Sacred Texts

July 28, 2002
Tenth Sunday after Pentecost

Genesis 29:15-28
Jacob works for Rachel, gets Leah!

Imagine working 7 years and then discovering the payoff was not what you had expected! How could Jacob be so blind as not to light a candle in the tent on his wedding night after 7 long years? On the other hand, how could we be so blind as to continue to live polluting lifestyles and not expect that they will catch up with us in 7 years or maybe 70. (Of course this is really a story about trickery, and Jacob was no slouch himself. Remember he's on the run from cheating his brother out of his father's blessing!) It's a story about getting what you deserve and what you don't deserve. The wonder of God's creation is that it has an amazing power to heal and cleanse itself, but if we continue our careless ways, we finally will end up with just what we deserve.

Note: The ABS's Contemporary English Version translates vs 16 "her eyes didn't sparkle". To what would you compare your true love's eyes if not to the sparkle of the sun on Lake Superior's waves? -cw

Psalm 105:1-11, 45b
God will never forget his agreement or
his promise, not in thousands of years.

We have so few things that represent permanence in our lives. Cars last 10-15 years at most, perfectly good houses are demolished in a day to make way for parking lots, computers are obsolete in a few years, stores come and go (although granted, big discount chains seem to come and stay.) Marriages? And then there are the rocky shorelines of Lake Superior. For how many thousands, even millions of years, have the waves been splashing against them? In an age when so much seems temporary and short-lived, Lake superior and it's shoreline provide an image of God's promise and presence as eternal.

vs 11 "I'll give to you the land of Canaan." Regardless of the political situation in the Middle East, how do we feel about this? Do we own the land? Or belong to the land? And where does it make a difference in our lives? Are we given lake superior to use and enjoy, or do we belong to the watershed with responsibility for it's well-being, or both? -cw

Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52
The mustard seed, the leaven, the pearl, the treasure.

Stories about being aware of what's a part of your environment and about consequences and results. Our true treasure is the beauty of a healthy environment. The woman mixed in leaven, which ended up touching all the loaf. What we mix into our surroundings will end up touching the whole watershed. Will it be a blessing or a curse? -cw

A prayer

Wonderful God,
help us be aware of the treasures in our midst - the clean water, the fresh air, the healthy and resilient environments. Help us mix in healthy ingredients, that as it rises the loaf might be a blessing to us and even to our children. Amen. -cw

Have a Lake Superior or Watershed imaged prayer or lectionary thought you'd like us to post? Send it, along with your name and email to: webmaster@lakesuperiorinterfaith.com