Embracing Loss

Devotional Reflection, Monday, September 23, 2024

Proper 20, the week of the eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost

The Rev. David W. Perkins, Th.D.

Key phrases for reflection from today’s reading:

7John said to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, ‘You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, “We have Abraham as our ancestor”; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. 9Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.’ 10And the crowds asked him, ‘What then should we do?’ 11In reply he said to them, ‘Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.’

You will find the full text of today’s Gospel at the end of this reflection.

Daily Office Lectionary Readings (BCP, 985)

AM Psalm 80; PM Psalm 77, [79]

Esther 4:4-17 or Judith 7:1-7, 19-32; Acts 18:1-11; Luke (1:1-4),3:1-14

Today we celebrate the Feast of  Thecla of Iconium. (See below.)

David’s Reflections

My office at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, where I taught New Testament and Greek, had an outer office for the secretary and an inner office for my use.  We left the outer office open and unlocked during the class day so that students could retrieve papers graded and check their New Testament Greek workbook assignments against a master workbook key kept there.

We moved to New Orleans from having served as senior minister in First Baptist, Williamsburg, in the southeast Kentucky mountains where the winters were rugged.  I had accumulated winter wear, including a couple of topcoats, while in Kentucky and on those rare days when it was genuinely cold in New Orleans, I would walk the three blocks to work from an on-campus house wearing one of them and I would hang it on a coat tree in the outer office.

On one of those rare cold, windy days, I returned to the office from a day of teaching to retrieve my briefcase and topcoat for the walk home.  The topcoat had disappeared from its resting place on that coat tree.  Someone, student or staff had removed it, and it never reappeared.

Words from Luke 3:11 in today’s text came to mind as I wrestled with the prospect that a student preparing for ministry or a building staff person had stolen my coat, “Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none.”  I found myself chuckling on the walk home, a walk made much less pleasant by damp whistling winds from which I had little protection.  I had not given the coat to the thief;  they had taken it.  But, perhaps I could release it in the hope that it would bring some comfort to someone who obviously believed they needed it badly enough to sacrifice their integrity for it. At least they were warmer than I on that day.

On that occasion, humor buffered the sense of loss I felt at never being able to wear my favorite topcoat again.  We suffer major losses in the deaths of people and relationships, the loss of jobs, the loss of homes to fire or storm, the death of a pet, and so forth.  Some of us suffered losses of personal property in Virginia in the flooding caused by the torrential rains of Hurricane Gaston;  yet, our losses seem trivial compared to those inflicted by Katrina, Rita, Gustav, Hanna, and a plethora of other storms, wildfires, droughts, etc.

How do you respond to those losses, some major, some that might be called “minor” by onlookers?  Perhaps your response involves a number of strategies, with humor being one of them.  Laughter around the coffin of a beloved who has died can be a very healthy response, one mixed with tears and deep sadness.  My brother, John, died in December 2020 of pancreatic cancer. That loss impacted me deeply and continues to feel profound. The most damaging thing you can do is to take the loss with less than full seriousness, to try to tough it out without acknowledging or allowing yourself to experience the loss and its impact.  To deny the loss cheapens the value of who or what we have lost.

That day, I felt quite sad about the loss of a topcoat, not comparable with the loss of a  beloved brother, of course. I could have minimized it by telling myself that other people where far worse off.  Perhaps I actually did some of that.  But, my losses are mine.  And, they deserve my attention and my acceptance.  As I allow the loss to make its impact, I will experience the feelings that will honor the value of who or what was lost, and I will move into a new space where the loss no longer preoccupies my life. Grieving brother John’s death feels like a small price to pay for the indescribable gift his life and love were to me.

Mary Oliver’s words in her poem “In Blackwater Woods” have been a guiding star for me.

To live in this world

you must be able

to do three things:

to love what is mortal;

to hold it

against your bones knowing

your own life depends on it;

and, when the time comes to let it go,

to let it go.*

*Mary Oliver, New and Selected Poems (Boston:  Beacon, 1992), pp. 177-178

Collect of the Day, Proper 20, the eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Grant us, Lord, not to be anxious about earthly things, but to love things heavenly; and even now, while we are placed among things that are passing away, to hold fast to those that shall endure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP, 233-234)

Today we celebrate the Feast of Thecla of Iconium (died ca 70 CE).

http://www.satucket.com/lectionary/Thecla.html

Collect of the Feast of Thecla of Iconium

God of liberating power, who called Thecla to proclaim the gospel and did not permit any obstacle or peril to inhibit her: Empower courageous evangelists among us, that men and women everywhere may know the freedom that you offer us in Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

A Collect for the Renewal of Life

O God, the King eternal, whose light divides the day from the night and turns the shadow of death into the morning: Drive far from us all wrong desires, incline our hearts to keep your law, and guide our feet into the way of peace; that, having done your will with cheerfulness while it was day, we may, when night comes, rejoice to give you thanks; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.  (BCP, 99)

Of the Holy Spirit

Almighty and most merciful God, grant that by the indwelling of your Holy Spirit we may be enlightened and strengthened for your service; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.  (BCP, 251)

A Prayer for Light

Almighty God, we give you thanks for surrounding us, as daylight fades, with the brightness of the vesper light; and we implore you of your great mercy that, as you enfold us with the radiance of this light, so you would shine into our hearts the brightness of your Holy Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.  (BCP, 110)

A Collect for Mission

O God, you have made of one blood all the peoples of the earth, and sent your blessed Son to preach peace to those who are far off and to those who are near: Grant that people everywhere may seek after you and find you; bring the nations into your fold; pour out your Spirit upon all flesh; and hasten the coming of your kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 100, 257)

Daily Office Gospel, Luke 1:1-4, 3:1-14

1:1Since many have undertaken to set down an orderly account of the events that have been fulfilled among us, 2just as they were handed on to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word, 3I too decided, after investigating everything carefully from the very first, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4so that you may know the truth concerning the things about which you have been instructed.

3:1In the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was ruler of Galilee, and his brother Philip ruler of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias ruler of Abilene, 2during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, 4as it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah, ‘The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. 5Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth; 6and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”’ 7John said to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, ‘You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, “We have Abraham as our ancestor”; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. 9Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.’ 10And the crowds asked him, ‘What then should we do?’ 11In reply he said to them, ‘Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.’ 12Even tax collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, ‘Teacher, what should we do?’ 13He said to them, ‘Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you.’ 14Soldiers also asked him, ‘And we, what should we do?’ He said to them, ‘Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages.’

Daily Offices in the Book of Common Prayer

Morning Prayer, Rite 2, page 75, The Book of Common Prayer

Noonday Prayer, page 103, Book of Common Prayer

Order of Worship for Evening (Vespers), p 109, Book of Common Prayer

Evening Prayer, Rite 2, page 115, Book of Common Prayer

Compline (Night Prayer), page 127, Book of Common Prayer

Daily Devotionals, page 136, Book of Common Prayer