Epiphany 6

Back in 1997 when I got my first computer and got on the internet I discovered that some sites you visit ask that you register a screen name. This is a name you use in communicating with others or in gaining entry to some research sites. The name can be anything a person chooses.

I have never like my given names and welcome this opportunity to create a name that felt just right for me. Since I like to invest most of my activities with meaning, I thought long and hard about what my screen name should be. Finally, I came up with "Willow"

I love weeping willow trees. They are so graceful and beautiful. Their branches swaying in the breeze remind me of a dancer waltzing around a stage. They are inviting, providing a place of shade and comfort.

But, the connections go deeper for me. Willows must be flexible to withstand the wind, but be firmly anchored in the earth as well. They have deep roots seeking and drawing from sources of water deep underground.

When you get up close to a willow tree you can see where branches have broken away from the main trunk, leaving large swirling scars, but you can find beauty even in these scars if you take the time to really look.

Metaphorically, I’d like to be a willow tree. Graceful is nice, but more important to me is the image of sheltering people and embracing them as those long flowing branches do. I’d like to feel I can be flexible when I need to be, but also strong and firmly anchored in God’s Word. Reflectively, I draw the water of life from deep within Scripture and from the Sacraments, and use it to benefit others.

I guess that’s why I like Psalm 1, especially vs. 3. As with the Beatitudes, the word, "Blessed" is a present condition of the person, not something that will happen at some future date. The one who resists temptation and sin is blessed, not so much for doing that, but by doing it. The blessedness is part of doing the right thing.

Instead of finding excitement and pleasure in seeing how much can be gotten away with, the blessed person experiences pure delight, deep joy and a peace-filled heart through being in relationship with God.

The verse, of course, refers to the "law of the Lord", but this is not a matter of slavishly examining one’s conscience by reflecting on which of the Ten Commandments have been violated today and beating oneself up over those sins.

Rather, the law referred to in the Psalm is the Torah, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible. The commandments are just a small part of this much larger work that tells the history of God’s people. Torah gives the people their identity, their sense of specialness, and the key to their unique relationship with God.

It then helps them shape a lifestyle that can preserve that relationship and make them blessed. Thus, they are blessed because God created, saved and sustained them from the beginning and they are blessed because living out that special lifestyle brings happiness (or blessedness).

And now we come to that verse I find so attractive. The blessed person is like a tree planted by streams of water.

Trees were not all that common in the middle east. Except for areas close to rivers and at the occasional oasis, there were virtually no trees. Trees require a lot of water to thrive and produce. You don’t find oaks, maples or willow trees in people’s backyards. When there are trees they are usually intentionally planted for the fruit they will bear.

So, to be likened to a tree planted by streams of water meant being special. God has planted the person with a connection to God and through that connection the person draws life-giving water from God.

As Christians we are also planted by God with a deep connection to Him. Through Word and Sacrament God nourishes us and makes us strong. A verse from Colossians rendered in modern English comes to mind: "Let your roots sink down deep into the Lord and draw up nourishment from him. See that you go on growing in the Lord, and become strong...: As a result, we produce good fruit in the forms of works, witness and worship.

All of this contributes to the process of making us stronger, reinforcing our connection to God and making it possible for us to withstand the troubles that come our way.

Blessed by our connection to God, we can face whatever comes, not so much looking toward the day when we become the rich, but realizing that we are rich in our relationship with God. For we can experience blessedness even in the midst of suffering and want because, like the poor of the Beatitudes we have learned to rely on God rather than ourselves.

On the other hand, the rich who got that way by grabbing all they could must focus on protecting what they have. Furthermore, a devotion to riches is like an addiction. There is never enough and there is always fear of losing that. When troubles come the rich don’t know what to do and having always relied on themselves, they don’t know how to cast all their cares on the Lord. Like chaff they are blown away from the one Source of help.

Disciples though are like willow trees. They can bend with the wind, but also stay firmly rooted in God. This allows them to creatively respond to trouble. They can put their trust in the Lord and know that He will meet their needs.

With their focus off simply surviving, they can continue to produce fruit. They can provide the shelter of God’s love and forgiveness to others. Instead of hoarding their resources they can use them to help others. And with joy they come together to join in the dance of worship to God.

Like willow, they are free and beautiful. Like those whose delight is meditating on Torah (and the Gospel), they are blessed. Amen