LC† Before the Cross: March 2023

Saturday, March 25, 2023

DAY 28

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A GREETING
When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.
(Psalm 56:3)

A READING
Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, saying, ‘I called to the Lord out of my distress, and God answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice. You cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your waves and your billows passed over me. Then I said, “I am driven away from your sight; how shall I look again upon your holy temple?” The waters closed in over me; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped around my head at the roots of the mountains. I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me for ever; yet you brought up my life from the Pit, O Lord my God.
(Jonah 2:1-6)

MUSIC

A MEDITATIVE VERSE
I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees.
(Ecclesiastes 2:6)

A POEM
Some days I prefer
to ignore your assurances,
pave my own path, lose my own way,
cross quicksand if I have to --
anything but
relinquish my will.
Remember the blistering, narcissistic desert,
the devil who taunted you there?
You know it well - the desire, the drive
to conceive and control, predict and prevail.
You, too, have wrestled the egoistic impulse,
the credit-hoarding greed of spirit
that flares within and keeps me,
on some days, from offering praise,
stops me from seeking your face
or following your excellent way.
I'm left to my echoing solitude,
murmuring my own name.
Jesus, teach me to pray. Lend me your hand,
Talk to me of forgiveness until
all my dear falsehoods fall way.
Mend the cracked compass of my mind,
and guide me to my true desire.
- from "All My Dear Falsehoods" in Oblation: Meditations on St. Benedict's Rule
by Rachel M. Srubas

VERSE OF THE DAY
Those of steadfast mind you keep in peace—in peace because they trust in you.
(Isaiah 26:3)

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Collar sculpture made from seaweed by Moya Hoke
Photograph by Petr Krejci. Found on julialohman.co.uk
as part Julia Lohman's "Department of Seaweed" project at
the V & A Museum in London

On Saturdays, we set aside some space to reflect on where our prayers are taking us, and to hold up the other events of the world that are on our minds.

Today's reading comes from the prayer that Jonah makes once he finds himself in the belly of the fish. Believing himself to be in a place of no return, what comes to him are the psalms. He is met in his crisis by the word of God. He quotes at least two psalms (18 and 111) and he also longs for the temple, a place where he has felt joy and closeness to God.

Both Thursday’s figure (Herod) and Jonah are feeling what it means to be caught in a dark and overwhelming situation. They are both responsible for getting themselves into their own dilemmas. In the case of Herod, the desire to save himself and to hold power will ultimately prevail over fear. By contrast, Jonah turns to God, to his faith, and to the biblical word. Out of his repentance flows a series of transformative events, including his own restoration.

As humanity grapples with the climate and ecological crisis, we have become both Herod and Jonah. In one sense, we are continuing to unabashedly claim our power over our natural resources. For instance, despite our raised consciousness about plastics in the ocean, more plastic is being produced now than ever before, in part as oil industries pivot to plastic to recover costs that they anticipate may be lost to reduced fossil fuel consumption. On the other hand, greener energies are being developed, like the increased farming of seaweed, from which a substitute plastic can be made. Seaweed farming has grown by over 75 percent in the last decade. Even still, we are now at risk of damaging ocean ecosystems by over-farming our oceans for seaweed. We seem always to do things in excess, ignoring the natural cycles and limitations of what we have been given, even when it's theoretically for our own benefit. (Follow the links in this paragraph to learn more.)

In today’s song, we hear "Ukuthula," a longing call for the peace that comes after the passion of Jesus, the peace that flows from salvation. It is also the deep peace of a restored world. The hand gestures of the singers reflect the changing words of longing for "gratefulness," "faith," "victory" and "comfort." Lent calls us to repentance. True repentance leads to change. “Metanoia,” the Greek word for “repentance,” means a complete and irreversible change. As we continue to monitor our own habits, how much are we still wanting to control our experience, through justifications, carbon offsets, token efforts, and how much are we instead like Jonah, who cries out to God, with a deep readiness to turn ourselves around?

Image by Tom Thai

The next devotional day will be Monday, March 27th.

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LC† Before the Cross is a project of Lutherans Connect, supported by the Eastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada and the Centre for Spirituality and Media at Martin Luther University College. To receive the devotions by email, write to lutheransconnect@gmail.com. The devotional pages are written and curated by Deacon Sherry Coman, with support and input from Pastor Steve Hoffard, Catherine Evenden and Henriette Thompson. Join us on Facebook, and on Twitter. Lutherans Connect invites you to make a donation to the Ministry by going to this link on the website of the ELCIC Eastern Synod and selecting "Lutherans Connect Devotionals" under "Fund". Devotions are always freely offered, however your donations help to support extended offerings throughout the year. Thank you and peace be with you!

