As the Summer Olympics are set to ensue in Paris this Friday, July 26, I can’t help but think back to spring break of my senior year in high school. I started taking French in the 8th grade, while the overwhelming majority of my class took Spanish. I guess I had to be different or something. I think one of my sisters liked the French teacher, perhaps. Maybe I appreciated the sound of that spoken language more. There may have been some appeal to the culture, the little I knew about it. Regardless, it turned out to be a life-shaping decision.
The Gospel text for this upcoming Sunday includes a few opening verses that can be easily overlooked before another rendition of miraculous healings catch our ears. And yet, there’s something rather awe-inspiring to:
30 The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. 31 He said to them, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. (Mark 6:30-31 NRSV)
The image is of Akiyoshidai, Japan, which I never heard of before a few weeks ago. From the website put together by the local tourist association:
Akiyoshidai is the largest karst plateau in Japan, spread in the middle and eastern part of Mine City. It was designated as a National Monument (Akiyoshidai Quasi-National Park) in 1955 and a special natural monument in 1964. The limestone that makes up the magnificent landscape of Akiyoshidai is about 350 million years ago in the southern sea. It was born as a coral reef, and over the years has formed a karst plateau like today.
Today (July 3), the wider church celebrates Thomas, the one Christians often associate with the nickname “doubting Thomas.” And yet, I wonder if he is one of the most essential people for us to read and hear about in all of Scripture. For he provides the holy opening for the doubts, the questions, the wonders, even the spurts of flat-out disbelief and giving up on church, organized religion, faith, or whatever else. Thomas offers the holy invitation to be human, to be just…us.
For many ELCA congregations, their respective synod office/staff seemingly only emerge when they want money or something else is wrong. Now, thankfully, Divinity and other communities of faith have developed enough of a working relationship with the wider church, recognizing that more of a Gospel-impact can be made with the help of other children of God near and far away. And so, we can see the Bishop or one of the Assistants to the Bishop and not automatically cringe, as is the case for others who may not have the…most positive experiences with higher-ups in our Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
