Scripture Text (NRSV)
Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28
4:11 At that time it will be said to this people and to Jerusalem:
A hot wind comes from me out of the bare heights in the desert toward
my poor people, not to winnow or cleanse--
4:12 a wind too strong for that. Now it is I who speak in judgment
against them.
4:22 "For my people are foolish, they do not know me; they are
stupid children, they have no understanding. They are skilled in doing
evil, but do not know how to do good."
4:23 I looked on the earth, and lo, it was waste and void; and to
the heavens, and they had no light.
4:24 I looked on the mountains, and lo, they were quaking, and all
the hills moved to and fro.
4:25 I looked, and lo, there was no one at all, and all the birds
of the air had fled.
4:26 I looked, and lo, the fruitful land was a desert, and all its
cities were laid in ruins before the LORD, before his fierce anger.
4:27 For thus says the LORD: The whole land shall be a desolation;
yet I will not make a full end.
4:28 Because of this the earth shall mourn, and the heavens
above grow black; for I have spoken, I have purposed; I have not
relented nor will I turn back.
Comments:
"Yet I will not make a full end." - A comma in the telling of the
truth, not a period. It leaves room for a little ray of light, a tiny
stream of living water, in a dark and stagnant wasteland. Judgement
brings desolation, but desolation drives us to repentance, and in
Christ, forgiveness and a light filled land with fountains of living
water. Stubborn and perverse as we are, we need to endure a little
desert before we will listen for the voice of the shepherd to call us
home. -ss in PA
This is my second post here in five years, although I consult the page
frequently. I plan preaching 13 weeks out. This passage was selected
over three months ago. Today as I look at it I don't want to preach
it. I think the ones I don't want to preach are probably the ones that
need to be preached. There is only the barest thread of good news
here! It is kind of intimidating to preach this one. I wonder how many
will opt not to go with this one?
In the barren wasteland prophesied here, a wasteland of the people's
own making, there is no hope. Even the narrow strip of fertile land on
which all life in the country depends becomes a desert. But even in a
place of desolation and in a time when doing evil has become a skill,
the God who seeks a single sheep and rejoices in a single repentant
sinner will be present and will not give up.
4:22 we do not need to be taught evil... there fore, the command to
"teach whatsoever I have comnmanded you" is implied here. I understand
the silent command to teach right-doing that is (not explicitly)
stated here!th sides fought aggressively for outcomes that would help
them. The reality was it was just the narrowest of margins and Bush
and had a few hundred more. Yes it was decided ultimately by the
supreme court, but that is what courts are for, to decide such issues.
As I recall there were investigations into voter tampering, esp in the
minority community, and there was no evidence of intentional vote
blocking.
The Searcher
Have you all heard about the Sea Squirt? It is an animal that for a
while, swims the seas and reproduces, then, oddly, in mid-life finds a
piece of coral and clings to it. It never does anything after that, it
actually eats its own brain and then goes into a vegetative state.
Sounds to me like some churches (and some marriages)! Anyway, I think
God is accusing Israel of becoming Sea Squirts. I think the church
today has become a Sea Squirt. What do you think? Also in WV
I committed myself to the preach from the prophets this summer, and
this is a tough one...
How foolish it is to assume (as some do) that God will not punish
apostasy in this earthly lifetime. The words of Jeremiah, though
painfully bleak in this passage, bring a glorious glimmer of hope in
v.27.
Sin has its consequences - temporal and eternal.
I feel like I need to write a disclaimer or something of the sort. I
put that illustration here about the Sea Squirt, well, I just read the
"Sermon Illustrations" I get on email and it was in there. I did not
take it from there, I had read about the Sea Squirt years ago and
thought it fit with this OT reading. Sorry! Also in WV
Oh my. This scripture refers back to Jer 1:13-14 and the foe that will
come from the north and lay the city in ruins. This is apocalyptic. As
the Interpreter's states: "here the poet seems to personify the
land...though he indentifies himself so closely with his people that
he would make no sharp distinction in his own feelings between their
sorrows and his own." This is a week of feelings and people mourn.
