lectio: luke 21:25-26
November 27, 2009
Luke 21:25-26 (Today’s New International Version)
25 “There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. 26 People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken.
The advent readings begin with a slap across the face, a cold splash of water, a shrill alarm.
Wake up! Change - deep change - is afoot!
The practice of lectio divina asks that we listen to the text and pay attention to the word, phrase, perhaps concept which jumps out and catches our attention on first hearing it.
My breath is caught by ‘anxiety’, and more from ‘apprehensive’. I read this passage on the eve of a job interview after three months of unemployment and dozens of closed doors. To say that I’m fighting apprehension and anxiety would be a dramatic understatement; mostly I’m trying not to drown in them.
I read again, once or twice. I know that the context of this passage is Jesus predicting the destruction of Jerusalem, but I hear it in my own context, my time, my situation, and the arrival of Advent.
Jesus’ words are immediate, harsh. This is no new-agey, kumbaya Jesus; this is Jesus the prophet.
No answers are given, no three-steps-to-peace. Jesus wakes me up, makes me sit up straight, pay attention, and listen.
Listen!
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