24th February 2024
The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom like the crocus Isaiah 35:1
You Lord, are the source of all good things:
We praise you.
You call us to tend and care for your creation:
May we strive to do your will.
You have made us as brothers and sisters with all that lives:
May we live together in peace.
A reading from Deuteronomy 30:16a, 19 I command you this day to love the Lord your God and to keep his commands, decrees, and regulations by walking in his ways…. Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live!
A litany of tipping points
Adam, Eve and the fruit that was good to eat:
Eat and be self-determined?
Not eat and be God-determined?
– A tipping point.
Moses, Pharaoh and a river of blood:
Let the people, these troublemakers go?
Follow the call of this troublemaking God?
– a tipping point.
A people, a rule of life, and a golden calf:
Accept the short-termism of humanity and give up;
Plead God for mercy and start over afresh?
– a tipping point.
Exile, return and rebuild a new future:
Same old temple, same old rule-bound exclusivity;
New heart, new faith, an openness to others?
– a tipping point?
Repent, good news, healings and miracles:
A charade, a charlatan, a feel good non entity;
Revelation, reformation, real life born afresh?
– a tipping point?
Rebellion, deception, execution:
Confrontation, subjugation, might is right;
Confraternity, transformation, God is right?
– a tipping point?
Empty tomb, close encounters and reunions:
Disbelief, cynicism and a hasty coverup;
Joy, mystery and real life resurrection?
– a tipping point?
Tipping points are many and varied.
Some good, some bad.
Help us life, affirming God,
to see the tipping points we face,
to see the hazards to avoid,
the new routes to ride.
Help us, life affirming God,
to heed the words of your present day prophets,
the pleas of your children across the globe,
and the anguished cries of the earth.
Inspire our hearts and empower our actions,
that we may be a tipping point for good.
Help us, life affirming God,
to see again in the life and resurrection of Jesus,
the example we should follow,
to know once more that Christ’s gospel
will continue to transform the world.
Amen.
The Green Tau 