Easter Tradition

I found Easter this year especially meaningful as I participated in the worship of a couple churches other than my own and encountered new ways to observe the season.

On Maundy Thursday, the night of the Last Supper, I attended a service reminding us of Jesus' humbly washing the disciples' feet. I grew up in a foot-washing church, but was really too young then to find it very significant. Since then I have taken part in only one such service. Many people now are uncomfortable with the custom and most churches no longer practice it. The church I attended Thursday washes one another's hands. The worship assistants poured water from a pitcher over each one's hands into a bowl, and then another person carefully and tenderly dried them with a white towel.

My first thought was “What? Washing hands is not the same as washing feet at all!” But of course, it is. We no longer wear sandals along dusty footpaths and need to wash our feet when we enter a home. Washing hands is probably as appropriate for today as washing feet was in Jesus' time. I found it a moving experience and a very fitting remembrance of Jesus' passion and death.

On Good Friday, I participated in another church's “Stations of the Cross.” A very large cross had been constructed of beams and rope. One of the men carried it as the little group moved from one place to another in the neighborhood. First a little park, then the school playground, then the corner  grocery store, then other places in the immediate vicinity—seven in all, with the last one in the sanctuary. At each station, someone from a specific church ministry (youth fellowship, evangelism committee, men's group, and so on) read a passage from the crucifixion story and an appropriate prayer, then another person led in prayer for that part of the community (the children, the businesses, etc.) This too was a different sort of reminder that the the truth of Jesus' sacrifice is for everyone, not just the Church.

Most of my life, I have observed Easter in the customary ways: a new dress, the Easter cantata, an egg hunt and candy for the kids, and ham dinner. This year was different, and very meaningful.

MaryMartha

Art from http://lavistachurchofchrist.org and http://www.sxc. hu/

Something for Lent

Today is Ash Wednesday on the calendar of the Christian church. The season of Lent begins today, observed by liturgical churches and some other denominations as a time of “sacrifice,” preparing believers to commemorate the death and resurrection of Jesus. A co-worker had on her forehead today a smudge of ashes in the form of a cross, and I knew she had been to her church early this morning to receive the “imposition of ashes.” We had an interesting conversation when I told her that I remembered this was a special day and that I respected her devotion. Although my own faith tradition does not formally observe Lent, I try each year to offer up something to the Lord that would normally be a part of my everyday life. This keeps me reminded of the approaching season and its importance.

She responded by telling me, “Last night I tried to explain to my boys (the three are still very young), that sacrifice does not always mean giving up some favorite thing Perhaps they can, every day, go out of their way to help someone, cheer them with a smile, or be friendly to a student who is not especially likeable. Her own upbringing emphasized the negative, giving up something, and she hated it! Although now she understands the benefit of self-denial, it made no sense to her as a youngster.



I went away with a better appreciation of the meaning of “giving up something for Lent.” Maybe that something is part of me. God doesn't necessarily need my “sacrifice,” but maybe someone else does.

Some of my other posts about Lent:

It's Hard to Be Humble   here

Self-Denial    here

 

MaryMartha

 

Resurrection

I can see beautiful symbolism in my spring bulbs bursting into bloom. All winter, they have been lying dormant, a necessary stage in the life of a perennial plant. With Easter coming in April this year, the timing is perfect. Daffodils and hyacinths are full-flowered; tulips will come along shortly. They are a picture of resurrection, and a reminder to celebrate Christ's victory—and therefore our victory—often! Regrettably, we sing "Christ Arose" only at Easter! The hymn was composed by Robert Lowry, 1826–1899, an American professor of literature, a Baptist minister and composer of gospel songs and hymns.

Low in the grave He lay,
Jesus my Savior,
Waiting the coming day,
Jesus my Lord!

Chorus:
Up from the grave He arose,
With a mighty triumph o’er His foes,
He arose a Victor from the dark domain,
And He lives forever, with His saints to reign.
He arose! He arose!
Hallelujah! Christ arose!

