{"id":24887,"date":"2025-03-12T06:20:47","date_gmt":"2025-03-12T10:20:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=24887"},"modified":"2025-03-12T08:53:21","modified_gmt":"2025-03-12T12:53:21","slug":"24887","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=24887","title":{"rendered":"Universal Liberation and Love"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Let Us Build a House (All Are Welcome - 6vv) [with lyrics for congregations]\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/N9bOiAxwi4U?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Universal Liberation and Love<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Father Richard points to Jesus<\/em>\u2019&nbsp;<em>first sermon, when he quotes the<\/em><em>&nbsp;prophet Isaiah to emphasize a message of inclusion:&nbsp;<\/em>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Isaiah is the Hebrew prophet Jesus quotes directly when he first introduces himself in the synagogue in Nazareth:\u202f&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p>The Spirit of God has been given to me,\u202f&nbsp;<br>YHWH has anointed me.\u202f&nbsp;<br>He has sent me to bring good news to the poor,\u202f&nbsp;<br>To bind up hearts that are broken,\u202f&nbsp;<br>To proclaim liberty to captives,\u202f&nbsp;<br>Freedom to those in prison,\u202f&nbsp;<br>To proclaim the Year of Favor from the Lord.\u202f&nbsp;<br>(Luke 4:18\u201319, quoting Isaiah 61:1\u2013 2)&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Jesus, like the prophet he quotes, reveals not only his self-confidence but also his likely and intended audience. His message of good news is not likely to be sought after or heard by the comfortable and the secure, he seems to say, but by the poor, the captives, the blind, and the oppressed\u2014which fully explains Jesus\u2019 behavior throughout the rest of his ministry. \u202f&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Notice that Jesus <strong>deliberately does not quote the final line of the full, yet contradictory, Isaiah passage: \u201cto proclaim a day of vengeance from our God.<\/strong>\u201d It\u2019s almost as though Jesus is tired of making God into one who limits and threatens, instead of the limitless one whom the passage has just talked about, and so different from the glorious vision of the New Jerusalem Isaiah has just described in the whole of chapter 60. Jesus refuses to let Isaiah end with caution and fear. Fortunately, we see that Isaiah does not stay there, either. Later in the book, he exclaims:&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote\">\n<p><strong>I am ready to be approached by those who do not consult me,\u202f&nbsp;<br>Ready to be found by those who do not seek me.\u202f&nbsp;<br>I say, \u201cI am here. I am here!\u201d to a nation that does not\u202f&nbsp;<br>even invoke my name. (<\/strong>Isaiah 65:1) \u202f&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>This sounds like so much availability and generosity from God\u2019s side, perhaps too much for us to hope for. And yet this is where Isaiah lands for the rest of the prophecy, until the very final verse (66:24) where he makes a seeming allusion to the fires of Gehenna. But in Jewish teaching, the metaphor of fire doesn\u2019t focus on eternal punishment. <strong>In the whole Bible, fire is almost entirely a \u201crefiner\u2019s fire\u201d of purification in this world, not a fire of torture in the next.&nbsp;<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The final chapters of Isaiah entertain themes of universal liberation and salvation for all, beginning with eunuchs and foreigners (56:1\u20137), along with agnostics and the barely interested (65:1\u20137), continuing with hints of universal salvation (through much of chapter 65), and moving into a total cosmology with a \u201cnew heavens and a new earth\u201d (65:17; also 66:22). These images will return again at the end of the New Testament (Revelation 21:1). Thank God the <strong>Bible ends with an optimistic hope and vision, instead of an eternal threat that puts the whole message off balance and outside of love.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>___________________________<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/substack.com\/app-link\/post?publication_id=2863497&amp;post_id=158864527&amp;utm_source=post-email-title&amp;utm_campaign=email-post-title&amp;isFreemail=true&amp;r=2dkj2&amp;token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjozOTkyMzY2LCJwb3N0X2lkIjoxNTg4NjQ1MjcsImlhdCI6MTc0MTcyMDk3NiwiZXhwIjoxNzQ0MzEyOTc2LCJpc3MiOiJwdWItMjg2MzQ5NyIsInN1YiI6InBvc3QtcmVhY3Rpb24ifQ.hvsZ6kdm8b0heUfUcpdE8T5hPrPJmNeUxsy9UAgC1IE\">From Juggling to Shelving<\/a><\/h1>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A De-Stressing Exercise<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td><a href=\"https:\/\/substack.com\/@bradleyjersak124315\">BRADLEY JERSAK<\/a><\/td><td><a href=\"https:\/\/substack.com\/@bradleyjersak124315\"><\/a><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td>&nbsp;<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><\/td><\/tr><tr><td>&nbsp;<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Last week I spent an hour with&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/substack.com\/redirect\/9f64c6be-ebbf-4dbe-bf23-7151f60799b8?j=eyJ1IjoiMmRrajIifQ.ND0qR5RKsmVnltuWgIlyr3BY7uwq2Kt9ZzX29UJK4cg\">Nelson Boschman<\/a>, my spiritual director. If you don\u2019t have a spiritual director or life-coach or the like, I&nbsp;<em>highly&nbsp;<\/em>recommend him. He\u2019s willing to give you a trial session to test for fit and does sessions online for convenience. He even has a few openings left in his schedule!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Juggling<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Anyway, I entered the session quite stressed. As we listened together, the picture I had was that I was juggling too many things at once\u2014each of five \u2018balls\u2019 (or bowling pins or chainsaws) represented a specific non-negotiable item on my to-do list for that day. As I imagined trying to keep all the balls in the air, I experienced the anxiety of wondering which one I might drop.