That my co-worker had fallen in with the worst robber of all! He had been robbed of his correct sexual identity, his dignity as a person, and a loving heart. Instead of disdaining him, I should not be the Pharisee and pass by on the other side of the road. But I should be the hero in Luke 10, the proverbial "Good Samaritan". My grumbling and shunning this person was making ME a Pharisee.



God forgive me, all my life I believed that I would be the "Good Samaritan" in this story, but instead I have been the hated Pharisee!