Many years ago, I was a
young military spouse living within Fort Benning, Georgia. A military base is
self-contained and as complex, or more so, as any well-run city with all the
usual infrastructures within its unique mission and industry. One of the more
surprising elements when I first arrived was the special team of soldiers
deployed daily to remove snakes hanging from the limbs of trees in the housing
areas. With a hundred thousand+ residents that includes soldiers, families with children, and household pets, having snakes drop from trees is not ideal to say
the least, especially as there are a few poisonous varieties. This
memory surfaces whenever I hear the Genesis story of the tempting, trickster,
dangerous serpent, often depicted in trees.
Snakes are
mentioned over 80 times in the Bible as deceptive creatures that lure us with
the promise we want to hear that something God has forbidden us is actually
good. While I cannot imagine being lured by a snake in this life, insert
shivers here, we cannot judge a snake by its scales. Eve and Adam in turn
wanted to eat that fruit and gave into the temptation having received
encouragement and permission from the serpent. It is important to remember
that God had told them NOT to eat the fruit of that particular tree, but
temptation snakes, er, sneaks up on us all. And after all, God created us with
free will to choose our way. Our freedom of choice was a calculated risk on God’s
part but then if we aren’t free to choose obedience to God, of what moral value
would our obedience have?
Snakes in many
guises are everywhere. We even call someone who sells potentially dangerous,
medically untested remedies, a "snake oil salesman." Still today, advertised "snake oil" is a hugely profitable business and we all
fall prey at one time or another, when the message, the promise, is just what we
want to hear. And so it is in all facets of human life. We are drawn to those
who promise that all difficulties and troubles will be resolved if only we buy
the whole truckload of what they're selling. We line up against those who try
to tell us that we are only looking at a mirage because we like our sales
person better than theirs. We become that divided house that Jesus speaks of.
And he would know about household division.
Even Jesus
with his storied ancestry arrives in his home territory with less than a happy
welcome from his family. Mary, his mother, and the brothers of Jesus think
he's crazy and needs to be physically restrained. Perhaps Mary and her other
sons were embarrassed by Jesus in the sight of others, for not following an
expected career path. Most families I know or know of have tales about
embarrassing or alienating relatives who have befouled the family tree and
perhaps even been disowned. It is no easy feat to understand, support, and
accept a member of the family who has gone in unexpected and inexplicable ways.
And sadly, too often, a household divides. Jesus defines family for himself, and by extension
for us, as those who do the will of God. And how are we to determine what is
the will of God, and what is the True Source and not the snake oil? How do we choose to be part the family of Christ in addition to our own family and stand together when we each understand things so differently? We won't know for sure
that we've made the right choices until ... And, until, whenever I feel I'm out
on an uncertain limb of Christ's family tree, I go back constantly to my
favorite prayer by Thomas Merton:
My Lord God, I have no idea
where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain
where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am
following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe
that the desire to please You does in fact please You. And I hope I have that
desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from
that desire. And I know that, if I do this, You will lead me by the right road,
though I may know nothing about it. Therefore, I will trust You always though I
may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for You are
ever with me, and You will never leave me to face my perils alone. ~
From: Thoughts in Solitude¸ Thomas Merton
LET
US, GOD’S PEOPLE, PRAY
Leader: ~ Lord God Almighty, as by Your
Will we were created with freedom to choose, guide our souls away from human
serpents that would lead us by charm and guile down the tangled garden path of
earthly wants. Renew our inner nature each day that we may seek and make good
Your purpose in this life that prepares us for the next.
O God of Forgiveness and Mercy
RESPONSE:
Hear our call to You
~
Lord God
Almighty, infuse the leaders of this
Planet, this Nation, and this Community with faith, principles, and strength of
character. Lead their hearts to discern and implement Your wisdom for all Your
people, that we may abide together in Your House, undivided, with no exclusions. We
pray especially for: add your own petitions
O God
of Forgiveness and Mercy
Hear our call to You
~
Lord God
Almighty, heal and comfort all who struggle
with chronic pain, addiction, and recovery, and enhance the stamina of those
who give support. We now join our hearts together to pray
for those in need… add your own petitions
O God
of Forgiveness and Mercy
Hear our call to You
~
Lord God
Almighty, we lift up with our love, all who
have exchanged this earthly life for the glory, joy, and peace in the Divine Building
not made with hands, eternal in the heavens with You. We
pray especially for… add your own petitions
O God
of Forgiveness and Mercy
Hear our call to You
~
Lord God
Almighty, we pause in
this moment to offer You our other heartfelt thanksgivings, intercessions,
petitions, and memorials… add your own petitions
O God
of Forgiveness and Mercy
Hear our call to You
~
Lord God
Almighty, refresh the vigor and vitality of
those anointed to guide us, as together we navigate the time and tides of this
temporal life, connecting our everyday lives and actions to You. We
pray especially for: add your own petitions
O God
of Forgiveness and Mercy
Hear our call to You
The Celebrant adds: O God of Grace and Glory,
develop in us a spiritual thirst that seeks to be quenched only in service to
Your Holy Will. Through Your enduring love and grace, let us strive to
become mother, father, sister, and brother to every one who chooses to live in
the sacred family of Christ. We ask through the steadfastness of Jesus, and the blessings of
the Holy Spirit, who together with You, reign as One God, now and
forever. Amen.
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