Jeremiah had vision of Coming Disaster, we just had a day of disaster,
anyone tying the two together. What is the pulpit response to the DC
and NY Terror? tj in texas
Jeremiah spoke of vision of a Coming disaster, today we have just had
a Day of Disaster. Anyone else see the connection? tj in texas
Jeremiah seems to be the appropriate prophet for today "911" Oh that
my head were a fountain. We had a prayer service tonight. The faithful
and a few visitors-God is Good. What I observed tonight on my way to
church was how the people flocked to the gas station before the big
price hike but not to Gods house. Not claiming to be no Jeremiah but
the times really havent changed.EH-Alabama
I was shocked when my wife told me about what happened in NY first
this this morning. That was my day of work. A lot of it spent glued to
the box taking in events that seemed so surreal that they were hard to
take in. I have been reflecting upon it this evening. I am not a Bush
fan but I give him credit for his short, firm and yet gentle speech.
Remembering something we all need to remember: :Though I walk through
the valley of the sahdow of death, I fear no evil; for you are with
me." I know some of our city churches here opened their doors for
prayer and reflection as a community. I thought about tolling the
church bell this morning, but in a small rural community it might have
summoned the fire department. I am not sure the connection would have
been made. Tomorrow I go to our city hospital to share with the
chaplain in a meorial service.In another country it rocked the staff
pretty hard. She is a Catholic sister and I am a protestant minister
with The United Church of Canada. We will sahre in botherhood and
sisterhood, in the name of the love, hope, joy and peace of our Lord
Jesus Christ. So as I was reflecting on this, I turned to the
scriptures for Sunday. And God does indeed work in wondrous ways, for
"yes" my friends, I do believe there is a connection between today's
horrific events and the words of Jeremiah. It's late and I will need
to formulate that connection. Maybe in a couple of days I can share
some of it with you. I also think we might connect the Gospel here.
For now, my prayers are with you as a nation, to those who gave of
themselves to help others in the disaster areas, to the victims, and
to the families. I often find when your President ends a speech with
"May God bless America", to the non-American it can sound rather
exclusive, even superior. However, I swallow my own arrogance? my own
bias? and I pray that indeed, may God bless America. May God bless us
all. For we pray for you and with you. We weep for you and with you.
In Christian love. Good night. Rev. Tim, South Central Ontario, Canada
I think these words greatly describe what we are all going through.Yet
I hang on the last words of verse 27 " yet I will not make a full end"
paired with the gospel lesson God's promise is that despite all there
will not be a full end, God continues to search for us and call us to
God'sself no matter how we resist and do evil. Sarah in MC, IA
Look at the verses in between these, especially 4:19-21: "My soul, my
soul! I am in anguish! Oh, my heart! My heart is pounding in me; I
cannot be silent, Because you have heard, O my soul, The sound of the
trumpet, The alarm of war. Disaster on disaster is proclaimed, For the
whole land is devastated; Suddenly my tents are devastated, My
curtains in an instant. How long must I see the standard And hear the
sound of the trumpet?" How long? And how do we get out of this?
How can you read Jeremiah and make sense out of Tuesday's tragedies?
I'm with Tim from Ontario(did I get your name right)that we cannot
just read Jeremiah in church on Sunday and say nothing about the
terrorist attack. (In my tradition, we always read three out of the
four lectionary passages). The sermon is still beginning, but I
thought I would share some thoughts. Jeremiah comes from a different
culture than ours. We have trouble believing in a loving God if God is
also the one who destroys and annihilates the earth. Jeremiah, the
house of Israel, and some of our conservative Christian friends do not
see the conundrum. For them, a belief in a God who punishes gives them
guidance on how to live in God's way. Jeremiah's overriding message is
"Return to God". If you don't, trouble comes. Even the most liberal
Christian would agree with that. If you snort cocaine once, and don't
see how you are falling away from God, you will snort cocaine again
and again and end up in the gutter. Call your spouse names, and fail
to see that you are not living up to God's way, then you will find
yourself divorced. Jeremiah would say that God caused the divorce or
that God brought on the cocaine addiction. I would rather say it is
just the forces of life. Fall away from God, and you end up in
trouble. That's the way I can see myself clear of a loving God. A
punishing, fire and brimstone God troubles me greatly. Is Tuesday's
tragedies a punishment from God? No. God is loving, not a destroyer of
innocent life. Still, it might be an indication that western society
is moving too far from God. The World Trader Centre was hit by evil
people who are tired of living in the dirt heap while the WEst lives
in wealth. Eventually, the poor will rise up. Maybe some of you don't
agree with me. Maybe it is helpful for others. I only offer them as a
fellow struggler of God's word. Rev Karen in Ontario
I came to this lection expecting some possible word related to the
events of yesterday. I cannot find it here. This text is abouit a
judgement God will bring and would seem to me to lead toward the
conclusion that God did this terrible thing in NYC and DC. I can't go
there. JOHN in Michigan
I don't know if this will help but I decided to change my scripture to
Jeremiah 32 (lectionary for Sept 30th). It may be early in the
lectionary. But the message is about hope in the midst of the rubble.
