Schadenfreude

But God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the bush?” And he said, “Yes, angry enough to die.” Then the Lord said, “You are concerned about the bush, for which you did not labor and which you did not grow; it came into being in a night and perished in a night. And should I not be concerned about Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also many animals?” Jonah 3:10-4:11 

Good news here. God is big enough for us all. Jonah has been asked by God to go and tell the Ninevites (the arch enemies of the Children of Israel) to repent. He tries to escape God on  a boat, gets thrown in the sea, swallowed by a whale and then washed up on Nineveh. THEN- he gets a meeting with the King and tells him God's message- "REPENT OR ELSE" and the King says, "OKEY DOKE!"

Jonah, all along, didn't want to go on what he thought was a suicide mission. Also, he hated the Ninevites and figured they would not listen, and God would blow up their city. They not only repent by smearing the men with ashes and having them wear sackcloths- the women, children and even animals got in on the gang. THEY HEARD HIM.

So now, at the end of the story, we see him upset about this and even grumpier that the shade he was enjoying dried up. He is so upset about the shade that he says to God "Take me now." God says, "Let me get this straight. You are upset about not having shade, but you do not give two hoots about a city full of human beings?" The story ends on this cliffhanger.

Who among us has not had what is called schadenfreude- or "pleasure at someone else's pain"? How great it was that a King decided to repent of being a jerk. How great it was that he heard God's message of mercy. Yet, who among us cannot relate to taking more pleasure out of seeing someone "get what they deserve" versus someone else experiencing mercy? We are all guilty of this, to some degree. 

Take this in:
The story of Jonah means for us that God is not a God of a tribe or a people but a God for everyone whose love extends to everyone (even our enemies). A life's work for us, then, is working on repenting of our hatred and being curious about how we can love our enemies. For starters, we can try not to feel happy when something bad happens to them. We can be curious about why the enmity exists. 

Later, in the person of Jesus, then, we get an example for how this works. We can look to his example of love and the multitude of ways that love can be played out when we let go of our ancient hatreds. Jonah couldn't let go. We can.

T 

Not Fair!

“…When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage. Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage. And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” Matthew 20:12-16

Jesus’ parable of the workers is a good news-bad news kind of parable. 

First the bad news:

What we notice about the parable is the unfairness of it all. Jesus plays into our  all-too-human tendency to think, first off, that the universe is arranged with us in the center (it isn’t).  Good people die when they don’t deserve it, cheaters win the match, and people do not get what they deserve. At some point, all of us will be the worker who worked all day and then watched someone who walked on in the last hour get paid the same wage. A fundamental truth is that life is not fair.

Now, the good news:

If we make his parable even more cosmic, though, Jesus is reminding us that God’s love does not work within human equations of what is fair. God loves us all— equally— without measure— regardless of how good we are, how much Church we attend or what religion we follow. God’s love works beyond our comprehension of being merited or evenly given out. 

We will never deserve anything God gives us because we were made to be loved by God, not to earn that love with any kind of work. Whether you show up late or early, you will be loved. 

Control Yourself

Happening, New Beginnings, and DYC are diocesan retreats that can be life-changing. I went to each of these weekends while growing up as an “Episcopal Kid”  as an attendee, a team member, a chaperone, and a babysitter. We are taking groups to all of these weekends, so sign up. While many of the details of the experience might have faded, the relationships I formed with people from all over the Diocese of Atlanta continue. You will learn on the weekends that “you are now a part of a welcoming and loving community.” Whenever I’ve needed a shoulder to lean on or an ear to listen, I’ve relied on friendships formed on a Diocesan retreat at Camp Mikkell. If you’re feeling unsteady or unsure in your faith, want to explore your many questions, or just want to try something totally different, join us at Happening, New Beginnings or DYC. (Look for details in the weekly email for signing up, etc.) Take the first step and register at eycdioatl.org

