Tag Archives: Clean Slate

Phoenix Rising

Cherokee DancerEpiphany
Celebration of God
Manifested in the World
January 24, 2015

 Scripture Reading: Mark 1:14-20

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.’  — Mark 1:14-15

 It is rare when we have the opportunity to start with a clean slate. There has always been someone who did something before us and there will be those who pick up the mantel after we are gone. It happened with Moses and Joshua, Elijah and Elias, and it happened with John, who we call the Baptist, and Jesus. We really do not know if Jesus had been proclaiming the good news of God before John was arrested, but apparently Mark thought it important to tie these two events together. Jesus surely was drawn toward being more assertive as the result of John’s arrest.

History can be hard to overcome and perhaps harder from which to build. Our history of slavery in the United States, while technically ended 150 plus years ago, still cries for wounds to be healed and people to be made one. Years ago I attended an outdoor theater drama of the trail of tears that ended with the dance of a bird somewhat like the Phoenix* rising, an expression of hope for the Cherokee. Just this morning I read in the paper that the difference in salaries for women in Oklahoma as compared to men had actually grown larger this past year.

Jesus did many things in his short time on earth but one of the things he did do was to build on history. He championed the good that has emanated from it and he challenged the status quo and the regression that had been experienced from it. We are called to do the same.

Prayer: Lord enable us to learn from history and not to simply repeat it. Amen.

*From Greek mythology, the Phoenix is a long-lived bird that is regularly regenerated.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.