Sunday 9 January 2022 (’00): THE BAPTISM OF THE LORD: C
1.1S40:1-5, 9-11 (What about ‘YahwehBreath’ & ‘GrassPeople’?)
- Read 40:1-31! The beginnings of an agonised&complex exploration of the always-ambivalent ‘Yahweh-of-Sinai’! during the traumatic Exile-in-Babylon!
- Who are TheConsolers in my local church? Who are the inevitably-consoled?
- Who are The-Not-Being-Consoled? but whose need is all the deeper!
- To what extent are people being given mere ‘consolation prizes’?
- What if the genuinest consolation is the dynamic ‘Arrival-of-Yahweh’!
- In what significant way is ‘Yahweh’sConsolation’ different from that of TheOtherGods (including HermesZeusAphroditeArtemis)? But also that of ‘God’!
2 THE PSALM 103:1-2, 3-4, 24-25
- Read 103(104) 1-35! ‘Yahweh’, eco-cosmological divinity! But is this Him, really?
- How do I understand the use of exaggeration&flattery in this Yahweh-extract?
- Can I imagine ‘Yahweh’ as a sheikh, in cloth-of-gold, lolling in HisTent?
- Why is Yahweh often imagined as a ‘StormGod’? (Say, EXOD19:16-25; PS28(29)!)
- Doesn’t the rhetoric hide the true Weakness&Priority of Yahweh, ‘TheHungry’?
3 TIT2 11-14;3·4-7
- Read 1:1- 3:15! But will such hortational, somewhat-selfhrighteous, tending-to-belittle-others, using-nudge-nudge, language really achieve ‘change-of-behaviour’?
- What are my 20PrincipalOptionsHobbiesRelationships that do not ‘LeadToGod’?
- &Did Jesus at TheJordan renounce all that didn’t ‘LeadToGod’ (including ‘Fear’)?
- Can I name 5AdultChristians with ‘NoAmbition except ToDoGood’?
- In 15word , what is my Understanding&Experience of ‘DoingGood’?
4. LK3 15-16, 21-22 (What of TheWinnower&Chaff&Fire?)
- Read 3·l – 4:15! The richly-narrative ramifications of Jesus’RitualDeath-in-Jordan! recapitulating the arduousDestiny of Yahweh’sReluctantPeople!
- ‘TheChrist!’. By what ‘signs’ would I recognise ‘TheMessiah’ in my local church?
- Especially the portentous&frightening ‘Someone’ delineated by TheBaptist!
- Why do Catholics assume that a ‘ReturningChrist’ would be ‘on our side’?
- In what terms did a ‘HeavenlyVoice’ address me, after or since my ‘baptism’?
- What are the7Ways in which ‘TheHolyBreath’ physically-manifests in my world?
5. The presence&action of the BlessedOne, is it like this?
‘Gertie! A’m still wonderin’ about that man!’ ‘God, Cissie, is it y’ know who.. ‘ ‘He keep comin’ back inta th’ readin’s’ Y’d think it was him bein’ born-again.’ ‘Oh, that fella goin’ round th’ doors prayin’, wit’ ‘is oul’ leaflets!’ ‘…instead of OurDivineLord” ‘Oh ..’ ‘Listenin’ above this morin’, chicken-chest was up on th’ altar, one rale squawker if y’ ask me ‘ ‘True ‘s God, Cissie! I’d t’ tell my fella t’ keep ‘is eyes til himself! “She’s nothin’ ‘d intrestya'” But he’s such a little ..’ ‘Gertie! Y’ shoulda heard all the talk about fire, &some twist-me-corset about SomeoneComin’ .’ ‘Aw, a’m well usedta that sorta chat, duck’s water is all it’s.. ‘ ‘I just said t’ meself, “John The Baptist, a’m supprised atcha!”, this talk ‘a fire an’ stuff.. ‘ ‘Puttin’ th’ fools further!’ ‘Haven’t we enuff a’ threats an’ fire this time a’ year, God bless th’ mark’ without yon.,’ ‘God knows y’re right, Cisssie’ I always thought he was just too innocent-lookin’ in ‘is sheep-fleece…! ‘Yeah, too sweet t’ be wholesome!!’ ‘Yeah ..’
6. RIDDLE ThroughBaptism, was I initiated into Eden Egypt Sinai Sion Gethsemane Golgotha Rome or my local church?
Refections and comments can be emailed to adbi@chokmah.ie