I figure the destruction Judah came under is the way we feel. Many of
us need a message of hope now. This message of hope points us back to
God as our true security. DG in MI
Hello All. My name is Carolyn and I live in Brandywine MD, about 45min
to an hour outside of DC and about an hour from the Pentagon. Many of
my parishoners have been affected by yesterdays events. Many work for
the federal government in downtown DC. Eventhough they looked calm on
the outside they were frightened and horrified by yesterday's events.
There was lot's of scrambling to get in touch with family members and
pick-up children. One works at Andrews Airforce bas which is about ten
miles from Brandywine. She was unable to leave her job yesterday. She
had friends at the Pentagon and family working two blocks from the
World Trade Center. She was distraught and called me for prayer. I've
read with interest your on the Jeremiah passage. I think it puts
into words what many of us are thinking and feeling. My approach this
Sunday will be to tie Jeremiah with the epistle lesson. I intend to
start by reading the Jeremiah passage then preach on 1 Timothy. The
theme that stands out for me in the 1 Tomothy passage is grace. If
ever there was a need for God's grace, now is the time. We need grace
to ask for justice instead of vengeance. We need grace to forgive even
the perpetrators of these acts of terrorism and those who planned
them. We need grace not to hate all Arab people and all Muslims. We
need grace to heal from our losses and rebuild. I understand the
difficulty in framing yesterday's events in terms of God's judgement.
Maybe a better way of looking at it is that actions have consequences,
sometimes far reaching ones. Some of the experts have said that our
airport security is not as it should be. Private companies handle the
security scans as opposed to law enforcement personnel. I'm almost
sure this is for cost cutting purposes. Better scanning equipment is
not used because it is deemed too expensive. I think Americans put a
lot of trust in our economic power and our military power. Yesterday,
the major symbols of that power were destroyed. The prophets
repeatedly warned Israel about trusting in riches and military might.
Israel didn't get the message. We preachers being prophetic issue the
same warnings. I don't think Americans got it. Perhaps yesterday's
events are the consequences of us not "getting it". This is a tough
thing to say and hear. Please continue to pray for our nation,
especially the people of NYC and DC. Pray for me as I deliver the
message this Sunday and I'll pray for all of you. Peace and God bless
all of you. Carolyn in MD
Hello All. My name is Carolyn and I live in Brandywine MD, about 45min
to an hour outside of DC and about an hour from the Pentagon. Many of
my parishoners have been affected by yesterdays events. Many work for
the federal government in downtown DC. Eventhough they looked calm on
the outside they were frightened and horrified by yesterday's events.
There was lot's of scrambling to get in touch with family members and
pick-up children. One works at Andrews Airforce bas which is about ten
miles from Brandywine. She was unable to leave her job yesterday. She
had friends at the Pentagon and family working two blocks from the
World Trade Center. She was distraught and called me for prayer. I've
read with interest your on the Jeremiah passage. I think it puts
into words what many of us are thinking and feeling. My approach this
Sunday will be to tie Jeremiah with the epistle lesson. I intend to
start by reading the Jeremiah passage then preach on 1 Timothy. The
theme that stands out for me in the 1 Tomothy passage is grace. If
ever there was a need for God's grace, now is the time. We need grace
to ask for justice instead of vengeance. We need grace to forgive even
the perpetrators of these acts of terrorism and those who planned
them. We need grace not to hate all Arab people and all Muslims. We
need grace to heal from our losses and rebuild. I understand the
difficulty in framing yesterday's events in terms of God's judgement.
Maybe a better way of looking at it is that actions have consequences,
sometimes far reaching ones. Some of the experts have said that our
airport security is not as it should be. Private companies handle the
security scans as opposed to law enforcement personnel. I'm almost
sure this is for cost cutting purposes. Better scanning equipment is
not used because it is deemed too expensive. I think Americans put a
lot of trust in our economic power and our military power. Yesterday,
the major symbols of that power were destroyed. The prophets
repeatedly warned Israel about trusting in riches and military might.
