Author: Erin Newton

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God’s Lachrymatory

Links for today’s readings:

Mar 18 Read:  Ecclesiastes 6 Listen: (1:44) Read: Psalms 56-57 Listen: (3:11)

Scripture Focus: Psalm 56:8

8 Record my misery;
    list my tears on your scroll—
    are they not in your record?

Reflection: God’s Lachrymatory

By Erin Newton

According to some accounts, ancient Roman mourners would collect their tears in small vials and bury them with their deceased loved ones. These little “tear jars” or lachrymatories were filled with tears, and their evaporation would parallel the end of mourning. As the bottle dried out, so would one’s eyes.

While the validity of such assumptions is questionable, Psalm 56 highlights the value of keeping a record of grief. As a lament and prayer to God in a time of trouble, the psalmist exposes their grief and asks God to take it into account.

There are many psalms that ask God to remove grief or misery. The Lord’s prayer asks that God lead us not into temptation. Paul begged God to remove the thorn in his flesh. Here, the psalmist embraces the fullness of misery. It is as if to say, “Don’t let my tears be wasted.”

Contrary to much of our impulses (or cultural conditioning), the psalmist doesn’t shy away from crying. Crying is a given. Crying might even be desired. And at least, crying won’t be for nothing.

Like the ancient mourners, God is thought to collect the tears of his beloved children and record them in his scroll. Like a divine accountant of pain and sadness, God sees, notes, and validates the psalmist’s tears.

The Bible is full of criers. Genesis 21:17 says, “God heard the boy crying, and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and said to her, ‘What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid; God has heard the boy crying as he lies there.’ ” God heard another woman crying, “In her deep anguish Hannah prayed to the Lord, weeping bitterly” (1 Sam 1:10), and granted her desire to have a child. Even the prophets were known for their weeping: “Streams of tears flow from my eyes because my people are destroyed” (Lam 3:48).

Have you ever considered your tears as a sort of spiritual currency? I surely have not. I have been taught (and fully agree) that tears are not only a meaningful expression but also a regulatory experience. Tears are often necessary and can lead to emotional stabilization. Despite the dread of “having to cry it out,” we are reassured here that they are not ignored.

Crying is not a weakness. The Man of Sorrows joins in our misery by relating to our emotions, acknowledging our pain, and ensuring that grief is never wasted.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence

Let my cry come before you, O Lord; give me understanding, according to your word.
Let my supplication come before you; deliver me, according to your promise. — Psalm 119.169-170

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more: More Money, More Problems

Wealth doesn’t solve all problems or fill our deepest spiritual needs…those who look like they have it all often are spiritually starving to death.

More Money, More Problems
Read more: Artful Prayers

In the psalms, we enter the lived emotion of artists who bared their souls to God in prayers that were always intended to be performed.

Artful Prayers
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Hands Are Not for Hitting

Links for today’s readings:

Mar 11  Read: Proverbs 30 Listen: (3:51) Read: Psalms 46-47 Listen: (2:15)

Scripture Focus: Psalm 47:1-2

1 Clap your hands, all you nations;

     shout to God with cries of joy.

2 For the Lord Most High is awesome,

     the great King over all the earth.

Reflection: Hands Are Not for Hitting

By Erin Newton

There is a children’s book titled, Hands Are Not for Hitting. The overall premise is to help teach children that hands can do lots of great things but should not be used for hurting others. My children are too old for that book, but I swear I said, “Hands are not for hitting,” just last week.

As the book tells us, with our hands we can do great things: We can build houses, we can cook food, we can pet a dog, and we can plant tulips. But with our hands we sometimes do horrible things: Hands have slapped faces, hands have assaulted victims, hands have pulled triggers or thrust knives. Like James says of the tongue, with our hands we both curse and praise God.

Some of us might not be familiar with religious services that are more expressive or pentecostal. In such services, clapping and praising God with raised hands is a normal part of the service. 

Sometimes hands are used to lay on someone for healing. Hands hold tambourines. Hands reach up to the sky or hold one close to the ground. Hands are for praising. Just like this psalm says.

“Clap your hands.” Why? Because God is the “great King over all the earth.” And the proper response is lifting our hands in jubilant praise.

But we don’t often use our hands well and the world has a lot of different ideas of what we should put our hands to.

We live in turbulent times of conflict and warfare. There are calls to “take up arms” or “lift one’s sword” for other kings (or presidents or supreme leaders, etc.). We are told that the best use of hands is securing power through strength. Meanwhile we’re also at home struggling to teach our youngest minds that “hands are still not for hitting.”