MaryMartha

Art from http://www.sxc.hu/

Things Mama Taught Me: "Clean Your Plate"

Doctors and nutritionists who are concerned about obese Americans no longer think eating everything on our plate was such a good idea. That was probably the start for many people of habitually eating beyond the satisfaction of their hunger. "Waste not, want not," was a stern lesson learned during Depression days by our parents or grandparents, and leaving food on one's plate was careless and wasteful.

A book I've just read with "rules" about food and eating suggests that I practice not cleaning my plate as I was taught, but instead leaving a few morsels so as to eat less and to develop self-control. As a matter of fact, not eating everything is an extremely important courtesy in some cultures to show that the host has provided adequately and the guest does not need to be served more food. Although we are not as concerned as some, it actually makes a lot of sense to give this visual signal to those who would press additional food on us.

Thinking of food and self-control and realizing again the significance of fasting during Lent, I saw in a new light the significance of not cleaning my plate. Could it be a mini-fast, a small reminder of how many people in the world are hungry? "Think of all the children in China who would like to have what you are leaving on your plate," my mother would tell me—as if my eating all of it would somehow fill their bellies. But there was more to it than that. I think her intention, besides curbing wastefulness, was to raise my awareness of the abundance I had while many others suffered lack.

Cleaning my plate down to the shine has become an ingrained habit through the years, so that it no longer has any connection at all with the hunger of many others in the world. I am wondering if not cleaning my plate might remind me of their need. "If you extend your soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light shall dawn in the darkness, and your darkness shall be as the noonday." (Isaiah 58:10)


MaryMartha

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Art from http://www.sxc.hu/

Worthy!

The Passion and Resurrection of our Lord in the words familiar to many (the old King James version of the Bible):

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.[1]

He [was] despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.[2]

"I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting."[3]

"All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, 'He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.'[4]

"Reproach hath broken my heart; and I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none. They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.[5]

"Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? Behold, and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow."[6]

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he [was] brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he [opened] not his mouth. . . He was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of [Thy] people was he stricken.[7]

Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.[8]

I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth.[9]

But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.[10]

Behold, I shew you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. . . When this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, "Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" . . . Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.[11]

Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. . . The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. . . KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.[12]

Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. . . Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation . . . Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing . . . And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, [said], "Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever."[13] Amen.

MaryMartha
(All rights reserved)

[1] Isaiah 53:6
[2] Isaiah 53:3
[3] Isaiah 50:6
[4] Psalm 22:7, 8
[5] Psalm 69:20, 21
[6] Lamentations 1:12
[7] Isaiah 53:7, 8
[8] Isaiah 53:4, 5
[9] Job 19:25
[10] I Corinthians 15:20-22
[11] I Corinthians 15:51-57
[12] Revelation 19:6; 11:15; 19:16
[13] Revelation 4:11, 5:9, 12,13

Email: mrymrtha@gmail.com

To Bear His Cross

Roman soldiers led Jesus out from the governor's palace, forcing Him to carry the cross on which He would die. On the way, tradition says, Jesus, weakened by the physical traumas of the preceding hours, collapsed under the burden. Then they [the soldiers] compelled a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, the father of Alexander and Rufus, as he was coming out of the country and passing by, to bear His cross." (Mark 15:21 NKJV)

Why Simon? Why a good country man who had cares enough of his own? He had not come, as many had, to the see the public spectacle of a crucifixion; he was just minding his own business.

Or did the blood and dirt and injustice make him cry out, brining the scornful attention of the soldiers? Did Simon "ask for it"?

They compelled him to take Jesus' cross. Was he afraid? To bear the cross of Christ—what awful judgment might be visited upon him for aiding in Jesus' death! Did Jesus then, through His pain, perhaps smile at him and whisper, "It's all right, Simon. Take the cross. It's not for them you do it. It's for Me!"

