Temptation Is Really Imitation

Reflections

March 13, 2011

Psalm 27 is attributed to David. It is described in part as an act of devotion and also a prayer of devotion. Verse one begins, "The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?" Then in verse four the author writes; "One thing I asked of the Lord, that I will seek after; to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life."

In his spiritual anthology, I Asked For Wonder, the late Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel shared his insight on what it means to be a person of faith. In a passage titled, "What We Owe" he writes, "The world was not made by man. The earth is the Lord's, not a derelict. What we own, we owe." Then the Rabbi closes with a quote from Psalm 116, "How shall I ever repay to the Lord all his bounties to me?"

It would be easy to think that Rabbi Heschel and the Psalm he quotes as well are referring to things monetary, but it would be a mistake. Though a monetary system was in place the Psalmist was interested in spiritual currency. In his writing Rabbi Heschel issues a call for spiritual not fiscal responsibility.

In Psalm 27, the author seeks to live in the house of the Lord forever. A wise noble, and holy thing to seek; most if not all would agree. For in a place of sanctuary there is safety, security, and in God's house holy things can and do happen. However, there is a cost and it has less to do with the state of our checkbooks than with the state of our souls.

When we gather in the house of the Lord, the rent has been paid. Paid by countless saints who have come before us serving God in selflessness. They gave generously of what they had both spiritually and financially, that we might have a place for our spiritual home. They did this knowing that others before them had done the same. Our continuing responsibility is to invite others into what we have come to call home.

In Lent, more than any other time or season of faith, we are called to remember the cost o faith. At times in our busy existence the spiritual aspects of prayer and self-denial of the season seem antiquated and burdensome. Yet, in our hearts we know there is a cost. If we forget there is always the cross to remind us. I agree with Heschel, "What we own, we own." However, since the rent's paid, all we have to do is the upkeep.

Dr. Joey K. McDonald

First United Methodist Church

4832 Tujunga Avenue, North Hollywood, CA 91601

Love Changes Everything

Reflections
March 6, 2011

When I was in my last year of graduate school, now amazingly twenty years ago, life was hectic. I was serving 29 Palms United Methodist Church full time. Sue had no career option in the high desert that didn’t involve a hair net so she stayed with her company in Orange County and came up on weekends. Our sons were with me or in childcare. I had three semesters of course work left, the last one seemed the toughest. My dad had died the previous November, and I was driving 120 miles, one way, to school...sometimes five days a week. It was especially difficult for an 8:00 AM class. This meant waking my sons at 5:00 AM so I could make class.

One cold and rainy spring morning in March of 1986 we were running just a bit behind schedule. I started the trek to school, only to run over a rock that had washed onto the road causing me to lose a hubcap. I stopped, found the hubcap, pounded it back on getting my hands filthy and skinning a knuckle in the process. As highway 62 turns south heading out of the Morongo Valley, the storm worsened and slowed my journey. I could feel my class slipping away. Finally. I reached interstate 10 and headed west toward Claremont. With the rain still falling, the early morning sun was just peeking through the clouds behind me. Then a marvelous thing happened...a beautiful, full rainbow appeared in front of me, and stranger still it began to rain inside the car. At least I assumed so because my cheeks were wet. I was crying, stopping to compose myself I walked toward the rainbow a few feet pausing to take it in along with the sweetness of the desert air. Back on the road, for as long as I could, I just basked in the glory of that rainbow.

This was B.C.P before cell phones (imagine that) so after class, which I indeed made on time, I called my Mother and shared the story. She said, "when you saw the rainbow you thought of your dad." I said, "how did you know" and she reminded me of how my dad would stop the car on vacations to have us admire rainbows and remind us of the Noah blessing. What makes this significant is that my parents' relatives lived in Pennsylvania and Michigan so the car trips were long and deliberate, dawdling was not on the agenda. Except when there was a rainbow, then dad would stop the car and make sure we all saw it. Several years ago my son Aaron drove his 1969 Plymouth Barracuda to Carlisle Pennsylvania to a national show for Chrysler enthusiasts. I met him in Chicago and drove the twenty-one hundred miles back with him. It was August and we were in the Midwest so there were thunder storms. Somewhere in Iowa there was a big one, but there was also a beautiful rainbow. Aaron stopped and said lets take a good look. So we did. Every time I see a rainbow I think of my dad, because he knew every color in the band across the sky gives us good reason to be glad and hopeful.

Dr. Joey K. McDonald

First United Methodist Church

4832 Tujunga Avenue, North Hollywood, CA 91601