And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night:

 

While developing ideas to encourage and help further parish growth years ago, I came across a half-jest line or cartoon that grumbled, "Everybody who should be an Episcopalian already is one." Anyone who's lifetime been one understands the subtlety of the humor, nobody else could even begin to get the private insider semi-joke; and although I never felt that way as a priest in my struggling little parishes, as I look back seventy and more years, my rule for myself in my teen years was only to be friends with girls who were Episcopalians. 

Was it a snob thing? IDK, but I don't think so, I think it was more in line with "lead us not into temptation." Would I recommend it for others? I hardly dare admit it outside my own mind, but it's a personal example that helps me understand my observation that people only like and want to be with folks who are like themselves; a human trait that is destroying civilization with division, bitterness and hatreds. Jesus specifically addresses it in his Parable of the Good Samaritan. The parable is not about "help needy people," the parable is to turn on the lightbulb over your head in the epiphany that everyone is your beloved fellow human being, especially people whom you hate because they are different from you.

Luke is the parable evangelist: his other main story is Jesus telling about The Prodigal Son. The parable is not about the selfish prodigal, who only gives up and comes home because he knows that "home is where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in," the parable is about the brother who will not come to the party. 

Worse than the priest and others who walk on the opposite side of the road so as to avoid the Samaritan lying there in that parable, not only is the older brother in The Prodigal Son not his brother's neighbor, he isn't even his brother's brother. In today's world, the parables are about us Americans who hate other Americans. God help us. But God does not help us, God comes as the Son of God to show and tell us, that's God's style: God does not take over and make things right, God tells stories about us and leaves us to get it and do it.

I mean, it's Free Will, right? God who gave us dominion does not take over from us, God floats ideas and concepts, and if we are truly in God's image, we'll get it. 

But we do not get it, we obsess over particularist religious differences instead. 

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On calendar for tomorrow morning is my attempt to lead a class discussion about the Book of Revelation in our adult Sunday school class. I feel toward Revelation about the same as Martin Luther did. Revelation is a fascinating product of its Time, but its vengeful victors tossing their enemies into the lake of fire have little and zilch relationship with Jesus of the gospels and the One he calls Father.

Thank God for that, eh?

RSF&PTL

T88&c

pic 5:51 looking east from 7H. the moon's up there