And when we face a cross—entering into the dark places of human need, loving and holding up the weak, caring patiently for those who disappoint, enduring the misunderstanding of some we had counted on, giving ourselves cheerfully to a small but wearying task—can we then remember that we bear His cross? This is not our loving or giving; it is His—His cross again, for He still feels the burden of lost, confused people. The Apostle Paul wrote from prison, "I am glad when I suffer for you in my body, for I am participating in the sufferings of Christ that continue for his body, the church." (Colossians 1:24 NLT)

Our self-made crosses cannot redeem; suffering of our own will not bring healing. It is only Jesus' cross that saves. Only His suffering is redemptive. Like Simon, we may be called upon to bear a cross. We too are compelled, but not by a sword. "For the love of Christ controls and urges and impels us, because we are of the opinion and conviction that [if] One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, so that all those who live might live no longer to and for themselves, but to and for Him Who died and was raised again for their sake." (II Corinthians 5:14, 15 AMP)

The hymn lyrics written by Thomas Shepherd ask:

Must Jesus bear the cross alone,
And all the world go free?
No, there’s a cross for everyone,
And there’s a cross for me.

To let the cross be laid upon us for His sake, to bear His cross with Him and for Him is to help release His redeeming love and power to work in our troubled world.

MaryMartha
(All rights reserved)

Scripture marked NKJV is taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from The Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. United States of America. All rights reserved. Scripture marked AMP is taken from The Amplified Bible®, copyright 1965, 1987 by The Zondervan Corporation and The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved

Email: mrymrtha@gmail.com

Why This Waste?

During the last week of Jesus' earthly life, He again visited the home of His friends in Bethany. A dinner was prepared in His honor and Martha served, as usual. Lazarus, whom Jesus had raised from the dead, sat at the table with the others who accompanied the Master. "Then Mary took a twelve-ounce jar of expensive perfume made from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet with it, wiping his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance. But Judas Iscariot, the disciple who would soon betray him, said, 'That perfume was worth a year’s wages. It should have been sold and the money given to the poor.' Not that he cared for the poor—he was a thief, and since he was in charge of the disciples’ money, he often stole some for himself. Jesus replied, 'Leave her alone. She did this in preparation for my burial. You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.' ” (John 12:3-8)

How could Judas have been so grasping, implying that giving to the poor—although that is not what he actually intended to do—was a worthier cause than expressing devotion to the Lord? Is there such a thing as lavishing too much love on Him? Is anything we pour out for Him truly wasted? Mary did not think so—and neither did Jesus.

What if Mary had hesitated? "Maybe this would embarrass Jesus; I know for certain that the disciples will not understand." "Maybe I should wait until some time when we are alone." "Martha and Lazarus will think I am foolish; I have scrimped and saved all my life for this little jar." "It—really—is—a lot of money." "And if I pour out all of this oil, there will be none for my own burial." So many objections Mary might have considered, but she chose instead to "waste" her precious treasure.

Just a few days later, Jesus was arrested in the garden, found guilty of claiming to be the Son of God, and executed on a cross. Among the crowd witnessing the awful event, were a number of women who were followers of Jesus. They observed the tomb where His body was laid, and went home to prepare spices and fragrant oils for perfuming the dead. After the Sabbath ended, very early in the morning, they came to the tomb, bringing their gifts. But the tomb was empty! Jesus was gone!

What if Mary had kept for herself the costly perfume instead of pouring it on Jesus? She never had another chance to demonstrate her devotion. Jesus had told the observers, "She did this ahead of time for my burial." He meant exactly that, for it was the only opportunity she had to pour the precious ointment on her Lord.

If we have an offering of love to "waste" on Jesus, some words or actions fragrant with grace to honor Him, let us do it now.

MaryMartha
(All rights reserved)

Scripture quotation is taken from The Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. United States of America. All rights reserved.

Email: mrymrtha@gmail.com

Failure

To many people, Jesus looked like a failure. He announced the Kingdom of God, but there was no kingdom visible. He drew a following, but eventually they betrayed, denied, or forsook Him. He claimed that He came to give life, but He Himself died. One could certainly think that He was a failure.

