Since I am not yet a dog, I read Amos and move on. No gospel today; a reading from Revelation is my final choice.
The author of Revelation tells me, "Blessed is the one who reds aloud the words of the prophecy, and blessed are those who hear and who keep what is written in it: for the time if near.
So I read it.
"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."
I would tell you that is "what" I believe. Author Diana Butler Bass would challenge me to talk about "how" I believe. She says the "what" is dogma and doctrine, the "how" is experience and connection.
So I have to tell you "how" I believe. I keep reading and trying to listen to these texts of judgment that are so difficult, these texts which seem so clear to me, but don't seem to have much impact on those in power, even those who claim to practice the Christian faith.
I suppose Amos would have said the same.
How do I believe? I keep working toward reconciliation and healing in every way I can. I do my best at the call I have. I encourage others to live their call in the way God wants. And I do it in spite of what the world seems to be.
Amos is unrelenting right now in it's judgment. Revelation is unrelenting in it's declaration that God is Alpha and Omega.
"How" may be our unrelenting question.
Revelation 1:1-8
The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants[a] what must soon take place; he made[b] it known by sending his angel to his servant[c] John, 2 who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw.
3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of the prophecy, and blessed are those who hear and who keep what is written in it; for the time is near.
4 John to the seven churches that are in Asia:
Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
To him who loves us and freed[d] us from our sins by his blood, 6 and made[e] us to be a kingdom, priests serving[f] his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
7 Look! He is coming with the clouds;
every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him;
and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail.
every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him;
and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail.
So it is to be. Amen.
8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.
No comments:
Post a Comment