Brian’s Reflection: The Weekend, Sat, April 2, 2011

Then how were your eyes opened?" He answered,
‘The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my
eyes, and said to me, `Go to Siloam and wash.' Then
I went and washed and received my sight.

The Gospel called “John”, Chap. 9
[for Lent IV, Year A RCL]


[The full Readings can be found at
http://www.io.com/~kellywp/YearA_RCL/Lent/ALent4_RCL.html ]


Don’t, of course, look to any ‘official’ source of the Episcopal Church to tell you how to “understand Scripture”. There is no such source. There are, of course, many wonderful persons and sources, including the Sacred Liturgy, within the Episcopal Church that will help YOU engage with the Scriptures, and with the living presence of that great heart of Life we call “God”. In the shared life of the Church and it’s people and their relationship with God anyone can find ample resources for living a moral, ethical, and holy Life as a mature, whole human being. Here’s my bit added to the “pot”.

I’ve recently read a very useful book by Robin Meyers (a UCC pastor) called ‘Saving Jesus from the Church’. In one sense, all of us are ‘blind’ about how to become a whole human being, how to understand the mystery of ‘God’. Robin poses an interesting question to Christians: Do we find the path to fullness of Life by what we intellectually know and assent to about Jesus or what the Church teaches as doctrine about Jesus or God, or by following Jesus? He comes down firmly on the side of Following, of Imitating Jesus. He says,
“a quick glance around this broken world makes it painfully obvious that we don’t need more arguments on behalf of God; we need more people who live as if they are in covenant with Unconditional Love, which is our best definition of God.”

Creeds, doctrines ….. they all may be useful IF they guide us to a faithful following of the Path of Radical Compassion. IF they undergird the essential Wisdom of Jesus. Often they don’t, since many have been formulated by humans beings and by institutions for their own self-empowerment, and we need to reject them.

The way is Compassion, Inclusiveness, Oneness, Unconditional Love, Community. Think on these things as you picture the Man Born Blind who, anointed by Love and washed in the Water of Life, could say firmly:

‘I was blind, but now I see.’

Brian+