Israel didn't get the message. We preachers being prophetic issue the
same warnings. I don't think Americans got it. Perhaps yesterday's
events are the consequences of us not "getting it". This is a tough
thing to say and hear. Please continue to pray for our nation,
especially the people of NYC and DC. Pray for me as I deliver the
message this Sunday and I'll pray for all of you. Peace and God bless
all of you. Carolyn in MD
Hello all. My name is Carolyn. I live in Brandywine, MD, 45min to 1hr
south of DC and about 1hr east of the Pentagon. Many of my parishoners
were affected by yesterday's events. Many work for the federal
government. I have one who works at Andrews Airforce base. She was
quite distraught because she has friends who work at the Pentagon and
a relative who works about two blocks from the World Trade Center. I
read with with interest your on the Jeremiah passage. My
approach this Sunday will be to tie the Jeremiah passage with 1
Timothy. I plan to start the sermon by reading the Jeremiah passage
then continue preaching on Timothy. I want to read Jeremiah this
Sunday because I think it puts into words what a lot of us thinking
and feeling at this time. I'm preaching on Timothy because the them
that stands out to from the passage is grace. If there was ever a need
for God's grace now is the time. Grace is needed to overcome this
tragedy, heal, and rebuild. Our leaders need grace and much wisdom.
Thanks for all your prayers. Please continue to pray for the US,
especially for the people of NYC and DC. Please keep me in prayer as
deliver the message on Sunday. I will keep all of you in my prayers.
Peace and God bless you. Carolyn in MD
PS. Sorry for so many postings. Computer problems. (darn things!)
Carolyn in MD
i AGREE WITH SOME OF YOU i CANT PREACH OF jEREMIAH EITHER. I READ IT.
AND DID NOT FEEL THE HOLY SPIRIT LEADING THERE.. READ PSALM 11:3 WHEN
THE FOUNDATION ARE DESTROYED WHAT TO THE RIGHTEOUS PEOPLE DO?
LADYPREACHER UMC, OHIO
We were in the midst of a series of services conducted by someone else
this week. He said two things that enraged me. One was about this
being a wake-up call for America. The other was a musing about how
many of those who died were probably not saved. What kind of a God
does this guy serve? I'm not preaching this Sunday (the District
Superintendent is coming), probably just as well. There are excellent
lections next week. I just wanted to be here with you people now. Last
night we had an inter-faith prayer service. My Lutheran brother
cautioned against trying to rush people to forgiveness too quickly. I
think there's wisdom in that. kbc in sc
Dear KBC in SC, If you are the presiding or appointed pastor in your
church you may need to recind the invitation for the guest preacher in
light of our tragedy. Our parishioners are very vulnerable, hurting,
questioning and looking to their pastors for words of hope and
guidance to help them deal with this. Even though I feel somewhat
inadequate regarding all that we have witnessed in the past couple
days, I am trusting God, in the Holy Spirit to be able to speak the
words that are needed at this time. I don't suppose I would want
anyone else preaching this Sunday. (I'd even probably request my DS to
come another time) Preach the word...with love. RAP in OH
Concerning the "Wake Up Call", to ask "what can I learn from this
situation?" does not necessarily infer cause-effect relationships. In
this case many people went to work in the WTC thinking the day was
just like any other. Disaster hit, many were tragically killed. No one
knows when death may strike. This reminds me of the necessity to "be
ready." I personally don't think God caused or interfered in the
events of this past Tuesday. God did not cause this to happen to send
us a wake up call. But perhaps we might learn something because of
what happened. I think it's a misrepresentation of Christianity to
portray God as only benevolent. Read the NT and note how many times
Jesus speaks about judgement. It's very clear that some day God will
call it quits, the trumpet will blast and God will consumate the
Kingdom. Judgement is very much taught in the NT. While Jesus told a
parable of the shepherd may leaving the 99 to search for the 1, He
also told a parable about separating the sheep from the goats. I
personally don't think that this week's events happened at the hand of
God. I don't think this is God's judgement on a sinful nation or
people. I think God's presence is in all the love, support, and help
going on right now. But on the other hand, some day, God will call it
quits and consumate God's Kingdom. And no nation, no terrorist
organization, and no plan will prevent it. John near Pitts.