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td><\/td><td><\/td><td><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition, it felt like any extra call or email or invitation was an intrusion of further items, deeper stress, and the inevitability that they could all topple at any moment. I knew immediately that the way I was seeing it was \u2018off,\u2019 especially if my perspective made it impossible to stay present to whoever or whatever was right in front of me. That lurking angst is no way to live.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As he often does, Nelson kindly pressed pause on my monologue to offer a moment to be still, breathe, and listen. Those moments of stillness may be quiet but they are also always full\u2014in the joyful, fruitful way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Shelving<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The juggling scene melted away and I saw a wall of shelves before me\u2014they featured square cubby-holes that contained scrolls. I remember this picture from decades ago when I might be called to speak contemporaneously at conferences for six hours on end. In those days,<strong> I would picture this same shelf and \u2018feel\u2019 the Holy Spirit beside me. Without any rush or pressure, I would wait for a nudge to pick out one scroll. Just one. That\u2019s the key. I would pull it from the shelf, open it, and share whatever was there<\/strong>. It could be Scripture, a story, a testimony, a parable, a prayer, a meditative, exercise, a citation from some book. Years of prep comprised of good mentors, loads of reading, and interesting life experiences had loaded the wall. <strong>It was just a matter of pulling one item at a time as the Spirit led (that\u2019s a real thing) and sharing them in whatever sequence came.\u00a0  <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table><tbody><tr><td><\/td><td><\/td><td><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>From Juggling to Shelving<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I wondered, in the moment, if I could transpose my stressed-out juggling act into the joy of my old speaking gigs. I pictured the wall and imagined depositing every item on my calendar and in my to-do list into the cubby-holes immediately as they arrived. I could see <strong>other scrolls\u2014loads of them\u2014that I hadn\u2019t left there. Surprise scrolls that were pre-planned by Someone else\u2014divine appointments, real life encounters, unexpected gifts, anything\u00a0<em>but<\/em>\u00a0intrusions.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I imagined the Spirit beside me say (in Nelson\u2019s voice),\u00a0<em>\u201cYou don\u2019t have to. You get to.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0And the Spirit would pull a scroll and hand it to me.\u00a0<strong><em>\u201cNo juggling. Just take the next scroll I give you. This one. Now.\u201d\u00a0<\/em>And I heard,\u00a0<em>\u201cSome scrolls say Rest. Recover. Reflect. Reflection is not squandering. Some even say Struggle. That\u2019s not the same as crisis or chaos. Struggle is about growth and strength.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In every case, the other to-dos were still present, but they had to remain shelved until their turn <strong>so that I could stay completely present to the one I was on. <\/strong>SO present that I could experience time stopping and a Muse greater than myself involved in my conversations and my listening, my reading and writing, emails and flights.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It meant that the unexpected hour-long call from my godfather David, followed by the unexpected reading from my old friend Paul were not merely joyful interruptions that I could misuse as procrastination from my \u2018real work.\u2019 They were <strong>gifts of the Spirit, treasured moments of NOW that were in fact the\u00a0<em>next thing<\/em>\u00a0on the shelf and very much my\u00a0<em>real work\u2014not\u00a0<\/em>for putting off what had to be done, but the important things I got to do first<\/strong>. And the other stuff that\u00a0<em>needed<\/em>\u00a0to be done did get done. Not only that, <strong>I didn\u2019t have to do that other stuff in my head and nervous system while I was enjoying the\u00a0<em>first things<\/em>.<\/strong> And because of that, they weren\u2019t so heavy after all. <strong>One scroll at a time. Stay present. Breathe. Done. Next?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Cured!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Just kidding. I wasn\u2019t instantly healed of my habituated juggling obsession yet. But I\u2019ve tasted the goodness of my return to the shelf such that I can feel the internal difference of reframing the same, look-alike day of duties inside me. For readers who perpetually feel like they\u2019re about to drop the ball, maybe this exercise will be of some help.\u00a0  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Universal Liberation and Love Father Richard points to Jesus\u2019&nbsp;first sermon, when he quotes the&nbsp;prophet Isaiah to emphasize a message of inclusion:&nbsp;&nbsp; Isaiah is the Hebrew prophet Jesus quotes directly when he first introduces himself in the synagogue in Nazareth:\u202f&nbsp; The Spirit of God has been given to me,\u202f&nbsp;YHWH has anointed me.\u202f&nbsp;He has sent me to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24887"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24887"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24887\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24897,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24887\/revisions\/24897"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}