Seeking wisdom can be a tricky thing, am I right? Are we seeking truth or seeking what we want to be true? One person’s wisdom is another one’s ignorance. Just read through the book of Proverbs: Depending upon what one’s station in life may be, there are contradictions all over the place!
 
Yet, it is something that we all seek. And it may be best that we seek it together.
 
Come and join in worship.
 
Enter into worship. 
 
Readings: Proverbs 31:1-31 †  Psalm 1 † James 3:13-4:8a † Mark 9:30-37
 
About the Art: Nimoy, Leonard. Shekhina 93-4, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=54186 [retrieved September 17, 2024]. Original source: www.RMichelson.com -- courtesy R. Michelson.

“In his book entitled Shekhina, Leonard Nimoy offers a compelling and inspirational photographic study of the feminine Divine. Inspired by his upbringing in the Orthodox Jewish Tradition, he has devoted much of his creative and intellectual energy to exploring this figure. ‘A Feminine word in Hebrew,’ reports Nimoy, ‘Shekhina is the Talmudic term for the visible and audible manifestations of the Deity’s presence on Earth.’ He speculates that, ‘Over time, Shekhina came to represent much more—a softer, empathetic, feminine counterpart to God who could argue for humanity’s sake, comfort the poor and sick, and stand as the mother of Israel.” –Chance Dillon

Wisdom cries out in the street;
in the squares she raises her voice.
~Proverbs 1:20
 
…the tongue is a fire.
~James 3:6
 
Wisdom and speech are intimately connected so say Proverbs and James. Wisdom calls out, cries out, raises her voice, reproofs, pours out her thoughts. The tongue is a fire, says James—capable of igniting new possibilities, or spreading destruction like wildfire. Blessing and curse, from the same mouth, from our mouths, from God’s mouth…to our ears.
 
We are all too aware!
 
Not many should be teachers, James warns. How grateful we are, though, for those who teach us and those we love—so often amidst fraught circumstances and societal battles. How grateful we are for those who offer words of learning and life. How grateful we are to have the power to bless and support and create the conditions for wisdom to flourish among us!
 
Come and seek the ways of wisdom. Enter into worship.
 
Readings: Proverbs 1:20-33 † Psalm 19 or Isaiah 50:4-9a † Psalm 116:1-9 † James 3:1-12 † Mark 8:27-38
 
About the Art: Olusola David, Ayibiowu. Wisdom, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. https://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=57583 [retrieved September 3, 2024]. Original source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Artist_Olusola_David_Ayibiowu_Title_WISDOM.jpg. Painting from a 2008 solo exhibition in City Mall, Onikan, Lagos, Nigeria.

​​The rich and the poor have this in common:
the Lord is the maker of them all.
 
Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity,
and the rod of anger will fail.
Those who are generous are blessed,
for they share their bread with the poor.
~Proverbs 22:2, 8-9
 
The headlines this week speak of yet another school shooting (yet again!) and of numbness and a “new normal.” According to the K-12 School Shooting Database there have been 218 shootings in 2024 and a precipitous rise since 2017. How do we respond meaningfully to such frequent human violence, sickness, and profanity? How do we not become unmoored as a society, assuming we are not already?
 
You might argue that Jesus’ own societal realities are unmoored, and perhaps Jesus himself, in his engagement with this woman desperate for her own child’s well-being. His initial response is deeply troubling. But something happens in the exchange. A re-centering, a learning, and with it, renewed vigor and energy for the work he has to do. Is there anything here for us as we wonder what gets us off the couch and engaged in the mending of the world?
 
“If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head,” said Nelson Mandela. “If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.” Ephphatha is Jesus’ own original, Aramaic language.
 
Ephphatha, be open.
 
Enter into worship.
 
Readings:1 Kings 8:(1,6,10-11), 22-30, 41-43 † Psalm 84 or Joshua 24:1-2a, 14-18 † Psalm 34:15-22 † Ephesians 6:10-20 † John 6:56-69
 
About the Art: Michael Cook. Crumbs of Love, from hallowed-art.co.uk [retrieved August 20, 2024]. Original source: http://www.hallowed-art.co.uk/gmedia/12_mysteries_crumbsoflove-jpg/.
 
First shown at the 2009 Melbourne Festival in the Parish Church of St Michael with St Mary, Derbyshire, Twelve Mysteries consists of a series of nine paintings and three drawings depicting nameless, marginal or fleeting characters from the four gospels, with poetic responses by Rosalind O’Melia.

​Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away; for now the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. The fig tree puts forth its figs, and the vines are in blossom; they give forth fragrance. Arise my love, my fair one and come away.

Sounds like paradise, doesn’t it? A garden after a refreshing rain. A new season of flowers and fruits and singing, from people and birds! The senses are alive, delighted by all they see, hear, smell, and feel. 

Can we get back to the garden? To the place we were created for?

We are blessed to have some outstanding gardeners in our community here, and they readily share the fruits of their labors. It seems we all have the desire for these beautiful flowers and gardens, whether we have a green thumb or not. There is a longing there, possibly deep down, to get back to paradise, to the original garden, to beauty and peace and love.

Can we get back to the garden?

Come and gather for worship. Sunday morning at 10:00am in-person or online.
 
Readings: Readings: Song of Solomon 2:8-13. Psalm 45:1-2, 6-9. James 1:17-27.   Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23

About the art:  20th century. Artist: Claudio Pastro. Song of Solomon - “Arise my love…and come away…” A mural in the Virgin’s Monastery in Petropolis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
From Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library.