The Hissing of the Spent Lie?
- davidwperk
- Jan 4, 2024
- 5 min read
Devotional Reflection, Thursday, January 4, 2024
The week of the first Sunday after Christmas
The Rev. David W. Perkins, Th.D.
Key phrases for reflection from today’s Gospel reading:
6When he (Jesus) had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes, 7saying to him, ‘Go, wash in the pool of Siloam’ (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. . . . .8The neighbours and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, ‘Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?’ 9Some were saying, ‘It is he.’ Others were saying, ‘No, but it is someone like him.’ He kept saying, ‘I am the man.’ 10But they kept asking him, ‘Then how were your eyes opened?’ 11He answered, ‘The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, “Go to Siloam and wash.” Then I went and washed and received my sight.’ 12They said to him, ‘Where is he?’ He said, ‘I do not know.’
You will find the full text of today’s Gospel at the end of this reflection.
Daily Office Lectionary Readings (BCP, 941)
AM Psalm 85, 87; PM Psalm 89:1-29
Joshua 3:14-4:7; Eph. 5:1-20; John 9:1-12,35-38
Today we celebrate the Feast of Elizabeth Seton. (See below.)
David’s Reflections
The Welsh poet Dylan Thomas wrote:
I have longed to move away
From the hissing of the spent lie
And the old terrors' continual cry
Growing more terrible as the day
Goes over the hill into the deep sea;+
In today’s Gospel reading, the blind person and his interlocutors might have said those lines. Jesus healed him on a Sabbath, which set up a values conflict for the religious leaders who interrogated this formerly blind one. They obviously were not opposed to healing. However, in the course of this story, they become more entrenched in their belief, against all evidence to the contrary, that Jesus had done something evil. He had violated the Law’s demand for rest on the Sabbath by doing the work of a physician.
The hissing of the spent lie can be heard in the spaces between the words of this narrative. Why would these people cling to their beliefs, like storm-tossed sailors clinging to a sinking life raft, rather than swimming for the distantly visible shore?
Why do we get locked into beliefs that limit our vision of new and pure light about ourselves, others, and God? We can form an opinion about God, about Christ, about the church, about climate change, about a friend or spouse, about politics; that opinion can become the spent lie from which we need to distance ourselves. Yet, the persistent clinging occludes our capacity to see and closes our eyes, creating a growing inner darkness like a room with the blinds being slowly closed on a sunny day.
Could it be fear, fear of the new and the unknown and of the disquieting responsibilities that rush in on the heels of a nod of agreement with new light? Thomas answers in the affirmative as his poem continues.
I have longed to move away but am afraid;
Some life, yet unspent, might explode
Out of the old lie burning on the ground,
And, crackling into the air, leave me half-blind.+
Perhaps those places in our lives where we resist new light and new insight could serve as wake up calls about where God desires to take us. Had these religious leaders become a bit self-reflective about why they were so anxious and angry, their response to Jesus just may have become more positive. Can we ask ourselves rather basic questions about why we feel anxious and angry and fearful and find ourselves clinging to beliefs and attitudes that feel familiar? Could the anxiety be the hissing of the spent lie?
+The Poems of Dylan Thomas, ed. with intro, Daniel Jones. Preface, Dylan Thomas (New York: New Directions, 2003), p. 48.
©David W. Perkins, 2024.
The Collect of the Day, First Sunday after Christmas Day
O God, who wonderfully created, and yet more wonderfully restored, the dignity of human nature: Grant that we may share the divine life of him who humbled himself to share our humanity, you Son Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP, 214)
Today we celebrate the Feast of Elizabeth Seton, founder of the American Sisters of Charity (died 4 Jan 1821 CE).
Collect of the Feast of Elizabeth Seton
Give us grace, O God, to love you in all things and above all things; that, following the example of your servant Elizabeth Ann Seton, we might express our love for you in the service of others. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
Collect for the Stewardship of Creation
O merciful Creator, your hand is open wide to satisfy the needs of every living creature: Make us always thankful for your loving providence; and remembering the account that we must give one day, grant that we may be faithful stewards of your good gifts; through Jesus Christ our Savior, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP, 259)
A Prayer for Light
O Lord God Almighty, as you have taught us to call the evening, the morning, and the noonday one day; and have made the sun to know its going down: Dispel the darkness of our hearts, that by your brightness we may know you to be the true God and eternal light, living and reigning for ever and ever. Amen. (BCP, 110)
A Collect for Mission
O God, you manifest in your servants the signs of your presence: Send forth upon us the spirit of love, that in companionship with one another your abounding grace may increase among us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP, 125)
Daily Office Gospel, John 9:1-12,35-38
9As he walked along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2His disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’ 3Jesus answered, ‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned; he was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him. 4We* must work the works of him who sent me* while it is day; night is coming when no one can work. 5As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.’ 6When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva and spread the mud on the man’s eyes, 7saying to him, ‘Go, wash in the pool of Siloam’ (which means Sent). Then he went and washed and came back able to see. 8The neighbours and those who had seen him before as a beggar began to ask, ‘Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?’ 9Some were saying, ‘It is he.’ Others were saying, ‘No, but it is someone like him.’ He kept saying, ‘I am the man.’ 10But they kept asking him, ‘Then how were your eyes opened?’ 11He answered, ‘The man called Jesus made mud, spread it on my eyes, and said to me, “Go to Siloam and wash.” Then I went and washed and received my sight.’ 12They said to him, ‘Where is he?’ He said, ‘I do not know.’
35 Jesus heard that they had driven him out, and when he found him, he said, ‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?’* 36He answered, ‘And who is he, sir?* Tell me, so that I may believe in him.’ 37Jesus said to him, ‘You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.’ 38He said, ‘Lord,* I believe.’ And he worshipped him.
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
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