Month: September 2023

Sunday 1^st October 2023 (’05) : 26thSUNinORDINARY : A

1. EZEK18:25-28!

What? ‘We choose our own life&death’? But are we really all that self-aware&free?

2. PS24:4-9!

Is this not somewhat up-beat? One-sided? &Semi-flattery of ‘Yahweh’?

3. PHIL2:1-11!

‘NoCompetition/Deceit! SelfEffacing…’ Is this ChristMind found in my local church?

4. MT21:28-32!

In the MindSet of my local church, who are the ‘archetypal sinners’, say, like the biblical ‘prostitutes’? &Even if they displayed ‘repentance’ would it be valued by us?

‘God, Cissie, what’re y’ doin’, sittin’ there leck a duck in a thunderstorm, wit’ no ball a’ malt between y’r jaws?’ ‘Aw, Gertie, I jus’ feel A’m no great shakes a’ th’ bag!’ ‘Wha’,,,’ ‘My fella, on’y this mornin’, as I was doin’ me hair, he went an’ called me a stewpit hoor’s melt…’ ‘Great, Cissie! He’s jus’ stuck ‘is own stewpit foot intil ‘is own stewpit gob…’ ‘Wah’…?’ ‘Wait til I tell ya… Head a’ wit read out th’ stuff from th’ man-above! &Guess wha’, th’ prostitutes, that’s nice-talk f’r hoors, them an’ th’ tax-people, ‘ll get inta Heaven first, before th’ priests or anyone else!’ ‘I don’t believe ya! Y’re jus’ griggin’ Cissie, th’ poor stewpit hoor… Make ‘re feel good…’ ‘No, me hand on me throat! That’s what th’ man-above said…’ ‘God, A’d love t’ shove that up my fella’s nose! But prob’ly not, ‘e hates t’ be bested! No one’s guff counts, except his…!’ ‘Lave ‘im be, Cissie! Wit’ all ‘is oul’ bolshy talk, he’ll not stop th’ sun from risin’, nor th’ hoors gettin’ inta Heaven, if that’s what th’ man-above proposes!’ ‘God, y’re right, Gertie! Why do I still take ‘is oul’ rant, as if it was th’ gospel itself, or somethin’…’

WHERE EVERYTHING IS MUSIC
(Rumi)

Don't worry about saving these songs!
&If one of our instruments breaks, it doesn't matter!
We have fallen into the place where everything is music!
The strumming & the flute notes rise into the atmosphere,
&Even if the whole world's harp should burn up, 
There will still be hidden instruments playing!
So, the candle flickers & goes out! 
We have a piece of flint & a spark!
This singing art is a sea foam! 
The graceful movements come
From a pearl somewhere on the ocean floor!
Poems reach up like spindrift 
& the edge of driftwood along the beach, wanting!
They derive from a slow&powerful root that we can't see!
Stop the words now! 
Open the window in the centre of your chest,
&Let the spirits fly in&out!

Refections and comments can be emailed to adbi@chokmah.ie

Sunday 24^th September 2023 (’05) : 25thSUNinORDINARY : A

1. IS55:6-9!

What enables me to discern if myThoughts&Ways are Yahweh’s? &To ensure they are!

2. PS144:2-3, 8-9, 17-18! (Pity this ancient piety-song, so grossly shredded! &Why?)

Great stuff about Yahweh! But, isn’t the point, How will this mind become mine, too?

3. PHIL1:20-24, 27!

TheGreatIntention! How will myWholeLife-become-Christ, nothing more nothing less?

4. MT20:1-16!

This ironic, highly circumstantial story, that challenges everyday expectations! Which character to identify with? In my world, is true generosity envied resented feared?

HEARTSONG OF SELF'S WHOLENESS

May myGreatness, root&branch&fruit, beHumility!
May I be Covenant-Kind, &Full-of-Compassion!
May Anger&Fear&Hatred never Camp-in-MyHeart!
May I be Just-in-Myself, &SeekJustice-for-Each!
May I NeverClose-my-Heart to AnyWhoCalls!
May I be Truly-Generous, to Enemies-as-well-as-Friends!
May MyWholeLife-become-Christ, Amen!!

Refections and comments can be emailed to adbi@chokmah.ie

Sunday 17^th September 2023 (’05) : 24thSUNinORDINARY : A

1. SIRACH27:30 — 28:7!

Why are Christians actually so ravenous for ‘vengeance’ rather than ‘forgiveness’?

2. PS102:1-4, 9-12!

For me-as-AdultDisciple, who is TheGreatExemplar-of-Forgiveness?

3. ROM14:7-9! (But, what’s this enigmatic squeak all about? &No context?)

What’s preventing me becoming a TrueDisciple, amenable to life, or death? Lack-of-Conviction? Fear? Indifference? GreaterLove-for-Dionysus/Aphrodite/Cuchulainn?

4. MT18:21-35!

Spite of this, aren’t IrishChristians very reluctant to ‘forgive’, even themselves?

‘There’s one of the gospel parables & its appended ‘teaching’, as it were, I’m moved to take issue with…’ As ever, the tone&manner of ThePractisingSceptic was even, tentative, &only fleetingly ironic! ‘Stay right there, if you don’t mind…’ TheOfficial Believer was not impressed or appeased! ‘The parables are the inspired creations of TheWord-of-Truth, as are the blessed elucidations that flow from these dense mysterious oeuvres!’ ‘Nothing mysterious, nor forgiving, may I add, about the master, to whom TheHeavenlyFather is implicitly compared, who out of anger condemned his servant to be tortured until he rtestored the debt…’ ‘Not at all…’ ‘…nor is it edifying, to put it mildly, to suggest that DivineLove could ever act like that…’ ‘Don’t ever forget, He’s also just… &Hell is still infallibly taught in our neck of the woods…’ ‘So much the more are your tree-dwellers to be pitied! Proposing to yourself&others such an impossible divine master…!’ ‘Blasphemer…’ ‘So be it, I can live with that empty shibboleth! But can all you dryads face the possibility, that using these texts uncritically to speak of TheIneffableLove, is merely foisting a blatant caricature on the gullible multitude! Who will proceed to use that as an excuse for their own similar unforgiving pathetic life-style…’ ‘Ggggrrrhhh…!!!’

Refections and comments can be emailed to adbi@chokmah.ie

Sunday 10 September 2023 (’05) : 23rdSUNinORDINARY : A

1. EZEK33:7-9!

Who in my local church, &in IrishSociety, has the burden of being Prophet-of-Yahweh?

2. PS94:1-2, 6-9!

In what 5Ways is ‘TheVoice-of-Yahweh’ heard, heeded, ignored in TheModernWorld?

3. ROM13:8-10!

Yes, ‘Love’ is the answer, let’s agree! But, what’s ‘Love’? Especially, ‘Love-of-Self’?

4. MT18:15-20!

What hope that we can offer&receive ‘correction’, without rancour or resentment?

Journey Song of a 21stC Irish Disciple

Lord&Lady! If I'm a weirdo, I'm that for You!

Lord&Lady! Keep me focussed! Compassion-for-All!

Lord&Lady! No resource of mine be hidden!

Lord&Lady! Never let me stint, ever!

Lord&Lady! Grant me the gift of vivid ritual!

Lord&Lady! Ever mindful, ever awake!

Lord&Lady! Faithful to Truth, not Rhetoric!

Lord&Lady! I ask YourCompanioning, step-by-step!

Lord&Lady! I'm Yours, in life, in death, &forever.....

Refections and comments can be emailed to adbi@chokmah.ie