Compassion

 

 

8Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. 9He said to his people, “Look, the Israelite people are more numerous and more powerful than we. 10Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, or they will increase and, in the event of war, join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.” 11Therefore they set taskmasters over them to oppress them with forced labor. They built supply cities, Pithom and Rameses, for Pharaoh. 12But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread, so that the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites. 13The Egyptians became ruthless in imposing tasks on the Israelites. 14and made their lives bitter with hard service in mortar and brick and in every kind of field labor. They were ruthless in all the tasks that they imposed on them.

15The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, 16“When you act as midwives to the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstool, if it is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, she shall live.” 17But the midwives feared God; they did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but they let the boys live. 18So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this, and allowed the boys to live?” 19The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.” 20So God dealt well with the midwives; and the people multiplied and became very strong. 21And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families. 22Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, “Every boy that is born to the Hebrews you shall throw into the Nile, but you shall let every girl live.”

1Now a man from the house of Levi went and married a Levite woman.2The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw that he was a fine baby, she hid him three months. 3When she could hide him no longer she got a papyrus basket for him, and plastered it with bitumen and pitch; she put the child in it and placed it among the reeds on the bank of the river. 4His sister stood at a distance, to see what would happen to him.

5The daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her attendants walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her maid to bring it. 6When she opened it, she saw the child. He was crying, and she took pity on him, “This must be one of the Hebrews’ children,” she said. 7Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?” 8Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Yes.” So the girl went and called the child’s mother. 9Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed it. 10When the child grew up, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and she took him as her son. She named him Moses, “because,” she said, “I drew him out of the water.”

Exodus 1:8-2:10

 

The Finding of Moses

The Finding of Moses (detail)

ALMA-TADEMA, Lawrence

1904

Private Collection

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Finding_of_Moses_(Alma-Tadema)

 

 

Lawrence Alma-Tadema, an Anglo-Dutch artist, painted The Finding of Moses in 1904. It was one of his final significant works before his death in 1912, but it immediately went out of favour; rumour has it that it was sold for its frame in the 1950s. It was described in a 1995 auction catalogue as “the undisputed masterpiece of [Alma- Tadema’s] last decade, as well as a late (perhaps the final?) flowering of the nineteenth-love-affair century’s with Egypt,” after appreciation of Victorian painting was renewed towards the end of the twentieth century.

In 2010, it was auctioned off for about US$36 million to a private collector.

MORE:  https://exploreluxor.org/the-finding-of-moses/

 

 

 

 

For there is nothing heavier than compassion.

Not even one’s own pain weighs so heavy

as the pain one feels with someone, for someone, pain intensified by the imagination

and prolonged by a hundred echoes.

~ Milan Kundera

 

 

 

 

 The joy that compassion brings is one of the best-kept secrets

of humanity.  It is a secret known only to a very few people,

a secret that has to be rediscovered over and over again.

~ Henri J.M. Nouwen

 

 

 

 

 

Church of the Hills Annual Outdoor Service

August 22, 2023

 

Our service was held at the Wells’ Ranch.

 

And then we ate!

Of course.

 

Chew and Chat

at Parkside Café in Evergreen

Karla Byrd, Sondra Kellogg, Marilee Ross

 

We took a short walk to see Ann Simpson’s sculpture.

Ann is Jack Kellogg’s daughter.

 

Marilee and Sondra sitting on the commemorative bench placed by Rotary

in memory of Jack Kellogg.

 

Bunco at Heidi's

Marjorie Clinton, Heidi Smithson, Vicki Kyle

 

 

Grief Group had lunch at Tuscany Tavern

 

 

 

Rotary Club of Evergreen

Friday, August 25, 2023

Joan Spalding had never played the piano before and many of us became teary-eyed

as she, with Janine’s help, played a lovely tune.

 

Rikka

Robin now gets to start Rikka, another style of ikebana, and her classes will be hours long!

 

Rikka

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rikka

 

First attempt

 

 

 

 

 

Rest assured that, generally speaking,

others are acting in exactly the same manner

that you would under exactly the same circumstances.

Hence, be kind, understanding, empathetic, compassionate, and loving.

~ Gary W. Fenchuk

 

 

 

 

 

August 27, 2023  Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost: Proper 16 Year A

 

Previous OPQs may be found at:

 

 

13Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 17And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. 18And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. 19I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” 20Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

Matthew 16:13-20

Agnus Day, by James Wetzstein

Agnus Day appears with the permission of www.agnusday.org

 

 

An old Rabbi once asked his pupils how they could tell when the night had ended and the day had begun.

"Could it be," asked one of the students, "when you can see an animal in the distance and tell whether it's a sheep or a dog?"

"No," answered the Rabbi.

Another asked, "Is it when you can look at a tree in the distance and tell whether it's a fig tree or a peach tree?"

"No," answered the Rabbi.

"Then what is it?" the pupils demanded.

"It is when you can look on the face of any man or woman and see that it is your sister or brother. Because if you cannot see this, it is still night." 