Wednesday, March 22, 2023

DAY 25

Image by Axel Kristinsson

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A GREETING
I am like a green olive tree in the house of God.
I trust in the steadfast love of God for ever and ever.
(Psalm 52:8)

A READING
For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
and do not return there until they have watered the earth,
making it bring forth and sprout,
giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
For you shall go out in joy,
and be led back in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you
shall burst into song,
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle.
(Isaiah 55:10-13)

MUSIC

A MEDITATIVE VERSES
Wisdom cries out in the street; in the squares she raises her voice.
She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her; those who hold her fast are called happy.
(Proverbs 1:20;3:18)

A REFLECTION
I was told I would be the last child from the Brehon world, from the ancient world of Ireland. And I was told to bring the message of the ancient world into you. And the time is now. I was told at the time now that the world would be in very bad shape. It would be heating up, and there would be a lot of floods. And the ancient wisdoms — not necessarily the knowledge — but the ancient wisdoms of the Celtic world were important to discuss with all of you now. And... I’m here. I’ve done it, and I’ve written all these books, and it has happened.
- Diana Beresford-Kroeger, speaking to a climate conference hosted by The New York Times
October, 2022. You can watch the interview here.

VERSE OF THE DAY
They are like trees
planted by streams of water,
which yield their fruit in its season,
and their leaves do not wither.
In all that they do, they prosper.
(Psalm 1:3)

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"Twisted Pine," by Franklin Carmichael (1939)

In Isaiah 55, the prophet imagines the capacity of God to transform the earth through the cycles of nature, in which each element nourishes and provides for the next so that food can grow and be harvested. In this way, he is also setting up a metaphor for the word of God which can nourish and sustain us and provide new life. In such a combined human and environmental paradise, the very trees will “clap their hands” with joy.

That imagined idyll might look something like the intentional forest of Dr. Diana Beresford-Kroeger, an Irish climate scientist, biochemist, botanist, and more who has made her home near Ottawa, Ontario for the past several decades. Her life work has been studying, working in and building up the boreal forests of her region that have the capacity to be restorative of a carbon-filled atmosphere. She has also catalogued much of the world’s tree seeds in order to preserve them. In recent years, as we have finally begun to talk about climate and ecological degradation, her voice has become a prophetic one, attracting writers and celebrities, scientists and analystis. In all of these connections with others, she demonstrates a deep nature spirituality.

In today's reflection, we hear her own account of her childhood, told in a style reminiscent of biblical prophecy. Her deepest and most profound influence has been an Irish childhood exposure to Celtic culture and the laws of Brehon, a medieval Celtic legal system that seeks to preserve the land as it was meant to be. It has much in common with Indigenous knowledge and in its time was often led by women.

Diana Beresford-Kroeger's use of words and language is part of how she expresses her life's passion. Her books are how she has communicated that passion with the world. “That is what a forest does for you every day: it farms the sun,” she says in another interview. The forest draws the carbon out of the air and cycles it into oxygen. Her words and Isaiah’s "Word" speak to the essential cycles of how life becomes renewed.

We might say that Diana Beresford-Kroeger “set her face” for the boreal forest in the 1980s and hasn’t looked back. But who will carry the work after her? The legacy of prophets lies in how well we take up what they have established. What will you try to learn today — about trees, the lungs of the earth? How will you then share it with others?

Image by Jeff BV

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LC† Before the Cross is a project of Lutherans Connect, supported by the Eastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada and the Centre for Spirituality and Media at Martin Luther University College. To receive the devotions by email, write to lutheransconnect@gmail.com. The devotional pages are written and curated by Deacon Sherry Coman, with support and input from Pastor Steve Hoffard, Catherine Evenden and Henriette Thompson. Join us on Facebook, and on Twitter. Lutherans Connect invites you to make a donation to the Ministry by going to this link on the website of the ELCIC Eastern Synod and selecting "Lutherans Connect Devotionals" under "Fund". Devotions are always freely offered, however your donations help to support extended offerings throughout the year. Thank you and peace be with you!

Wednesday, March 15, 2023

DAY 19

Image by Tim Donnelly

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A GREETING
The Lord is my strength and my shield;
in God my heart trusts; so I am helped.
(Psalm 28:7)

A READING
One Sabbath, when Jesus came to eat a meal in the house of one of the leading Pharisees, the guests watched him closely. Directly in front of Jesus was a person who suffered from edema. Jesus asked the experts on the Law and the Pharisees, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?” But they kept silent. With that, Jesus laid hands on the individual and healed the swelling, then sent the person away. Jesus said to the guests, “If one of you has a child—or even an ox—and it falls into a pit, won’t you rescue it immediately, even on the Sabbath day?” They had no answer to this.
(Luke 14:1-6 TIB)

MUSIC

A MEDITATIVE VERSE
Those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength.
(Isaiah 40:31a)

A REFLECTION
What is grace?
It is something not seen, something we don't get to feel directly. On the contrary, it is something entirely improbable and incredible, according to which we judge what we experience here. It speaks of an event beyond all worlds and wants to draw us away from our own world to another. A dark abyss opens up, and a voice commands: Jump across. I will catch you and hold you fast. I am stretching out my hand. Now bet your life on it, and rely on me and on nothing else. My grace is sufficient for you. I am love. "I have called you by name, you are mine."
- from I Want to Live These Days With You: A Year of Daily Devotions
by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

VERSE OF THE DAY
Let your steadfast love, O God, be upon us,
even as we hope in you.
(Psalm 33:22)

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Untitled painting by Anni Roenkae

In today’s reading, Jesus uses the same logic to convince his detractors about healing on the sabbath as he used in yesterday’s encounter in the synagogue in Capernaum. Work on the sabbath day that prevented the loss of life in animals had become acceptable to many temple leaders. Jesus once again implies that what can be done to save an animal should be possible with a human being. No one stops him or even challenges him this time, despite that the one who is suffering does not actually appear to be at risk of their life.