I had an angry talk with God about failure one time. I had given my best to a demanding job, and the results met with mixed reactions. Some people thought I was not really qualified, others felt the experience had been worthwhile and they could expect improvement, and still others considered I had done reasonably well. I was not accustomed to even minor failure; I was disappointed and hurt. (I did not understand, at that point in my life, that one could do a failure or make a failure and not be a failure.) "I have done all I could and failed," I whined to God.

"I provided Jesus," He seemed to say. "He experienced human sorrows, your hurt and disappointment."

"That's all well and good," I countered. "But You're God! You don't know how sharp and bitter failure tastes."

"Well, there's Jesus," He said again. "And if He is not enough for your situation, then yes, I have done all I could do—and failed."

MaryMartha
(All rights reserved)

Email: mrymrtha@gmail.com

The Grownup Jesus

Around Christmastime, we usually sing the sweet words about the "little Lord Jesus, no crying he makes." I'm afraid I just can't believe that. Jesus entered the world as a normal human baby, even though His beginning was supernatural. I don't think He was a difficult child or a rebellious teenager, but He probably did have to be urged to eat his vegetables and drink his milk just like other children, and He may well have had to be reminded about the curfew hour just like other teens. He did not merely become like us but He became one of us, and "faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin." (Hebrews 4:15 NLT)

As wonderful as the miracle of Jesus' birth is, our salvation does not depend on a sweet little baby. Only the grownup Jesus could make the Calvary choice. I think He did not always know He would die; I doubt that the twelve-year-old boy just beginning to realize that His heavenly Father had work for Him to do was burdened by those thoughts. Some time in those silent years between His childhood and the beginning of His open ministry, while He "grew in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and all the people," Jesus came to understand--or perhaps, He remembered?--that there would be the Cross.

How steadfast He was in this decision! There were a number of opportunities to evade the Cross during His lifetime, some of those times recorded for us. After His baptism in the Jordan River, the Spirit led Him into a desert place where He would be tempted by the devil. One of Satan's approaches was this: "The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, "I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. So if you worship me, it will all be yours." (Luke 4:5-7 NIV)

All things were made by Christ, but temporarily their rulership resides with the evil one. Eventually, all those kingdoms with their authority and splendor will be returned to their rightful owner. "Because of that obedience, God lifted him high and honored him far beyond anyone or anything, ever, so that all created beings in heaven and on earth—even those long ago dead and buried—will bow in worship before this Jesus Christ, and call out in praise that he is the Master of all, to the glorious honor of God the Father." (Philippians 2:9-11 MSG) "Take a shortcut," was the temptation that Satan presented to Jesus. "You don't really have to go to the Cross. There is an easier way."

Another time, as Jesus tried to explain to His disciples that it was necessary for Him to die, Peter brashly objected, "No, Lord, not you." Jesus rebuked that thought completely. "Get behind me, Satan," He ordered, not calling Peter himself "Satan" but recognizing in that suggestion the same temptation Satan had brought before, that is, to avoid the Cross.

Even while He was hanging on the cross, "'those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, 'You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!' In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. 'He saved others,' they said, 'but he can't save himself! He's the King of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him.' " (Matthew 27:39-42 NIV) Luke records that one off the criminals who hung beside Jesus hurled insults at him, "Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us!" (Luke 23:39 NIV).

It is not true that Jesus could not save Himself. He could have called, as Ray Overholt's song declares, "ten thousand angels to destroy the world and set Him free . . . " The issue was that He could not save both Himself and us. If we had only the baby Jesus, there would be no fulfillment of the redemption plan. Had He, as the grownup Jesus, chosen to evade the Cross or to somehow escape from it, there would be:

No victory over death.
No salvation for us.
No eternal hope.

MaryMartha
(All rights reserved)

Scripture quotation marked NLT is taken from The Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. United States of America. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright©1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. Scripture marked MSG is taken from The essage. Copyright © 2003 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

Email: mrymrtha@gmail.com

I'll Just Die . . .

"I'll just die," she says,
"If he doesn't answer pretty soon."
Lovesick, she checks, re-checks her phone,
Sure she'll perish if he won't reply.