One of my close friends is part of the “peace tradition” (Anabaptist, Brethren) community of Christians. The call to complete nonviolence is a way of life for her. She leans into Jesus’s call for peace and uses her hands in caring, humble, and thoughtful ways.

We are thankful for those, a small percentage, who answer the call to serve their country. However, we should not take up arms to fight our neighbors. We should not use our hands to hurt one another. Hands are for praising.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Call to Prayer

Bless our God, you peoples; make the voice of his praise to be heard;
Who holds our souls in life, and will not allow our feet to slip. — Psalm 66.7-8

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more: Ever Present Help and Gladdening Streams

Technology is capable of aiding us…May we use technology to tie God’s Word on our hands and integrate it into our lives.

Ever Present Help and Gladdening Streams
Read more: Inspired Utterance

“Speak your truth” sounds freeing until one person’s truth causes deaths (or war) over a lie.

Inspired Utterance
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The Rat Race

Links for today’s readings:

Mar 4  Read: Proverbs 23 Listen: (3:39) Read: Mark 13 Listen: (4:32)

Scripture Focus: Proverbs 23:4-5

4 Do not wear yourself out to get rich;
    do not trust your own cleverness.
5 Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone,
    for they will surely sprout wings
    and fly off to the sky like an eagle.

Reflection: The Rat Race

By Erin Newton

When pressed to find a suitable cultural reference for the idea of “wealth isn’t everything,” my mind immediately went to Christmas stories: The Christmas Carol (admittedly, the muppet version) and It’s a Wonderful Life. But looking for a good one-liner, I think of Harry Bailey who says: “A toast to my big brother George, the richest man in town!” George has just had an epiphany about what brings value to life, and his friends and family rallied to keep him from financial destitution.

During a season beset with giving and generosity, such movies keep the “spirit” going. We are reminded that giving is good. But once the new year rolls around, we are back at it—the rat race. The “American Dream” is built on the idea of working hard and building wealth. Of course, many of us are probably not in any sort of space where our savings are increasing. Right now, making ends meet is about as good as it gets.

Struggling to have enough to live is exhausting. It is not hard to identify the various ways our lives would be easier if we had bigger inflow of income. We might read this verse and scoff, “Not my problem!” Who is really prospering right now? Believe me, I get it.

But the drive to try to be wealthy might be something we do struggle with. Wanting to afford things for ourselves and our families is not inherently bad. But if we are single-mindedly trying to gain and gain and gain, we are likely to burn out.

My husband recently said, “What if a little is enough?” He told me about a business model that used a shopping center for local businesses. The spaces were rented out in increments depending on the needs of the entrepreneurs. The idea was to avoid the larger box stores or franchises and keep expenses low. “Just enough for what they need to use.”

Just enough.

Where can we let go of the weary pursuit of building wealth and settle for “just enough”? What can we gain by stepping back?

The proverb says that money is fleeting. Money is easy to spend. Investments can be easily de-valued. Heirlooms can depreciate. Precious jewels can be lost. Our satisfaction is often a moving goalpost.

Jesus came to give us life to the fullest. Don’t waste it yearning for earnings. Know when you have enough and then stop.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Small Verse

Today if you shall hear his voice, harden not your heart.

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more: Watch

Jesus says many similar things in this passage: watch, beware, keep watch, be on guard, be alert, stay awake, be ready. He never says, “predict.”

Watch
Read more: Whose Table Are Your Feet Under?

Let us be drawn to Christ, frequently putting our feet under his table and inviting others to join us.

Whose Table Are Your Feet Under?
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Honeycombs

Links for today’s readings:

Feb 25  Read: Proverbs 16 Listen: (3:15) Read: Mark 6 Listen: (7:23)

Scripture Focus: Proverbs 16:24

Gracious words are a honeycomb,
    sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.

Reflection: Honeycombs

By Erin Newton

“You can catch more bees with honey.”

Just the other night I was walking my dogs when another dog-owner started yelling for me to “Move on!” Apparently, I was walking too close for this person’s liking, and they were already angry. I wish my response had been gracious words. I think I muttered an exasperated, “I’m trying!”

I love the metaphor used in Proverbs 16: Gracious words are a honeycomb. Graciousness, in the Bible, is often paired with words about compassion and mercy. In this text, the Hebrew word means “kind.” Kind words are a honeycomb.

