Connectedness, Synchrony, Electricity

The sun is shining. That’s pretty unusual in an Oregon winter, so I am really grateful. I’m looking forward to some puttering and other simple things that bring pleasure, especially when they are contemplative (I know I’ve written about ironing—no ironing piled up for me today LOL). I seem always to be well connected when I can lose myself in something repetitive. It is one reason I discovered long ago the virtues for me of kataphatic prayer (like praying with a rosary). I suppose it is a matter of how we’re wired; I have many spiritual companions who prefer centering prayer. Diversity, of course, is part of the plan of creation. Sort of like how one of my best friends often reminds me the tall trees hold each other up. Whatever it takes to stay connected is good, is God given, is holy.

Which is why we pray to be “set us free … from the bondage of our sins” [collect for 5 Epiphany Book of Common Prayer 216]. Of course, it is not up to God to set us free. We have to free ourselves from disconnectedness. Think about it now, what is the opposite?—connectedness, synchrony, electricity! Then we can see that abundance of life that is available to us if only we will tap into it.

The second voice of the prophet Isaiah [40:21-31] sings of the mystery and magnificence of God “Have you not known? Have you not heard?…  Have you not understood …? The Creator of the ends of the earth … [whose] understanding is unsearchable … those who wait for [God] shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles.” Those who stay connected, are heirs of the power of creation.

The blessing of the Gospel is the revealed glory of life in the dimension of love as Jesus told us, as Paul learned the hard way [1 Corinthians 9:16-23].

Did you see that uproar about the homoerotic Spanish painting of Jesus? (“‘Gay Christ’ poster sparks outcry in Spain as some say depiction of Jesus looks ‘homoerotic’“). Here is the image, how does it look to you? Paul says he became all things to all people in order that he might share the Gospel. Why should the Jesus in our spiritual center not resonate with our own way of being in creation?

It is as though a “demon” had been set loose somehow. In Mark’s Gospel [1:29-39] Jesus, who has just called his first disciples, visits the home of Simon and Andrew along with James and John. All four were called from their boats as they fished at the shore; all four dropped everything to follow Christ. Now they find Simon’s mother-in-law is ill. The story says Jesus heals her. The key here is that Jesus “lifted her up.” This means he returned her to her place in the community; connected. This is why, in the story, she immediately gets up and serves lunch. In the society of Jesus’ time there was no worse “sin” or disconnection than that of being cast out from the love of others. Frequently people who were ill or in any sort of trouble were cast out. Jesus’ healing restores them to their right place in connection with their loved ones, in their societies, in their families, in their towns.  

The point of the Gospel then, the Good News of salvation, is that we are all connected through Christ. In the connection is normality, return, refreshment. Many years ago when I was becoming an Epsicopalian, when I was working with AIDS ministry, the motto of the church came from then Presiding Bishop Edmund Browning. It was: “There will be no outcasts.” (https://www.episcopalnewsservice.org/pressreleases/there-will-be-no-outcasts-official-obituary-for-edmond-lee-browning/ ). It was the clarion call of the Gospel to those of us in the LGBTQ+ community in those days of oppression. It was, and remains, a blessing.

We all are called to remain connected in synchrony with Creation living fully into the LGBTQ+ lives with which we are created in God’s own image.

Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany Year B 2024 RCL (Isaiah 40:21-31; Psalm 147:1-12, 21c; 1 Corinthians 9:16–23; Mark 1:29-39)

©2024 The Rev. Dr. Richard P. Smiraglia. All rights reserved.