"I'd die for you," he says—
Husband, father, protector, friend.
He's strong and brave, but hoping still
It will never have to come to that.

Do they know anything of love?
Passion tore the Savior's heart.
"I'd rather die," He said,
"Than live without you." And He did.

MaryMartha
(All rights reserved)

Email: mrymrtha@gmail.com

And You Know the Way

For the second time in as many weeks, I have found that computerized directions and maps sometimes don't really know the way. Of course, there is almost always more than one way to get to a destination, so a printed map, local residents, and lucky guesses can also be of real assistance. And even better is being able to follow someone who is going where I want to go.

One of the things Jesus explained to His disciples in the "Upper Room Discourse" on the night of His betrayal was that He was truly going to leave them. They were not to worry about that, however, because they would eventually be with Him there. "Where I go you know, and the way you know.” Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. (John 14:4-9)

Holding the Gospel story in our hands, reading all that Jesus taught, it is easy for us to think that the truth that's clear to us should have been obvious to these followers. They acknowledged—some of them—that Jesus was the Son of God, so why couldn't they see what the plan was? They had preconceived notions about what meant; they could not, even then, get their minds around the idea that He was going to die. When He had first called them, He invited, "Follow Me." He could well have said, "Come along; I know the way." Now that the journey in His physical presence was ending, He told them in similar terms, "I am the way."

Not everyone who proposes to give us spiritual guidance actually knows the way! Some who invite us to follow are not headed in the direction we want to go! We're safe if we follow with pure intent the pathway where He precedes us.

MaryMartha
(All rights reserved)

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Email: mrymrtha@gmail.com

Let This Cup Pass

Most of us can remember, probably, having to take a dose or two of unpleasant-tasting medicine during our childhood. Once it was placed in our mouth, there was nothing to do but swallow. A watchful parent would not permit spitting it out, and just refusing to swallow didn't work either, because that parent was there to pinch our nose shut. If we expected ever to breathe again on this earth, we had to swallow the horrid stuff!

Life has, for all of us, some "bitter pills to swallow." There is no escaping difficult circumstances, unfair treatment, or friends who prove to be disloyal. Jesus Himself experienced this, and "a student is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master." (Matthew 10:24 NIV) In the Garden of Gethsemane, away from the disciples who were too sleepy to aid their Lord in His hour of greatest need, Jesus prayed alone. "O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” Returning to the disciples, He urged them again to watch and pray, then a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.” (Matthew 26:39, 42 NKJV)

It was not the physical suffering alone that Jesus faced, but the dreadful weight of being guilty before God as He became sin for us. From the very foundation of the world that God knew would be fallen, redemption was planned. If it was to be made effectual, Jesus must face the Cross. His humanness naturally shrank from the cost. "If it is possible . . ." But no, it was not possible. If the cup of human sin and suffering was to be emptied, He must drink it.

It is no different for us. There is no quick and easy way to get rid of the difficult, unfair, bitter things in life, but to receive them fully.

• Swallow the bitter medicine.
• Accept what is or has to be.
• Embrace the Cross.

MaryMartha
(All rights reserved)

Scripture quotation marked NIV is taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright©1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. Scripture marked NKJV is taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Email: mrymrtha@gmail.com

When Jesus Cried

Many years ago when my family attended our little country church, all the children sat together on the first couple of rows of pews for "closing exercises" following the Sunday School session. This is when we gave our birthday offering (a penny for each year) and recited a Bible verse we had memorized. Some of the boys--was it always boys? I think so--liked to quote the very shortest passage in the Bible. It is found in John 11:35, "Jesus wept." While they gleefully got by with reciting just a couple of words, those words do express a great truth. Jesus was moved by standing at his friend Lazarus's tomb. We do not know whether the tears were for His own sense of loss, or His sympathy for the grieving family and friends, or His sorrow at recognizing the unbelief of those who were gathered there--perhaps the overwhelming burden of all three. I can imagine the great tears rolling down His cheeks, dripping off His beard as He looked up to heaven and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me."