My sister has an apiary—she keeps bees. From her experience (and a fascination with all things in nature), I have learned about the intricate part of bee life. First, honeycombs do not occur spontaneously. They are carefully made. In fact, it requires the whole hive of worker bees to make honeycomb. Second, honeycombs are made from ingredients inside bees that are then deposited (and chewed and re-deposited) by other bees. Lastly, honeycombs hold not only honey but pollen and the brood of future bees. In short, honeycombs are more than a dessert tray.

Words can be honeycomb. How should we think about this metaphor?

Gracious words are not simply something to sweeten things. We have heard about “toxic positivity” where people attempt to ward off bad feelings or ignore bad situations by infusing positive statements. Think about someone who has lost a family member. It might be simple to say, “They’re in a better place now!” It might be true but it’s not always soul-sweetening or bone-healing (as our proverb says). Gracious (kind) words should be nourishing. They are not just words for a moment but words that can give life.

Gracious words are the result of what is inside us. Like the wax created from the parts of the bees themselves, gracious words are not just phrases we memorize. Bees search for pollen and convert that to create honeycomb. We too must be looking for life-giving words from Scripture. The Gospels remind us, “For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of” (Matt 12.34; Luke 6.45).

Producing gracious words requires practice and work. Like building a honeycomb, we cannot expect to speak kindly when we have only ever practiced rudeness, sarcasm, insults, objectification, othering, or any sort of speech that tears down.

Kind words are carefully crafted. Kind words heal souls.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Call to Prayer

Love the Lord, all you who worship him; the Lord protects the faithful, but repays to the full those who act haughtily. — Psalm 31.23


– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle.

Read more: When Skepticism meets Kindness

Sometimes we look at kindness and assume there is a scheme of self-promotion…We treat the servants of mercy as spies.

When Skepticism meets Kindness
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Existential Dread

Links for today’s readings:

Feb 18 Read:  Proverbs 9 Listen: (1:50) Read: Psalm 39 Listen: (1:49)

Scripture Focus: Psalm 39:4-7

4 “Show me, Lord, my life’s end
    and the number of my days;
    let me know how fleeting my life is.
5 You have made my days a mere handbreadth;
    the span of my years is as nothing before you.
Everyone is but a breath,
    even those who seem secure.

6 “Surely everyone goes around like a mere phantom;
    in vain they rush about, heaping up wealth
    without knowing whose it will finally be.

7 “But now, Lord, what do I look for?
    My hope is in you.”

Reflection: Existential Dread

By Erin Newton

Existential dread is a deep-seated feeling and anxiety about the meaning of life. We sometimes equate the experience with the proverbial “mid-life crisis.” As I entered the working world after college, I learned you can have a similar feeling at that time, called the “quarter-life crisis.” What may cause people to dye their hair, buy a shiny new car, quit their job, and pursue a new career is this deeply rooted concern about life. What are we doing? What is this all about?

As Christians, we are taught to exchange our initial ambitions for a life in Christ. Our plans become whatever God’s plans are for us. And that is all well and good. But I think we are sometimes shocked (and maybe embarrassed) when we reach a point that we’re asking the same questions as Psalm 39: What am I doing with my life? When am I going to die? How much longer do I have? Have I wasted it all? Isn’t it all rather pointless?

This psalm seems to ebb and flow between statements about being silent, then a burst of questions and pleading with God. This first half of the psalm focuses on the relatively short nature of our human lives. As if an echo from Ecclesiastes, the psalmist says, “Everyone is but a breath.” Vanity. Vanity. Everything is meaningless.

The fact that these words are preserved for us should give us some comfort. We all feel this way at some point in time. It is not being ungrateful for the life God has led us through. It’s simply a question that we often wrestle with.

So what do we do? “But now, Lord, what do I look for?,” the psalmist asks.

Do we look for success? Do we look for companionship? Do we look for achievements? Do we look for a legacy? Do we look for a pain-free existence? These things are not necessarily wrong.

“My hope is in you.”

The psalm asks, “Show me,” and “What do I look for?” We want God to be a fortune-teller instead of a hope-holder.

Existential dread asks to see the future, assure us how this all turns out. We don’t get an answer to that question. There lies our hope.

We ask God the same questions century after century. The answer remains the same: We look to God for our hope and then we keep living.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence

O God of hosts, show the light of your countenance, and we shall be saved. — Psalm 80.7


– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Springtime by Phyllis Tickle.

Listen to: RSVP to Wisdom or Folly

Two banquets are prepared.
Two invitations go out.
Two hostesses beckon.
Which banquet will you enter? Who gets your RSVP?

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