Pastor Jon delivered a superb sermon this morning, staying true to form and apparently fulfilling the standards set by a nameless congregant (two movie references and a "shout out," though this one remained nameless).

One of the more obscure associations that occurred to me during the entire worship service was the connection between the "theme" word of Ruth chapter 1 (the Scripture upon which the sermon was based) and part of the prayers for the people, which mentioned our nation and leaders and the Church in the U.S.

The theme word for Ruth one is the Hebrew word translated "return" in the chapter (though it has other English meanings as well). The word has a rich theological use in Scripture, but there are two in particular that came to mind as I reflected upon Jon's sermon: (I've dashed the translated word from the Hebrew)

2 Chronicles 7:13-14
If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people, and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and ---turn--- from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

Isaiah 55:11
So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth;
It will not ---return--- to Me empty,
Without accomplishing what I desire,
And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.

Pastor Jon emphasized the faith of Naomi--that she believed God was responsible for all of her circumstances, her griefs, her sufferings; and yet she desired to send forth her daughters-in-law with the blessing of God upon them. Indeed, even Ruth, the pagan "Moabitess" (as Jon put it) attached herself not simply to Naomi, but to her God, the LORD, or YHWH the Covenant God. Would Ruth had been willing to enjoin herself to YHWH had Naomi been embittered against God, as opposed to being embittered against the hardships of life brought about by sin, by the lack of peace (shalom) in this life? It is hard to think so.

The text does not say that Naomi had been unfaithful to God, and therefore was under judgment. We might speculate on the significance of her husband choosing to leave Israel in order to seek food in Moab during the drought rather than trusting the LORD and staying in Bethlehem (the "House of Bread"). But even if such were the case, it would not be Naomi's sin that brought her household into its desperate situation. Instead, what Naomi's circumstances revealed was God mercy in the midst of Naomi's suffering. She lost what was dearest to her, but gained something in return--the revelation and companionship of a faithful daughter-in-law, the return to her homeland, and the blessings of God upon her household forever (for Christ would come from her household).

Why was the land under a famine? Why is it that we experience a drought in our land today? Perhaps its meaning is impenetrable, or perhaps God is sending calamities our way because we as the Church have ceded our responsibility to cultivate ourselves, our families, our communities, our States, and our nation for His glory and according to His Law. It need not be an either/or conclusion by the way.

The true path through circumstances of any kind is recognition of who God is, who we are in light of who He is, and what He commands from us because of who He is and what we are. Naomi went home because her people and her God were present in a land--even a land where everyone did what was right in their own eyes. It was the promised land. We know that our promised land is yet to come, but we have our marching orders in this land--to cultivate it for the coming of the King. Repentance also requires recognition--recognition and a return to the sound basis of God's Word. May it be our one and only source of truth, of hope, of direction in this life. For by God's promise His Word does not return empty, but will accomplish all of His aims and purposes.

The left overs of an underhandedness,
To redress, egress, and land--this,
This is the place and space, less,
Than what you thought or knew,
More than all that you could chew,
Masticating on some pontification; you,
Find that swallowing is the hardest,
For those who are soft, and lest,
You listen to the blessed:
You only comb the catacombs,
You yet address the undressed.

Pausing. . .

Pausing. . .

Pausing. . .

Only to ceaselessly,
And to greaselessly,
Slide into an oblivion,
Through a panopticon of haze,
Seeing by a gaze of nothing,
The phrase of all emptiness,
Is the sum of all your zeros.
All of your heroes have died,
Or lied, and tried and failed,
Nailed to their impressive frailty,
Paling before hoped for comparisons;
These garrisons of gargantuan proportion,
Are all the more, no less a distortion,
A contortion of reality, you cannot see,
Reality is the stark, bleak, staring,
Reality is the dark, sleek, daring,
Reality is the last stroke--
You strike upon--
Upon yourself.

Is there less to be won?
Your striving is undone,
Yet. Yet? Yet!
You set the world,
(on nothing)
Spin the world,
(on nothing)
Turning, turning, turning,
Churning, churning, churning,
Burning, burning, burning,
Upon an axis,
(of nothing)
--Absolute--
Futility.
Vanity.
Striving after wind,
Without change, or stability,
Without strength; fragility,
Thy name is
a man,
a woman,
a childlessness,
Baron Barrenness.

