Happy Birthday to my amazing husband Rob Lewin, who proposed to me on this day, forty years ago, while having a romantic birthday dinner overlooking Lake Union at the Americas Cup restaurant in downtown Seattle!
Happy National Book Lovers Day! AND
Happy International Day of the World’s Indigenous People
In celebration of these last two, I highly recommend getting a copy of the First Nations New Testament
We have been using it in our house church, thinplace, for the past year and it has enhanced our understanding and inspired our study of the Gospels.
We listen to the passage ( lectio divina ) in three versions with three voices. We now use the NIV, The Message, and the First Nations Translation during our gatherings. We tend to follow the lectionary each week, so this week we were continuing to hear about Jesus being the BREAD of Life. The Gospel for this Sunday is from John 6:41-51
JOHN 6: 41-51 FIRST NATIONS
41Upon hearing this, the Tribal Members complained, “Who is this ‘Bread from the spirit-world above’? Is this not the son of He Gives Sons (Joseph)? We know who his mother and father are. How can he say ‘I came down from the spirit-world above’?”
43“Stop grumbling to each other,” he answered. “The only ones who come to me have been drawn by my Father. These are the ones I will bring back to life at the end of all days. The Sacred Teachings from the prophets of old tell us, ‘There will come a time when the Great Spirit will instruct everyone.’ That is why the ones who hear and listen to the Father come to me.
46“The only one who has seen the Father is the one sent from the Great Spirit. This one has clearly seen the Father. I speak truth from my heart, the ones who trust in me have the life of the world to come that never fades away, full of beauty and harmony.
48“I am the bread that gives this life. Your ancestors ate bread in the desert wilderness, and they died. Here, standing before you, is the bread that comes down from above. The ones who eat this bread will not die. I am the living bread from above. The ones who eat this bread will live beyond the end of all days. And this is the bread that I will give as a gift to the world—my human body.
I am struck by verse 47 in this translation…THE BREAD….is full of beauty and harmony. Last week verse John 6: 33 also included…beauty and harmony.
33 This bread gives the life of beauty and harmony to the world.”
34 “Honored One,” they said, “from now on give us this bread.”
35 Creator Sets Free (Jesus) smiled, held out his arms to them, and said, “I am the bread of life that came down from the spirit-world above. The ones who come to me will hunger no more. The ones who trust me will thirst no more.”
This the Jesus I have come to understand! Jesus brings beauty and harmony to the world!
I so want to live like this in our messy world. I so want to bring beauty and harmony and help others to see that this is the way of Jesus! not hate, not fear, not bitterness and anger! not judgement… or who is in or out, but BEAUTY and HARMONY!
I also love that the First Nations Bible gives Jesus the name…CREATOR SETS FREE! This gives me life. Jesus truly does set us free!
Why is it that we settle for old, stale bread? Why is it that we settle for bread that is fake, bleached and sits on a shelf in a plastic wrapper, rather than the LIVING BREAD that comes down from heaven bringing beauty and harmony?
Sadly I too often I settle for wonder bread rather than sour dough. Bread that has a living Mother.
READ THE PASSAGE AGAIN
What speaks to you today? What is the Holy Spirit highlighting for you? What do you notice from the passage that you didn’t notice before? What questions came up for you today?
Put yourself in the scene, what would you be thinking or feeling?
What have you been complaining about lately? Talk to Jesus about this and let him hold it for you. We have you tasted lately that made you pause and say that God is Good?
Why do we settle for stale bread rather than the good stuff?
How can you experience more of the beauty and harmony of Jesus this week?
How can you bring that beauty and harmony into your world?
How do you need to be fed by the Bread of Life?
PRACTICE:
Take some bread, make some toast or a sandwich notice the texture, smell the rich scent. Taste it. Enjoy it . Thank Jesus for being BREAD for you! As you eat BREAD this month. RECEIVE THE BREAD, JESUS who holds out his arms to you and loves you as you are! Allow Jesus to fill you with beauty and harmony and love! Take time to notice the taste of your food. Eat slowly and thank Jesus for all the good food you get to eat. If you have the time, make some bread and make enough to share it with a friend or neighbor. That’s a great way to bring beauty into our world!
LISTEN:
Oh, Great Spirit,
whose voice I hear in the wind,
whose breath gives life to all the world.
Hear me; I need your strength and wisdom.
Let me walk in beauty,
and make my eyes ever behold the red and purple
sunset.
Make my hands respect the things you have made
and my ears sharp to hear your voice.
Make me wise so that I may understand
the things you have taught my people.
Help me to remain calm and strong
in the face of all that comes towards me.
Let me learn the lessons
you have hidden in every leaf and rock.
Help me seek pure thoughts
and act with the intention of helping others.
Help me find compassion
without empathy overwhelming me.
I seek strength, not to be greater than my brother,
but to fight my greatest enemy, Myself.
Make me always ready to come to you
with clean hands and straight eyes.
So when life fades, as the fading sunset,
my spirit may come to you without shame.
Mystic and visionary, Black Elk of the Lakota Tribe
embraced the teachings and faith of “God with us”
(Creator sets Free) later in life. He was a leader, a wise
man, and lived harmoniously with nature. Black Elk
witnessed the ending of the Lakota way of life at the slaughter at Little Big Horn.