The Scripture records another time Jesus cried. Riding on a young donkey into the city of Jerusalem, with the crowd joyfully proclaiming Him as the King coming in the name of the Lord, He wept. (See Luke 19:37-44) But the Greek word used this time for weeping, my commentary tells me, did not mean a quiet shedding of tears. Underneath the loud voices of acclaim was the sobbing of a broken-hearted Messiah who knew the people within that city rejected Him as prince of peace and would suffer terrible judgment. We call this the "Triumphal Entry," but only because Jesus' followers were triumphant. It is not hard for me to imagine that, for Jesus, it was more like the "Entry of Lamentation."

The most remarkable reference to Jesus' tears, I think, is Hebrews 5:7. "During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission." This crying is even stronger: outcries of tumult or grief. Some scholars think this refers to His agony in Gethsemane, but the context leads me to believe the description is broader than that. All during the days of His life, He prayed with loud cries and tears for desperately needy, hopeless people and for His own followers who were weak and uncomprehending. We don't read accounts of those prayers; perhaps it was during those nights alone on the mountain that Jesus did that kind of praying. The writer adds that God could have saved Him from death; God did hear Him pray but still didn't spare Him. On the day Jesus died, His tears must have mingled with blood and sweat until He finally said "It is finished," and gave up His spirit to the Father.

That was the only way to heal and rescue us--broken, lost humanity.

MaryMartha
(All rights reserved)

Scripture quotation is taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright©1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Email: mrymrtha@gmail.com

MaryMartha
(All rights reserved)

Scripture quotation is taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright©1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Email: mrymrtha@gmail.com

Equal and More Equal

Most of us, as Americans, are familiar with Thomas Jefferson’s statement in the Declaration of Independence, that all men (all people) are created equal and that all are equally entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We also remember Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, describing “a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” We believe, or want to believe, those words, and we expect our government to move swiftly to remove any inequities. But it troubles me that Jefferson and Lincoln did not say merely, "all Americans", but "all people." In reality, there seems to be a system something like that which existed in the satirical novel, Animal Farm by George Orwell. The pigs who controlled the government on the farm proclaimed, "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others." Not only did our early countrymen face the issue of "equal or more equal," but so does a large percentage of the world's population today. There are many issues: medical care, clean water, education. Let's take just one example: food.

Statistics on world hunger from the World Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN reveal that in 2008, the number of undernourished people in the world rose to 963 million. An estimated thirty-three countries have a critically short food supply. About 65 percent of the underfed live in India, China, Democratic Republic of Congo, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan and Ethiopia. Just a few days ago, the UN Environment Programme released a new report stating that over half the food produced today is lost, wasted, or discarded as a result of inefficiency in the human-managed food chain. “There is evidence within the report,” executive director Achim Steiner noted, “that the world could feed the entire projected population growth alone by becoming more efficient while also ensuring the survival of wild animals, birds and fish on this planet.”

Pope Benedict XVI gave other UN statistics in his Lenten message: The total food surplus of the United States alone could satisfy every empty stomach in Africa; France's leftovers could feed the hungry in Democratic Republic of Congo and Italy's could feed Ethiopia's undernourished. And it's not just the matter of there not being enough to eat; people are starving. Today 25,000 people will die from hunger. A child dies every six seconds of malnutrition or starvation. Is that equal? Or are we just more equal than others?

We can't very well send the vegetables that American kids want to leave on their plates to the starving somewhere else in the world. That old ploy doesn't help. The Pope said further, “[The spiritual practice of] fasting is an aid to open our eyes to the situation in which so many of our brothers and sisters live." And although I do not worship in that particular tradition, I think he may have the right idea.

