Ramadan, Day One
The Scripture for Day One
When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, O Lord God Almighty
or
When your words showed up, I ate them – swallowed them whole, what a feast! What a delight I too in being yours Oh God-of-the-angel-armies.
Jeremiah 15:16
Thoughts on the Story:
Lessons in Being a Prophet
Lesson One: Mood Swings
There Jeremiah is fuming at God. When God’s message first burrowed its way like a spinning dart into the prophet’s heart, he was glad. What revelation! What a privilege! What a feast!
Later, when colleagues misunderstood and friends grew angry….later, ignored and the subject of much anger, the prophet complains. It’s not longer a joyful, proud thing – this branding on the forehead — ALMIGHTY’s — this bearing of the name.
And God replies. Stop whining. Use words that will change them. I’ll let you survive; make you like a safe, impenetrable by bullets. I’ll keep you out of evil’s grasp. Bear the name.
Lectio Divina Scribbles:
“Bear Your Name”…a tattoo on the forehead…a tattoo on public skin. ALMIGHTY. Is that right? Is this not-a-possessive a sign of the incarnation, or is that taking things too far? ALMIGHTY’s then, with the apostrophe ‘s’. Less potent, but more theologically sound.
Does art care about theological soundness? Can vagueness and instinct sometimes prove a better harbinger of truth? ALMIGHTY.
It is frightening to know one’s strength in the face of incarnation…not one’s own, yet one’s own – a dichotomy then. ALMIGHTY
Step out. Step one. Breathe.
This is my very favorite scripture. I’ve loved it for years. And it is “frightening to know one’s strength in the face of incarnation…not one’s own, yet one’s own”. yes, step one, powerlessness in the midst of great power.
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