All over the map...

I had hoped that my words this morning might be helpful...  and maybe they were but mostly they seemed all over the map to me as I owned grief, anger, lament, trust within an abiding sense that God's own heart breaks over and over again when the beloved sin. 

Like St. Paul said in Romans 1, like a loving parent who has taught and trained their children, sometimes the Lord let's us experience the consequences of our sin - and that's what this bitter moment feels like.  It is as if God is saying:  "You want to ignore my call to love? You want to train your children in violence instead of compassion? You want to turn weapons into toys?  And demonize your enemies rather than search for common ground? You want to nurture a self-centered consumerist culture and then wonder why nobody has spiritually mature values?  Ok... do it and see how you like the consequences.  Then maybe, just maybe, your grief will awaken you to my holy alternative."

This morning the old apostle also asked us to learn how to rejoice - always - and in all ways.  But this was not a Sunday where being shaped by joy could take root.  We are all too raw...  and so the waiting continues.