I want you to know:
You will reap what you sow,
Every seed of thought does grow,
Into a yes, or into a no,
Into a stop, or into a go,
Into a high, or into a low,
Into a friend, or into a foe,
What will you show?
What will you show?
What will you show?
When all your cards,
So meticulously,
So ridiculously,
Arranged, deranged--fall--
face up,
On the table, of
On the scale, of
Justice,
With only your name,
Upon your lips to plead,
And your own blood,
Upon your life to bleed,
For every deed,
For every need.

Where does one draw the line,
Between the faulty and the fine?
Between the inside and the out?
Between the silence and the shout?
Is your public privative of something?

You say religion is something.
A personal thing,
A private thing,
And important thing,
Well that's something.
Well?

You say politics is plural,
Urban and rural,
By your construal,
I'll sit on a stool,
Off in the corner. . .for
I can't grasp the grammar

Because you've cornered the market--
Place of ideas,
Quarry of pleas,
Identities seized,
Ruptured, now bleeding,
Is anyone heeding?
Feeding some frenzy,
of words without meaning.

What is meaning?
What is truth?
With Pilate as co-pilot,
A light gets extinguished,
Alright already, steady, steady,
Rows along this ship of state,
O what a state we're in
for it.

I'll be your President,
No matter I'm Catholic.
I'll be your Governor,
No matter I'm Catholic.
I'll be your representative,
Because God doesn't play politics,
Or haven't you heard?
But you do play--well played,
Hands on; man on man; bloody hell,
Well?

If God is God over all,
(with liberty and justice for)
Does it make a difference at all,
(indivisible, with)
That I'm of one mind,
(under God)
And you're of another,
(one nation)
Brother to brother,
(pledge allegiance)
Fighting each other,
(pledge allegiance)
Without really fighting at all,
(pledge allegiance)
Or isn't that just a stall,
(with liberty and justice for)
A shortfall, free for,
(all)
But really only for the one,
(nation)
Who plays the game so well,
(under God)
Well?

So where do you draw the mark,
In the light, or a shot in the dark?
Who holds your pledge of allegiance,
Really?
Why not put your foot down (in your mouth),
And take your money (you're banking on it),
If you haven't thrown up your hands,
Exasperated in a fury of ignorance,
With impotence,
Retreating into externals,
The kernels of wisdom aside,
Brushed aside,
Cast aside,
Left aside,
On a mountain road going down to Jerusalem.
Who shall rescue what is perishing?
Who shall save what is dying?
Jesus man, so some say,

If they only knew,
Then maybe we all could do,
that something.
Well?

28. Bridge of San Luis Rey - Thornton Wilder
29. God, Evil, and Freedom - Alvin Plantinga
30. The Puritan Papers vol. 1 - ed. J.I. Packer
31. Eschatology - Robert Reymond's, Louis Berkhof's, & Charles Hodge's Systematic Theologies
32. Family-Driven Faith - Voddie Baucham
33. The Beginnings: Word & Spirit in Conversion - Paul Helm

I have managed to make myself consistently busier with each new semester of school. It doesn't look like my pattern will be changing much in the near future. Here is what is on my plate for the remainder of 2009:

May mini-mester, May 15 - June 2 - Public Speaking (Blinn CC)

Summer I, June 3 - July 1 - Public Speaking (Blinn CC)
Summer I, June 1 - July 1 - American Oratory (TAMU)

Summer II, July 6 - Aug 5 - Public Speaking (Blinn CC)
Summer II, July 6 - Aug 7 - American Oratory (TAMU)

MW - Fall, Aug 31 - Dec 16 - Public Speaking (Blinn CC)
MW - Fall, Aug 31 - Dec 16 - Argumentation & Debate (Blinn CC)
MWF - Fall, Aug 31 - Dec 16 - Technical Communication (TAMU)
MWF - Fall, Aug 31 - Dec 16 - American Oratory (TAMU)
MWF - Fall, Aug 31- Dec 16 - TA for Rhetoric in Western Thought (TAMU)

For the Fall, my Mondays and Wednesdays will be from 7:45 a.m. - 10:25 a.m. (Public Speaking & Argumentation at Blinn), then 12:40 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. (American Oratory at TAMU), then 3 p.m. - 3:50 p.m. (Technical Comm at TAMU)
My Fridays will be from 8 a.m. - 10:20 a.m. (three TA sections at TAMU), then the same afternoon classes.

Not to mention the dissertation I'm supposed to be writing at the same time. phew.