Recapitulate September 18, 2007

Isaiah 65:17-25
Luke 21:5-19
What if,
instead of going through the motions of life, planning to meet deadlines, responding to circumstance,
WE RECAPITULATE that this is a Spiritual world, a world of Divine Imagination.
What differences might there be, if instead of following conclusions of the reality we know, we perceived that God was continually reconciling the world in and around and through even us?

As a child of the 1960s, there was a marvelous toy called a SpiroGraph, with interlocking plastic wheels, that turned and worked off of one another. You placed a pen in the whole of a gear and as the teeth meshed and gears worked a beautiful design appeared. But choosing a different gear, beginning from the perspective of another starting point, the design was completely unique.

That is the point of Isaiah.
STOP where we are in this moment in time. Imagine all the circumstances and relationships and responsibilities we have. Because “the different” is only appreciated as different when compared to what we know.
Now imagine what life would be like, if Adam and we, had never broken Covenant with God?
If the child, baptized this day were not the third of this family, but truly known as a Child of God?
Like a parent waiting for the Prodigal to return, like Jesus walking up to the tree of Zachaeus, surely God desires for us to RECAPITULATE and Start afresh from a new perspective.
In a reality where lion and lamb do lay together, where ox and predator both eat straw. Imagine a reality without war, or hostility of prejudice. Imagine a reality without FEAR.

Such a simple, tiny change. To imagine life, not as we have come to fear, but as a gift from God.

A message was recently sent out from the Comedian George Carlin upon the death of his partner.
“The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings and shorter tempers.
Wider freeways and narrower viewpoints.
We spend more, but continually have less, we buy more but enjoy less.
We have bigger houses for smaller families,
Greater conveniences, yet less time.
We have more degrees of education, but less common sense, more knowledge and less judgment.
We have more experts and greater problems, more medicine and less well-being.

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read far too little, watch too much TV and pray seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions, while reducing our values.
We talk too much, love too seldom and hate too easily.

We have learned how to make a living, without living life.
We have added years to life, but not life to our years.
We have been to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing our own backyard to meet a new neighbor. We have done larger things, but not better.

We have tried to clean the air and water, while polluting our souls.
We have split the atom, but failed to unite across prejudice.
We write more, communicating less. We plan more, accomplishing less.
We have learned to rush and multi-task, rather than to wait and to do one thing well.
We build more computers, to hold more information, to produce more copies, we text in acronyms, but we communicate less and less.

These are the times of fast food and slow digestion,
big men with small character,
steep profits and shallow relationships.
These are the days of two incomes and McMansions, but more divorce and more broken homes. These are the days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morals, one night stands, overweight bodies and pills to do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill.
It is a time when there is so much in the showroom and nothing in stock.
These are days where we attend LAUGH THERAPY because Laughter makes us feel good, and we have so little to laugh or feel good about.
A time when technology can bring you these ideas, and the ability to save them or delete.

This week when you are gathered in Thanksgiving with loved ones, remember to give thanks, because they will not always be around forever.

Remember to say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person will soon grow up and leave your side.

Remember to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart that doesn't cost a cent.

Remember to say “I love you” to your partner and loved ones, but more importantly to mean it.
A kiss and an embrace can mend hurt, when it comes from deep inside, or be a betrayal when not.
Remember to hold hands, and cherish the moment.
Give time for love to grow and take time, make time to speak!
Give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.
And always remember:
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take,
but by the moments that take our breath away.

The Gospel of Luke records Jesus saying that,
In the world we have made there will be wars and rumors of wars. There will be persecutions, and fires and floods. But this in not how God intended life to be.

He offers three instructions: DO NOT BE LED ASTRAY,
DO NOT CHASE AFTER THEM,
DO NOT TRY TO PLAN OUT WHAT TO SAY, But trust God.
ULTIMATELY we have one power, one ability.
We may not be able to stop a war, or prevent the Earth from Quaking.
We may not be able to preserve buildings from becoming ruins, but...
We can make our minds to Believe,
We can choose to live our differently because we believe, or we can react and respond to every wind that blows, defensively trying to fight against life.
BAPTISM is making up your mind to believe, that NO MATTER what happens, this child is a gift from God, and we will pray for her. MARRIAGE is making up your mind, right now, before the moment, that you want to love and be loved, to put their needs first.
COMMUNION is a willingness to share and receive, not knowing what is in the heart of another, but committing to be there with them.