~ Hasidic Tale

 

Saint Peter holding the Keys of heaven - the apostle keeper of the gates of eden in a statue inside the vatican museum in Castel Gandolfo - Rome - Italy Photograph by

 

 

 

LECTIONARY

Exodus 1:8—2:10 

Psalm 124 

Romans 12:1–8 

Matthew 16:13–20

 

 

Summary

Peter says more than just that Jesus is the promised Messiah, the “Christ,” but also that he is the Son of the Living God. This means that Peter understands Jesus to be more than just an especially glorious human being commissioned by God, but the Son of God himself. “He will be my son” reads God’s promise to David in 1 Chronicles 17:13. Likewise, we are not to regard Jesus’ words and ways as merely good advice from a great human teacher, but as coming from God himself.

However, this confession can only come from the inspiration of God: “Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.” Even addressing Peter’s parentage speaks to this, as “Jonah” is also the Hebrew word for “dove.” Peter then is truly a son of the Spirit to have made this confession.

So it is with all the baptized, that confessing and believing the divinity of Jesus Christ proves that we have spiritual parentage, and have been adopted into the life of the same heavenly Father who sent the Son.

https://www.preachingtoday.com/lectionary/

    
THE WORD:

In Matthew’s Gospel, Peter’s confession of faith is a turning point in the ministry of Jesus.  Jesus will now concentrate on preparing his disciples to take on the teaching ministry and leadership of the Church he will establish.

The scene of today’s Gospel, Caesarea Philippi, was the site of temples dedicated to no less than 14 different pagan gods, ranging from the Syrian god Baal to Pan, the Greek god of nature.  In the middle of the city was a great white temple built by Herod and dedicated to the “divinity” of Caesar (hence the name of the city).  In the midst of this marketplace of gods and temples, Jesus first indicates his plans and hopes for his church.

Jesus “sets up” Peter’s declaration of faith by asking his disciples what people are saying about him.  Many believed that Jesus is the reincarnation of John the Baptizer or the long-awaited return of the prophets Elijah or Jeremiah (Malachi 4: 5-6), whose return would signal the restoration of Israel.  Simon Peter, however, has been given the gift of faith (“flesh and blood has not revealed this to you”) and unequivocally states that Jesus is the Messiah.

Jesus blesses Simon with the new name of “rock” (Kepha in Aramaic, Petros in Greek), indicating that his faith will be the foundation for Jesus’ new Church.  Peter is entrusted with the keys of the kingdom of heaven (an image drawn from Isaiah 22: 15-25, today's first reading) and the mission to bring sins to consciousness and to proclaim to sinners the love and forgiveness of God.

https://connectionsmediaworks.com/sundaygospel.html#aug27

 

 

 

First Reading Exodus 1:8-2:10

8Now a new king arose over Egypt, who did not know Joseph. 9He said to his people, “Look, the Israelite people are more numerous and more powerful than we. 10Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, or they will increase and, in the event of war, join our enemies and fight against us and escape from the land.” 11Therefore they set taskmasters over them to oppress them with forced labor. They built supply cities, Pithom and Rameses, for Pharaoh. 12But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread, so that the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites. 13The Egyptians became ruthless in imposing tasks on the Israelites. 14and made their lives bitter with hard service in mortar and brick and in every kind of field labor. They were ruthless in all the tasks that they imposed on them.

15The king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiphrah and the other Puah, 16“When you act as midwives to the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstool, if it is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, she shall live.” 17But the midwives feared God; they did not do as the king of Egypt commanded them, but they let the boys live. 18So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this, and allowed the boys to live?” 19The midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; for they are vigorous and give birth before the midwife comes to them.” 20So God dealt well with the midwives; and the people multiplied and became very strong. 21And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families. 22Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, “Every boy that is born to the Hebrews you shall throw into the Nile, but you shall let every girl live.”

1Now a man from the house of Levi went and married a Levite woman.2The woman conceived and bore a son; and when she saw that he was a fine baby, she hid him three months. 3When she could hide him no longer she got a papyrus basket for him, and plastered it with bitumen and pitch; she put the child in it and placed it among the reeds on the bank of the river. 4His sister stood at a distance, to see what would happen to him.

5The daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her attendants walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her maid to bring it. 6When she opened it, she saw the child. He was crying, and she took pity on him, “This must be one of the Hebrews’ children,” she said. 7Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and get you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?” 8Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Yes.” So the girl went and called the child’s mother. 9Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child and nurse it for me, and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed it. 10When the child grew up, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and she took him as her son. She named him Moses, “because,” she said, “I drew him out of the water.”

Psalm 124:1-8

1   If it had not been the LORD who was on our side 
          — let Israel now say — 
2   if it had not been the LORD who was on our side, 
          when our enemies attacked us, 
3   then they would have swallowed us up alive, 
          when their anger was kindled against us; 
4   then the flood would have swept us away, 
          the torrent would have gone over us; 
5   then over us would have gone 
          the raging waters.

6   Blessed be the LORD, 
          who has not given us 
          as prey to their teeth.  
7   We have escaped like a bird 
          from the snare of the fowlers; 
     the snare is broken, 
          and we have escaped.

8   Our help is in the name of the LORD, 
          who made heaven and earth.

Second Reading Romans 12:1-8

1I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God — what is good and acceptable and perfect.

3For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. 4For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, 5so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. 6We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; 7ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; 8the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.

Gospel Matthew 16:13-20

13Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” 17And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. 18And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. 19I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” 20Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.