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Why not do smoething really drastic this Sunday. In stead of preaching
shut up and listen to the people let them share their hurts and their
fears. Let them have a chance to be listened to. then in a short word
give them some hope and encouragement. Try Isaiah 2:1-5. That a day
will come when we war no more.
In 1995 after the Oklahoma bombing, Arab and Islamic citizens were
subjected to harassment. We must remind people that many of the these
people would not be welcome in their previous countries and are
innocent until proven guilty. I have Presbyterian friends from Iran
who lost everything when they came to the US. They came because it was
not safe for them in Iran as Christians. They do not tell people that
they are from Iran--too dangerous. Speak out that Christians SHOULD
meet each person as an individual and not stereotype them as part of a
group. My Islamic friend and retired elementary school principal said
at a Citizens Against Racism meeting that the kindergarten child
understands, "Do unto others as you would have them do to you." This
is part of their culture and ours. Respect our Islamic and Arab
people--encourage toleration. Rev. Sue in Cuba, KS
Going along with the person who said, "Let the congregation speak," a
friend of mine suggested we let people share about those whom they are
concerned in New York.
All during this week, I have asked persons in our congregation to pray
with me. I have heard such wonderful prayers from many who have said
in the past they do not pray in public. The words of the laity is
wonderful. On Tuesday, while all of this was unfolding, A beloved
retired long time member of my congregation evidently made a mistake
while he was lowering a fishing boat for some recreational fishing,
and lost his life. Tomorrow, people of my congregation will be looking
to God to give them some answer to this lost during this horrific
week. Please pray for me their pastor as I lead them through this
service, and the one on Sunday I have been preaching from the Old
Testament for the last two years, and so I have stayed with the Hebrew
Scriptures, the Prophets, during this Ordinary Time. Jeremiah can be
brutal, and not encouraging. But God has bless me to see some new
meaning in his words. He seemed to keep saying that God's people just
didn't get it, and so God could not save them. I keep thinking that
there is something you and I don't get in the 21st century. There is
thoughts of mind that say our labeling of others calling them names
instead of naming the actions is causing all people to hurt one
another. Until we stop this, our world will struggle and be faced with
our own untimely actions. I pray my heart changes along with others.
Shalom Pasthersyl
I just returned from Waynesboro Mississippi. It was really something
American flags every where. people either dressed in red,whiet and
blue or wearing ribbons. When I passed the grade achool there were at
least 70 to 80 kids gathered around the flag pole praying. The high
school was the same. Harold in Alabama
Paul Tillich wrote about this prophecy of Jeremiah's: "It is hard to
speak after the prophets have spoken as they have in these
pronouncements. Every word is like the stroke of a hammer. There was a
time when we could listen to such words without much feeling and
without understanding. There were decades and even centuries when we
did not take them seriously. Those days are gone. Today we must take
them seriously. For they describe with visionary power what the
majority of human beings in our period have experienced, and what,
perhaps in a not too distant future, all mankind will experience
abundantly. "The foundations of the earth do shake." The visions of
the prophets have become an actual, physical possibility, and might
become an historical reality. The phase, "Earth is split in pieces,"
is not merely a poetic metaphor for us, but a hard reality. That is
the religious meaning of the age into which we have entered." (The
Shaking of the Foundations, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, 1955).
--- He went on in the same book to say: "How could the prophets speak
as they did? How could they paint these most terrible pictures of doom
and destruction without cynicism or despair? It was because, beyond
the sphere of destruction, they saw the sphere of salvation; because,
in the doom of the temporal, they saw the manifestation of the
Eternal.. It was because they were certain that they belonged within
the two spheres, the changeable and the unchangeable. For only he who
is also beyond the changeable, not bound within it alone, can face the
end. All others are compelled to escape, to turn away. How much of our
lives consists in nothing but attempts to look away from the end! We
often succeed in forgetting the end. But ultimately we fail; for we
always carry the end with us in our bodies and our souls. And often
whole nations and cultures succeed in forgetting the end. But
ultimately they fail too, for in their lives and growth they always
carry the end with them. Often the whole earth succeeds in making its
creatures forget its end, but sometimes these creatures feel that
their earth is beginning to grow old, and that its foundations are
beginning to shake. For the earth always carries its end within it. We
happen to live in a time when very few of us, very few nations, very
few sections of the earth, will succeed in forgetting the end. For in
these days the foundations of the earth do shake. May we not turn our
eyes away; may we not close our ears and our mouths! But may we rather
see, through the crumbling of a world, the rock of eternity and the
salvation which has no end!"
