There is a balm in Gilead
‘A BALM IN GILEAD’
"There is a balm in Gilead
to make the wounded whole;
there is a balm in Gilead to heal the sin-sick soul.
These words were sung by those who, like Jeremiah,
longed for that balm and did not find it present."
18My joy is gone, grief is upon me, my heart is sick. 19Hark, the cry of my poor people from
far and wide in the land: "Is the LORD not in Zion? Is her King not in
her?" ("Why have they provoked me to anger with their images, with
their foreign idols?") 20"The
harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved." 21For the hurt of my poor people I am
hurt, I mourn, and dismay has taken hold of me. 22Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there
no physician there? Why then has the health of my poor people not been
restored?
1O that my
head were a spring of water, and my eyes a fountain of tears, so that I might
weep day and night for the slain of my poor people!
Jeremiah 8:18-9:1
Grief or The
Adams Memorial
SAINT-GAUDENS,
Augustus
1891
Rock Creek Cemetery
Washington, D.C.
United States
The
Adams Memorial is a grave marker for Marian Hooper Adams and Henry Adams.
Henry
Adams, who traveled to Japan ostensibly
to find inspiration for this memorial, particularly wanted elements of serenely
immovable Buddhist human figures to be contrasted with the waterfall-like robe
associated with Kannon. … Saint-Gaudens's
name for the bronze figure is "The Mystery of the Hereafter and The Peace
of God that Passeth Understanding," but the public commonly called it Grief – an appellation that Henry Adams
apparently disliked.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adams_Memorial_(Saint-Gaudens)
Few people can see genius
in someone who has offended them.
~
Robertson Davies
Moral certainty is
always a sign of cultural inferiority. The more uncivilized the man, the surer
he is that he knows precisely what is right and what is wrong. All human
progress, even in morals, has been the work of men who have doubted the current
moral values, not of men who have whooped them up and tried to enforce them.
The truly civilized man is always skeptical and tolerant, in this field as in
all others. His culture is based on “I am not too sure."
~ H.L. Mencken
Sleep Test
Sunday
night I had a sleep test at National Jewish Hospital.
It
wasn’t quite this bad … however, I came home at 7:00
the
next morning and slept for four hours!
<gr>
Lunch
with Linda Kirkpatrick at Troutdale.
I “helped”
direct traffic in Laura Mehmert’s studio.
There
were MANY visitors!!!
“Planting
Evergreen”
by
Tom Ware
October
8, 1994
Evergreen
Library
(One
of my former students, along with her mother, were the models for this
sculpture.)
Rest
in Peace, Tom Ware.
Most people are mirrors,
reflecting the moods and emotions of the times;
few are windows, bringing light to bear
on the dark corners where troubles fester.
The whole purpose of eductation
is to turn mirrors into windows.
~
Sydney J. Harris
September 18, 2022 Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost - Year C
Previous OPQs may be found at:
1Then Jesus
said to the disciples, "There was a rich man who had a manager, and
charges were brought to him that this man was squandering his property. 2So he summoned him and said to him,
'What is this that I hear about you? Give me an accounting of your management,
because you cannot be my manager any longer.' 3Then the manager said to himself,
'What will I do, now that my master is taking the position away from me? I am
not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. 4I have decided what to do so that, when
I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes.' 5So, summoning his master's debtors
one by one, he asked the first, 'How much do you owe my master?' 6He answered, 'A hundred jugs of
olive oil.' He said to him, 'Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it
fifty.' 7Then he
asked another, 'And how much do you owe?' He replied, 'A hundred containers of
wheat.' He said to him, 'Take your bill and make it eighty.' 8And his master commended the
dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the children of this age
are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of
light. 9And I tell
you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it
is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes.
Luke 16:1-13
Agnus Day, by James Wetzstein
Agnus Day appears with the permission of www.agnusday.org
LECTIONARY
Jeremiah 8:18—9:1
Psalm 79:1–9
1 Timothy 2:1–7
Luke 16:1–13
First Reading Jeremiah 8:18-9:1
18My joy is gone, grief is upon me, my heart is sick. 19Hark, the cry of my poor people from
far and wide in the land: "Is the LORD not in Zion? Is her King not in
her?" ("Why have they provoked me to anger with their images, with
their foreign idols?") 20"The
harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved." 21For the hurt of my poor people I am
hurt, I mourn, and dismay has taken hold of me. 22Is there no
balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has the health of my poor
people not been restored?
1O that my
head were a spring of water, and my eyes a fountain of tears, so that I might
weep day and night for the slain of my poor people!
1O God, the
nations have come into your inheritance;
they have defiled your holy temple;
they have laid Jerusalem in ruins.
2They have given the bodies of your
servants
to the birds of the air for food,
the flesh of your faithful to the wild animals
of the earth.
3They have poured out their blood
like water
all around Jerusalem,
and there was no one to bury them.
4We have become a taunt to our neighbors,
mocked and derided by those around us.
5How long, O LORD? Will you be angry
forever?
Will your jealous wrath burn like fire?
6Pour out your anger on the nations
that do not know you,
and on the
kingdoms
that do not call on your name.
7For they have devoured Jacob
and laid waste his habitation.
8Do not remember against us the
iniquities of our ancestors;
let your compassion come speedily to meet us,
for we are brought very low.
9Help us, O God of our salvation,
for the glory of your name;
deliver us,
and forgive our sins,
for your name's sake.
Second Reading 1 Timothy 2:1-7
1First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers,
intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, 2for kings and all who are in high
positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and
dignity. 3This is
right and is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4who desires everyone to be saved and
to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5For there is
one God; there is also one mediator between God and humankind, Christ Jesus,
himself human, 6who gave
himself a ransom for all-this was attested at the right time. 7For this I was appointed a herald
and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the
Gentiles in faith and truth.
1Then Jesus said to the disciples, "There was a rich man who
had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was squandering
his property. 2So he
summoned him and said to him, 'What is this that I hear about you? Give me an
accounting of your management, because you cannot be my manager any longer.' 3Then the manager said to himself,
'What will I do, now that my master is taking the position away from me? I am
not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. 4I have
decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome
me into their homes.' 5So,
summoning his master's debtors one by one, he asked the first, 'How much do you
owe my master?' 6He answered,
'A hundred jugs of olive oil.' He said to him, 'Take your bill, sit down
quickly, and make it fifty.' 7Then he
asked another, 'And how much do you owe?' He replied, 'A hundred containers of
wheat.' He said to him, 'Take your bill and make it eighty.' 8And his master commended the
dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the children of this age
are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of
light. 9And I tell
you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it
is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes.