Ord 21B (Aug. 26, 2012) Ephesians 6:10-20 

            Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. 
            Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand 
            against the wiles of the devil....... As shoes for your feet

            put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel 
            of peace.......Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer 
            and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere
            in supplication for all the saints. Pray also for me, so that      
           when I speak,a message may be given to me to make known with 
           boldness the mystery of the gospel,.. Eph. 6:10-11, 15, 18-19   

What struck me immediately about this passage is the 'offensive militaristic' imagery of the battle armor and weapons vs. the 'defensive posture' called for by the writer, making use of the actual defensive weapons named: truth, righteousness, proclamation of the gospel of peace, faith, salvation, the Spirit, the word of God. THAT is the 'whole armor' of God we are to wear. And with that armor we will be as successful --or more so!-- than Michael Oher at defending his quarterback's blind side.

Which of these necessary Christian defensive points do you have a strong, firm grasp on? And which do you have not so much of? Doesn't this give us an automatic 'to do' list, to be working on those traits which we are a bit 'thin' on so as to build them up, to 'thicken' their ability to act as armor. 

              +How do you discern which are the 'weak links' in  your chain mail?   
              +And once you've determined that, how do you set about fortifying those links?
              +In other words, what is the foundation of all our knowledge and action? 

TRUTH

Short-lived Vice-Moderator Tara Spuhler McCabe, Moderator Neal Pressa, and current Vice Moderator Tom Trinidad, all Teaching Elders,  answer questions and also hear some offer their own stories, at least one speaking the truth of her congregation publicly for the first time, at a Town Hall meeting. 

RIGHTEOUSNESS    

The last of the early morning worship services, on Wednesday we again celebrated Communion in the Ecumenical service.

  
PREACHING THE GOSPEL OF PEACE

Preacher at the Ecumenical Worship Service Wednesday morning.....he did preach the gospel of peace!

Shoes of a person who is not just ready and waiting to preach the gospel of peace, but who does it day in and day out in every aspect of her life.

FAITH

A simple wall banner painted on plain brown wrapping paper -- like paper grocery bags -- in the interactive Prayer Room at GA.

SALVATION

The communion table in the sanctuary of First Presbyterian Church of Pittsburgh.We prayed through 9 pages of typed prayer requests turned in on Sunday morning, mostly by folks visiting for the General Assembly. At one point the sunlight shifted through the clerestory windows and bathed it beautiful stone with a luminous quality.  

SPIRIT (WORD OF GOD)

Peace doves beckon you to enter the interactive Prayer Room.

Fireworks from our hotel room on the Fourth of July -- no gentle dove here, pure raucous Wild Goose  (and most definitely on the loose!)

A bit before sunset: pure illumination.

PRAYER

If the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace are beautiful, how much more lovely are the hands of those who pray for peace?

Ordinary 19B (August 12, 2012) Ephesians 4:25-5:2
     My apologies for being 'AWOL' the last 2 Sundays -- I was on vacation!

                 26 Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger,  
                 27and do not make room for the devil....29 Let no evil talk come out 
                 of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is 
                 need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear. 30 And 
                 do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked 
                 with a seal for the day of redemption.         Ephesians 4:26-27, 29-30

Paul (or one of his students) gives us a pretty fair blueprint of how to live the Christian life in this passage, ending with the call to be imitators of God and live in love as did Christ. And it's not anything new or ridiculous, like if he told us to purify our hearts by holding our breath for 5 minutes, or to eat and sleep with pigs as penance for lying to your neighbor!

No, we are simply instructed to tell the truth, told it's alright to get angry (just not to let it fester so as to create an opening for the evil one), stop stealing, no more evil talk, only speak what is edifying and grace-filled (and take care not to cause the Holy Spirit of God any grief!), Don't be bitter, wrathful, don't even think about malice or slander.  No, just be kind, tenderhearted, and forgiving of one another. Simple things, right?  

HAH!

     + is there any real hope that a family can exist with little or no 
       gossiping, back-biting, complaining? what about a company?
       a church?
    + can we ever hope to see a positive political campaign again?
    + why are we humans so good at remembering when it comes to
       having been wronged ..... and find it just about impossible to
       truly forgive?

The book that started a whole series of events into motion....

One little psalter and we have both the basis of copyright law that still stands today AND (to my knowledge) the cause of the very first HYMNAL WAR!!!      (A.D. 6th Century)

Watchtower on the wall built to separate the Catholic neighborhood of Boggtown from Protestant Derry. It was here that Columba (Colm Cille) was serving when he  self-imposed  banishment from his beloved Ireland as penance for the lives of those who died in battle over 'his' psalter.

Empty police barracks in Belfast once used for British troops

The River Coe flowing down a few kilometers to what was, in 1692, the highland community of Glencoe, of the clan MacDonald. A surprise attack in the night by lowland soldiers enjoying the clan's hospitality forced the men to attempt escape up along the river. In 'The Massacre of Glencoe' as it is still called, 38 men were murdered, and 40 women and children were left to die of exposure when their homes were burned in the mid-February winter..

 

A colleague touches the marker of paving stones laid out in a W over a G next to a parked car in St. Andrew's, Scotland. At that place George Wishart was burnt at the stake as one of the first Protestant martyrs in Scotland.

The infamous Field of Flodden, where the fairest of Scotland's future were all killed in 1513.

  

Seen in the first half hour after we landed in Dublin, Ireland. Perhaps one day we will listen  just a bit better to Paul or Jesus or at least God! and put a stop to senseless killing -- and just learn to 'get along'.