In the story, the unnamed person who is suffering has edema. The setting is the home of a Pharisee temple leader. The first extraordinary thing about this encounter is that Jesus is sharing a meal with those who have been most critical of him. He then appears to seek their input, asking if it is lawful to do what he wants to do. When he hears no reply, he continues. Jesus is involved in a nuanced dance of power. He has been invited to a meal, and then he has been left to do what has become expected — incriminate himself.

Meanwhile, once again, a human being who suffers is sidelined in the intellectual discussion of what is appropriate to do. In this way, the healing stories of Jesus can be challenging for us in our own time. Even after intense prayer for healing, many of us experience disappointment. We might feel pressure from others to believe that if we just had enough faith, our challenge will go away. Scripture has been used harmfully this way. But each journey of healing is unique. No matter its outcome, Jesus is always present.

In today’s reflection, Dietrich Bonhoeffer suggests that Jesus enters into our suffering: he suffers with us as we suffer, he accompanies us in the suffering and he is also a part of the transformative ways our lives can change or improve. Prayer and faith are not guarantees of healing, but we are always in the loving embrace of Jesus, no matter what we are going through. Jesus always wants us to thrive — on any day of the week.

How can we uphold those who suffer by helping them to tell their stories? How can we advocate for them, even as we also keep them in prayer?

Image by Geoff Whalan

Wednesday, March 1, 2023

DAY 7

Image by Ken Lund

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A GREETING
May integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for you.
(Psalm 25:21)

A READING
Then little children were being brought to him in order that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples spoke sternly to those who brought them; but Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.’ And he laid his hands on them and went on his way.
(Matthew 19:13-15)

MUSIC

A MEDITATIVE VERSE
May the Lord give you increase, both you and your children.
(Psalm 115:14)

A POEM
The river is my sister—I am its daughter.
It is my hands when I drink from it,
my own eye when I am weeping,
and my desire when I ache like a yucca bell
in the night. The river says, Open your mouth to me,
and I will make you more.

Because even a river can be lonely,
even a river can die of thirst.

I am both—the river and its vessel.
It maps me alluvium. A net of moon-colored fish.
I've flashed through it like copper wire.
- from "The First Water is the Body," by Natalie Diaz
found on poetryinvoice.ca

VERSE OF THE DAY
The children of your servants shall live secure;
their offspring shall be established in your presence.
(Psalm 102:28)

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"Children with Tree of Life" by Norval Morrisseau

On this third and last day of reflecting on child prophets, we hear Jesus extending another teaching that focuses on children as an essential priority for building the realm of God. Children are not just a model for how to be in the world, he tells us, but they are who the work we do is for. The “kingdom of heaven” is another way of naming the realm of God, or the full realization of God’s will for humanity.

In the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) tradition, it is customary to consider what the world will be like for the seventh generation from the current one, whenever important decisions are being made about our world and its resources. For the Haudenosaunee, the principle is as much about relationships as it is about natural resources. Two young Indigenous activists (who are not Haudenosaunee) are raising hearts and minds to see and speak the truth in a similar spirit. Both women are water protectors who are not only expressing their ancestral understanding of the sacredness of water, but are also looking to preserve water itself for future generations.

Tokata Iron Eyes is a Sioux Lakota resident of Standing Rock reservation in South Dakota, where the confrontation around oil and gas pipelines and Indigenous American land and water rights came to a head in 2016 and continues today. Among the concerns about the pipeline for the Lakota people is the fear of oil spills and the contamination of water. (A fear shared by the energy producers, who re-routed the pipeline through Standing Rock out of fear that a spillage might contaminate urban drinking water in the state’s capital if the originally planned route was maintained.) Even from within her own protest and work in that struggle, Tokata Iron Eyes has encouraged all involved to have compassion. “Compassion is really vital to the human,” she has said, “it’s what keeps us human.” (Listen to her here.)

The sacredness of water is at the heart of the work of Anishinaabe activist Autumn Peltier, born and raised on Manitoulin Island, Ontario and a member of Wiikwemkoong First Nation there. Carrying on a tradition begun by her aunt Josephine Mandamin, a water walker, Peltier has spoken before the United Nations and was named Chief Water Commissioner for the Anishnabek Nation in 2019, at the age of fifteen. She is an active advocate for safe drinking water on Indigenous reserves. “Our water needs to be treated as human, with human rights,” she said to the UN in 2018. “We need to acknowledge our water with personhood so we can protect our waters.” (Listen to her here.)

When we work for justice, we are looking to end the suffering of our own and future generations. How can we uphold the work of youth activists and their communities with our own commitment to action?

Image by Manos Simonides

LC† Before the Cross