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DonateJuly 6, 2003 |
See also: [Year B Archive] |
2 Samuel 5:1-5,
9-10
Psalm 48
2 Corinthians 12:2-10
Mark 6:1-13
The Texts
David
has been made king; the text recounts his success: "David became
greater and greater, for the Lord God of hosts was with him." Psalm
48 celebrates the beauty and strength of Jerusalem. 2 Corinthians recounts
Paul's visionary experience, and his "thorn in the flesh." Mark
6 tells of the incredulity of Jesus' former neighbors when Jesus goes back
to his home town. Following this, Jesus sends his twelve disciples
throughout the land.
Process Themes: 2 Corinthians
12:2-10
How
are we to understand Paul's account of being "caught up into
Paradise" and hearing "inexpressible words"? How does this
relate to his "thorn in the flesh"? God's aims to us usually
direct us toward our being in the world; they give guidance toward our
best responses in light of our full situation. But these aims come from
God, and as such they also reflect, to whatever extent our situation makes
possible, God's own self. It is possible to focus not so much on the gift
of God's aims for us, but on the giver of those aims. In a sense, we can
trace them back to God, and experience God's presence. When a life is
lived prayerfully, so that one's orientation is always toward conformity
with God's will, it is possible in prayer to experience conformity not
just with God's will, but with God. Such an experience is mystical,
lifting one into a different sense of time and a wider view of the
importance of all things in and through God. But one cannot dwell in such
a vision too long-God pushes us back to our work in the world. Yet the
vision transforms our whole attitude and approach to our work. Even though
the vision transforms us, its translation is more attitudinal than verbal.
We cannot "say" the fullness of the experience of God. Paul was
certainly a man of prayer, and the indication of the text is that he
experienced God in a way something like this. But he also experienced an
unnamed "thorn in the flesh," which he considered sent in order
to keep him humble. And humble he was: "I am well content
with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with
difficulties for Christ's sake. . ." To experience God is to gain the
confidence and power to endure whatever difficulties we encounter. To
experience God is to know here is a depth to things that springs from the
pervasive love that is God.
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