The Still Point

A Time of Meditation and Reflection

The Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost

Proper XXII

 

... At the still point of the turning world. Neither flesh nor fleshless;
Neither from nor towards; at the still point, there the dance is,
But neither arrest nor movement. And do not call it fixity,
Where past and future are gathered. Neither movement from nor towards,
Neither ascent nor decline. Except for the point, the still point,
There would be no dance, and there is only the dance...

 

T.S. Eliot, Burnt Norton

            Peace on each one who comes in need; 

            Peace on each one who comes in joy. 

            Peace on each one who offers prayers; 

            Peace on each one who offers song. 

            Peace of the Maker, Peace of the Son, 

            Peace of the Spirit, the Triune One.

Opening Prayer

Praise to you, God, for all your work among us. Yours is the vigor in creation, yours is the impulse in our new discoveries. Make us adventurous, yet reverent and hopeful in all we do. Amen.

Scripture Reading          Mark 10:2-16

Some Pharisees came, and to test Jesus they asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her.” But Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote this commandment for you. But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” Then in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.” People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.

Poem: “Messages from Everywhere”                 by   Naomi Shihab Nye

Messages from everywhere
light up our backyard.

A bird that flew five thousand miles
is trilling six bright notes.
This bird flew over mountains and valleys
and tiny dolls and pencils
of children I will never see.
Because this bird is singing to me,
I belong to the wide wind,
the people far away who share
the air and the clouds.
Together we are looking up
into all we do not own
and we are listening.                                                                      

 

Meditation

Poet Naomi Shihab Nye often writes for children, and poems that channel the voices and thoughts of children she meets. The words can be striking and refreshing in the way they differ from so-called adult poems. Nye titled one of her collections, "The Holy Land of Childhood." In the words of Edward Hirsch, she treats childhood "not just as a time of life but also as a sacred place, almost a country of it's own." It is a place we might well revisit often, with a sense of wonder and expectation.

The teachings of Jesus regarding children, who had lowly or no status in that time and place, must have been quite shocking to his disciples. “Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs." Jesus openly welcomes and embraces children, declaring their full humanity and worth. But there's even more to Jesus's teaching! "Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it." How do we followers of Jesus respond to such a teaching? Is it possible we have more to learn about God's realm from little children than from learned teachers and theologians? And maybe there is a rich benefit in remembering our own childhoods, recalling the wonder and imagination with which we looked at the world around us.

When I found the poem "Messages from Everywhere," it brought back memories of my own backyard musings as a child, and the sense of some kind of connection with people who live far away... who "share the air and the clouds" with us. I hope you will enjoy the poem, too.

 

Questions for Reflection

1. If you have the opportunity to converse with children often, what do you learn from them that may provide hints of God's realm?
2. When you remember your own childhood, what have you learned or experienced?
3. What inspires you in this week's gospel reading? What challenges or puzzles you?

Prayers

We bring before God someone whom we have met or remembered today 

We bring to God someone who is hurting tonight and needs our prayer

We bring to God a troubled situation in our world 

We bring to God, silently, someone whom we find hard to forgive or trust

We bring ourselves to God that we might grow in generosity of spirit, clarity of mind, and warmth of affection

We offer our thanks to God for the blessings in our lives

We name before God those who have died.

 

Now to God who is able to do immeasurably more than all we can ask or conceive, by the power which is at work among us, be glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus throughout all ages. Amen.                  

Accept our thanks for all you have done, O God. Our hands were empty, and you filled them.

May Christ’s holy, healing, enabling Spirit be with us every step of the way, and be our guide as our road changes and turns, and the blessing of God our Creator, Redeemer and Giver of life be among us now and remain with us forever. Amen.

Reflections this month offered by: Frank Nowell