During the next few weeks, this blog will be taken over by my daily devotions done at Timberlake Church (Disciples of Christ) during these weeks of pandemic and “sheltering at home.”
March 31, 2020 The Spring of our Discontent Scripture: Psalm 23
“Now is the winter of our discontent
Made glorious by this sun of York.” William Shakespeare, Richard III
Years ago, a church was going through a rough time. The pastor refers to it now as “the winter of our discontent.” It sounds like a negative, but as the lines from Shakespeare mean, a bad time is over and now the sun (or “son,” Edward IV of England) of York has re-taken the throne. Richard (for whom the play is named) spends a good deal of the play getting rid of everyone so that he can eventually take the throne from his brother. I’m not going to give a synopsis here (bored? Read the play!), but in this particular case, the line seems fairly sarcastic.
I have always liked the line, “winter of our discontent;” so much so that I read a tedious novel of the same name by John Steinbeck years ago; to me, the best part of the book was its last page, meaning, I was glad it was over! Indeed, the “winter of our (my) discontent was made glorious” by the completion of the book!
I thought of Psalm 23 along with this today. Our spring will not be made glorious until this pandemic is complete. Yet, God is still with us, even right here in the middle of the whole thing. The Psalmist says that God prepares a table for us not in a safe place, but in the presence of our enemies. In other words, no matter how bad things may seem, look for the blessings, especially the blessing of the presence of God (you can’t get a blessing any better than that!).
So, here in the “spring of our discontent,” we are invited to remember that in the midst of every spring, a resurrection is waiting just around the corner. While our Lent of pandemic tells us that we all are vulnerable, scripture reminds us that God guides us through this, like a shepherd guiding sheep through dangerous territory.
May the spring of our discontent be made glorious summer by this Son of God!
Prayer: Kind Shepherd, guide our thoughts to You. Help us to keep You in our sights no matter where life takes us. Prepare for all Your children a feast, even in the midst of this darkness. Keep us safe, heal us, and make us always aware of You, in the name of the Christ we pray this, amen.
About jamiebrame
Greetings, fellow earthlings. I'm the retired Program Director at Christmount, the national retreat, camp, and conference center of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), in Black Mountain, NC. From September 2019 through October, 2020, I served Timberlake Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Lynchburg, VA, as interim minister. After taking more than a year off, First Christian Church (DoC), Wilson, NC, offered me the position of Interim Minister, beginning May 10, 2022.
Originally from Eden, NC, I graduated from John Motley Morehead High School, earned a BA in Religion and Philosophy at Atlantic Christian College (now Barton College), and eked out a Master of Divinity from the Divinity School at Duke University. I served, in various positions, churches (part time and full time) in North Carolina and Georgia, and have lived in Black Mountain, NC, since 1989. I married Renae in 1992 (she refers to these years as "looooooooooong" years.
I've spent the past 50 years or so trying to practice Christian contemplative prayer with some touches of Zen meditation to help the journey along. Married to a wife who is much holier than I am, I am fortunate to learn from her daily about how to do this thing called spirituality. Being an ordained minister doesn't make me holy (but occasionally, as you'll read, a little sanctimonious, so forgive me in advance!); but I hope that I put my education to good use.
I'd love to be considered a spiritual teacher, but I know myself too well to claim that. While I do a bit of teaching, I think the best teaching we do is when we remain silent (the old desert abba said something like, "if you won't learn from my silence, you won't learn from my talking"). But silence shouldn't turn into quietism, and we do have to speak out and act for justice and fairness and equality for all.
I frequently ask myself the question, "Does it matter?" about the major - and minor - issues of the day. What I think matters: love for God, equality, fairness, loving our neighbor, feeding hungry people, housing homeless ones, clothing naked ones, and especially caring for children; basically, caring for those who have some trouble caring for themselves. AND our relationship with God.
What doesn't matter: what you think of me. I'm not very Christ-like. You won't hear me talking about all the things I do for others, or all the things I do for God - I was taught that It's not about me, and using good works to get attention for myself isn't what Christian faith is about - look up "narcissism" on Google. I'm not sure Jesus thinks it matters much that I am like him or not, but I do. The old story from the rabbis is probably apropo: when I am hauled up before God at the end of time, God isn't going to ask me why I wasn't more like someone else: I will be asked why I wasn't more like me. The rabbis tell the story better.
I'm still a work in progress, as Renae will attest to.
Finally, I just hope that something you read here will make you think. Use what you can, ignore the rest. Go read some of the desert saints. Read the classics. Take care of people, never point to yourself, and don't follow me: I'm just hoping to be one more signpost to God.
And as one friend reminded me the week before I left Christmount, "It matters."
Oh, and my favorite color is probably blue, and I love cats, and I love my wife's music. I don't like beets.
Does It Matter 