MaryMartha
(All rights reserved)

Sources:http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=29930&Cr=food+crisis&Cr1=
http://www.un.org/issues/food/taskforce/pdf/Global_Economic.pdf
http://www.uscatholic.org/news/2009/02/un-statistics-reveal-extent-world-hunger

Email: mrymrtha@gmail.com

It's Hard to Be Humble

A co-worker of mine arrived today with a cross-shaped smear of ashes on her forehead. I knew immediately that early this morning she had appeared at her place of worship for “the imposition of ashes.” This is Ash Wednesday which is the beginning of Lent, the forty days (excluding Sundays) which precede Easter. The pouring of ashes on one’s body is an ancient practice symbolizing mourning or repentance. It is this latter idea that is represented by the modern practice.

Typically, those who wish to participate approach the altar or communion rail where the pastor or priest applies ashes on the forehead of each person, then repeats the words God spoke to our first parents after they had sinned, “Dust you are, and to dust you shall return.” While not commanded by God, many Christians choose on this day to wear the symbol that reminds all of us of our mortality and sinfulness. Not one of us is sufficient on our own, but all need the redemption offered by the Savior represented by the cross.

So, since seeing that ashy cross this morning, I have been thinking about humility. I had to smile, remembering the family gathering last summer where one of my nieces gave a truly funny rendition of the old Mac Davis song: “Oh Lord it's hard to be humble when you're perfect in every way. . .” The trouble is, there are many people whose attitude is nearly that arrogant. Oh, they probably wouldn’t be so bold as to state it in those words, but they insist, “I’m as good as anybody.” “Religion is for the soft and weak.” “I don’t need God.”

Yes, it’s hard to be humble. It is hard to admit, “I am just like Adam, a sinner.” Dying and returning to dust is something we would rather not think about too much. But whether we wear the symbolic ashes or not, whether we even acknowledge the Lenten season or not, our need for repentance and the fact of our mortality are real.

MaryMartha
(All rights reserved)

Email: mrymrtha@gmail.com

What to Give Up for Lent

I intended to write a meditation for the beginning of Lent, but it was earlier this year than it often is. I wasn't watching the calendar very closely and it started without me! So here is what I wanted to share, a little late. (Edited: Oops! Lent does not begin until February 25. My mistake!)

My religious affiliation is not with the Catholic Church; nevertheless, for several years I have found it a helpful spiritual practice to observe the Lenten season with some small form of self-denial. It is not that I feel it is required of me, but something that reminds me specifically and regularly of the significance of the approaching Easter season has been worthwhile. One year it was chocolate; you might be surprised how many times during the forty days of Lent I was confronted with delectable offerings of chocolate! Other times, other things. One especially memorable year, the season was approaching and I was wondering, "What shall I 'sacrifice' for Lent?" I even asked God for an idea. And to my surprise, He gave me one!

"Well, how about your angry feelings?" I need to explain that a situation had developed in the preceding weeks that was very unfair to me and to several others, and there was not a single thing to be done about it. I was angry, no denying that, but I knew that what I felt was really pretty normal under the circumstances. No matter how I examined what had happened, there was just no way to call it right or fair. I was "justified." I don't often carry injustice around too long, but this was just so extreme that it was with me all the time. And so God was suggesting I give up this anger for Lent? I was not sure I could do that, or that I even wanted to!

"Yeah, just suppose I do give it up," I answered with a little heat, certain that God was tricking me. "And then when Lent is over, You know that I probably won't even get it back!"

"No, that's okay. You can have it back if you want it."

With this assurance, I was able to lay the anger down. When it bubbled up again, I would say to myself, "It's only until Easter, then I can be mad again." I quit thinking about the injustice so much, knowing that I could mull it over again later. I began to get used to the feeling of not being so agitated by the situation, and although the way things had been was the way things remained, they lost their acute power over me.

And yes, you guessed it! When Lent was over, I did not want my anger back. God and I had a good laugh! I am thankful that He is so understanding about the human need to have things put right, and I am also glad that He knows what anger--especially concealed, prolonged, unusable anger--does to the body and the spirit. He helped me put aside the "poison" that could kill me--just in time for Resurrection Day!

MaryMartha
(All rights reserved)

Email: mrymrtha@gmail.com