Whose Children Are They?
AM Psalm 61, 62 • PM Psalm 68:1-20(21-23)24-36
Gen. 42:1-17 • 1 Cor. 5:1-8 • Mark 3:19b-35
When I got today’s assignment to reflect on the readings and potentially on the person whom the Anglican Communion commemorates, I was immediately drawn to the latter. The old English major in me saw George Herbert as the commemorated soul, and I thought, “there's the ticket!” So I'll turn to Herbert below, but I must first pause at the reading from Mark.
Jesus certainly gets a lot accomplished in this passage: After healing a man’s withered hand in the temple (and angering the Pharisees for working on the Sabbath), he appoints the disciples, gives the “house divided unto itself cannot stand” speech that Abraham Lincoln later appropriated, and condemns blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. All the time, he’s being so thoroughly surrounded by crowds that he might have felt a bit overwhelmed. But when his mother and brothers try to rescue him from the crush, he demurs. “Looking at those who sat around him, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers. Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.’”
As I write this [in February 2018], I have spent several days hearing people react to the latest mass murder in an American school. In sympathy, some folks ask, “How would you feel if that happened to your own child?” Friends, it did. Those 14 teenagers who were killed were our children. Those three adult men who were killed were our brothers. Now is time for us to do the will of God.
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George Herbert (1593-1633) left a promising career as chief public orator Cambridge to seek ordination and become a parish priest in Bremerton, a village near Salisbury. His fame as one of the greatest poets of the English language came only after his death, when a friend posthumously published his book of poems titled The Temple. As part of your Lenten experience on this day in February, let me urge you to click on this link and read his beautiful poem called simply “Love.” Then, listen to the Georgia Boys’ Choir sing David Hurd’s beautiful setting of the poem.
Written by David Jolliffe
David Jolliffe will retire in June 2018 after 42 years as an English teacher. He is senior warden and a chorister at St. Paul’s.