Spiritual Beliefs
Accept our repentance Lord, for the wrongs we have done
By Rev. Rob Nichols St. Peter's Episcopal Church

I made a startling discovery this week: birds are mean!

A few years ago I gave up watching birds for the purpose of shooting and eating them (hunting) and moved to a calmer and easier way of watching them, just for the fun of it.

I discovered that birds are not nice, sweet little creatures that spend the day singing, chirping and playing. The song birds in my backyard are territorial, aggressive and down right bullying to one another. The 'sweet little dove' ain't so sweet when the larger one is pecking and chasing the smaller one away from the crumbs and seeds that I regularly throw out for them. Blue jays, cardinals, wrens and crackles vie for position near the feeders. Flickers dash in and out, refusing to get entangled in annoying squabbles or alliances; and heaven to betsy, the hummingbirds move so fast that no one dare come near the nectar they lap up like there's no tomorrow. Nature is cruel to those creatures who do not take full advantage of grabbing all that can be grabbed as quickly as it can be grabbed. Those pretty birds are prepared to fight one another so that their nest alone can be taken care of for the day.

God calls God's people to a different way.

The Daily Office readings for Lent seem to be designed by the theologians who organized those readings to remind us that we are to think more of reaching out to others, letting go of our need to employ power as our aim or our goal. This week the Hebrew witness is from the Book of Deuteronomy, in which Moses is telling all of the Israelites how to behave to be in the right way of acting as Adonai would have them to act. He admonishes from time to time with words that basically say, "Remember who you are and Who has delivered you to this new land."

The constant reminding of Moses is like a daily vitamin, intended to offer good to the people. "Do not forget the Lord your God and follow other gods to serve and worship them..." (Deuteronomy, chapter 8, Revised Standard Version).

Moses in time goes on to say that the people are to remember the poor and the foreigners and to be kind to them, for Israel was once in a similar place, but God provided and brought them out of bondage. In other words, it was not your power, but God's benevolence that put you in this place.

The readings from the Gospel according to John begin to show us the tension and the confrontation that John believed Jesus had with those who wanted Him to have a power and to show that power. His mother, Mary, tries to get Him to act at the wedding in Cana and by John's account, Jesus puts her in her place rather curtly: "Woman, what concern is that to you or to me? My hour has not yet come." (Gospel according to John, chapter 2) In other words, "back off!" Later in chapter 2 the people in the temple district, upon seeing Jesus disrupt the legitimate money changers, ask for a sign, in other words, authority or power. Later still is one of my favorite encounters, Nicodemus, and the wonderful metaphorical language of darkness versus light. All of these aim me to seeing that the tradition stood very clearly for John and his people, approximately two generations after the time of the resurrection, that in His time Jesus had to contend with pulls to serve number one. It must have seemed that almost everywhere He turned people wanted something from Him, rather than wanting to be with Him. I call that "god making". It is manipulative and I do it very well---I'll bet I'm not the only one.

God calls us to a different way. Let go of self and the need to be God. Accept certain limitations without giving up hope in possibilities. Strive for justice and truth. Try to avoid the bitterness of betrayal, because all of us, at some point in time, will be betrayed by a friend...and in turn, will be the one betraying someone else. God's different way is held out for us in the season of Lent, when we search into the deep caverns of our inner selves.

Episcopalians are given a marvelous liturgy in Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, that speaks of how we are offered a chance to see our broken and fragile nature. We confess our sins, out loud, together and beg the Lord for repentance.

"Accept our repentance, Lord, for the wrongs we have done; for our blindness to human need and suffering, and our indifference to injustice and cruelty. For false judgments, for uncharitable thoughts toward our neighbors, and for our prejudice and contempt toward those who differ from us, for our waste and pollution of Your creation, and our lack of concern for those who come after us, accept our repentance, Lord."

We are not birds that peck, scratch, bully and grab. We are the living image of the Living God, who calls us to a different way.

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