Thinking about how grateful I am for making the choice to be a part of these experiences reminds me of something interesting we learned in my Psych class called “Locus of Control.” LOC refers to the extent to which people believe that they have control over their lives. So, if you have an internal locus of control, you would likely believe that you have free will and that most things that happen to you are due to yourself. Someone with an external locus of control, however, would believe that things that happen to them are mostly due to fate, or to luck, or maybe God.  Statistical studies have shown that people with an external locus of control are more likely to get injured or die in natural disasters. Sometimes, during natural disasters, for instance, people with an  external locus of control are more likely to stay put, refuse help, and just ride out them out because they may have a “whatever happens- happens” sort of outlook on life. But people with an internal locus of control would tend to take action and get out of harm’s way. (This is, of course, a generalization and may not always be true for everyone).

Yet, there were many people in the path of Irma who had no choice about being able to get out of the way. Certainly, none of the folks who lost their homes had any control about where the storm landed. (And God certainly did not direct Irma towards any particular place).  Paul, in his letter to the Romans, recognizes that , in the end, there are many things we are not always in control of. He says, “We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. “ Whatever the outcome, he says, we all belong to God, and we should act as such.

Which leaves us with this: many of us have more control than others. We who have  electricity, for instance, might find room in our house for someone who has been in the dark for days. We might take some of our money and send it to Episcopal Relief and Development or even help an older neighbor clean out her yard. When we are the ones who have some control over our environment or lives we are called to direct ourselves towards being the hands and feet of Christ to those who (their fault or not) have not been so fortunate. Wherever we are in our “locus of control” we belong to God.

Hurricanes: Holy Eucharist,Prayer and Action

As Irma barrels towards and across our brothers and sisters (and us, probably), we first want to remind you that you will be OK. There are many around you whose primary concern in life is to make sure that you are OK.

We had some other thoughts :

+Limit media intake: Outside of needing practical information, (like when, exactly Irma may hit us or other folks in our lives) we do not need to obsessively watch video of the storm or soak up images of the aftermath. The first 25 times we see it are enough for us to know that Irma is scary and that  lots of people are suffering. In time, we can respond. In the meantime, we can best care for others by caring for ourselves, too. 

+Pray: Prayer connects us to those we do not know and those we care about during these times. Ask God for what you want - however ridiculous or self-serving it may seem. God values honest prayer. When we open up our hearts to God, prayer really works on us  in a profound way. (It’s science!)

+Get to Church: All Saints’ is going to be working hard to figure out how we can best leverage our abundant  resources to offer refuge and relief for people affected by Irma and other natural disasters (like Hurricane Harvey). Mother Kim will be leading a group who will begin to figure out how we can minister to the Saints who are seeking refuge from this and other natural disasters. God and her church can use our energy, talents , time and money to help our brothers and sisters.

Stay tuned for details.

+Get Communion: You might be surprised at what happens when we  show up and share space, prayer and Holy Eucharist with others who are worried about the same thing(s). When we worship together we offer God our cares, concerns and worries. God  blesses, feeds and unifies us through our Holy Eucharist. Whether we perceive it to be helpful or not, we are strengthened and transformed by being here together and sharing this holy meal. 

+Get in Touch: You know how to find us. If you feel like you just cannot handle what is happening around you (now or any other time, for that matter), we are always available to talk. There are many others in this community available as well. 

+Open your Prayer Book:  We have a wealth of prayer at our fingertips. If you don’t have a Book of Common Prayer at home and want one, just let us know. You can also use online resources like this or this.

Here is one prayer, found in Evening Prayer and in Compline to use when words fail you. (A good one to memorize, too. Works when things are rough and when they are OK).

Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who work, or watch, or weep this night, and  give your angels charge over those who sleep. Tend the sick, Lord Christ; give rest to the weary, bless the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted, shield the joyous; and all for your love's sake. Amen. 

All will be well, 

Tim and Joel