January 03, 2024 – B

Jesus did not know
whether he was coming or going--
and that's a good thing,
"maybe, the best of things"
(Stephen King).

He said as much himself:

"Don't let your left hand
know what your right hand is doing!"

"The Spirit is like the wind
that blows where it will,"
implying that not even the Spirit
knows what it will be doing next.

Jesus lays out examples of not knowing
what he is doing
all over the Gospels.

My favorite is the second commandment.
"Do unto others as you would have them
do unto you--love your neighbor
as you love yourself!"

And, in no time at all,
he is telling parables about an unjust
landowner paying his workers
the same wage for different amounts of work,
justifying the outrage by saying,
"Shall not he do what he wills with what is his?"

So much for "do unto others as you would have them
do unto you"!

Second commandment my turkey's gobble!

And he doubles down with the parable
of the wise and foolish bridesmaids:
"We didn't take you to raise,"
say the wise bridesmaids.
"You go back to town and get your own oil!"

The topper, of course, is his cursing the fig tree
for not having fruit out of season.
Killing it for innocently doing what it lived to do.

Jesus, himself, was like the wind,
not knowing what he would do next.

And he calls us to follow him.

We do that by throwing away the rules
and the rule books,
including the Bible and the books of doctrine,
and all of the hymnbooks
(which are doctrines set to music),
and find our own way through each day,
surprising ourselves with what we come up with,
wondering where that came from, and that.

Living out of the silence will do that.
And that.

Not knowing what we will do next
is allowing the circumstances to call us forth,
to show us here/now what is being asked of us,
and inviting us to create on the spot
a response appropriate to the occasion,
regardless of what our mother or father might think.

And living ourselves into focus day by day.

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