----- In Tillich's words I have found a way to preach this coming
Sunday, and I can relate this to the Gospel in seeing, as Tillich put
it, "through the crumbling of [the] world" the searching, loving God
represented in our field of vision by the rescue and recovery workers
at "Ground Zero" in Manhattan and at the Pentagon. ---- Blessings,
Eric in KS
To kpc in sc, one cannot "argue" with leaders like this who exhibit
such spiritual arrogance that makes them feel they can make such a
judgement about the souls of those who are victims of tragedy. We can
only offset them by looking to God's judgement which only God knows.
We can only look to God with hope, love, joy and peace, even in our
fear. For that is our freedom, that God will judge us according to who
and what we are, not to what some other judgement another makes in the
name of God. To Carolyn in MD, many of us can only imagine what you
are going through as you seek to minister faithfully in these
circumstances. However, know this, today at noon thousands upon
thousands gathered on Parliament Hilkl in Ottawa, our capital city,
for a very public service of support, mourning, and friendship. Our
Prime Minister spoke for eloquently for a short time. Your ambassador
to Canada responded powerfully and also eloquently. Both spoke with
sincerity. Then there was three minutes of silence. And then the bell
in the Peace Tower of our Parliament Buildings was tolled, a repeating
single sound, echoing out its sound in symbolic grief and yet it gave
a sound of hope. On Wednesday I was asked by our hospital's chaplain
to assist her in a service for the staff, for it was a place of
caregivers feeling some sense of loss. Some knew firends or relatives
who were in New York at the time. The oldest son of friends of my wife
and I walked through the World Trade Centre to his work place one half
hour earlier. He watched it all happen. Let me assure all of you in
the States who will seeking to bring the Word of God to bear on this
on Sunday. You are not alone at any time this week. Many of us here
have changes our plans and will be hopefull and faithfully
understanding God's Word in such a tragic time, while remembering the
brotherhood and sisterhood we all share whatever our culture, whatever
our religion. despite what I wrote Tuesday evening, I am now shifting
forward a week and refering to Jeremiah's words for next Sunday,
combining it all with this week's Gospel. This is what was written by
one of our peers from Alberta about next Sunday's Jeremiah passage:
"Whether it's the buried pain of war, relationships gone wrong, or a
whole people gone astray, Jeremiah offers the gift of lament.
Sometimes all we can do is fall on our knees and rock back and forth
as the tears flow and the pain is given voice; there is freedom for
grief. Would that be our prayers for our leaders, for the wise ones,
for elected and appointed officials." May God bles us all and guide us
by the Spirit to do what is right in leadership and understanding with
and for a wondering people. God be with you all. Rev. Tim, South
Central Ontario, Canada
Hey, It's Ohio ladypreacher again, I thought I was using psalms and
lamentations... but earlier in the week God sent me searching in the
little used prophets...habakkuk I am Using the Prayer of Habakkuk Chp
3...seems holy Spirit led me to it, with what happened this week
Prayer of intercession and repentence.... Living by Faith is the hymn
I am reminded of and Jesus Saves.... ties in well....
Could it be that the "anointing" of the Spirit that so many claim, or
wish for, will come not to cleanse or to empower, but to flatten?
flame-out? Is this the kind of wind, breath, spirit that God will
send? We get what we pray for!!! Doug in Bahamas
On page 125 of "The body of God" by Sally McFague, she quotes Richard
Nelson anthropolist and essayist as saying " There is nothing in me
that is not of the earth, no split instant of separateness, no
particle that disunits me from the surroundings. I am no less than the
earth itself. The rivers run through my veins, the winds blow in and
out with my breath, the soil makes my flesh, the sun's heat smolders
inside me. A sickness or injury that befalls the earth befalls me. A
fouled molecule that runs through the earth runs through me. Where the
earth is cleansed and nourished its purity infuses me. The life of the
earth is my life. My eyes are the earth gazing at itself" Perhaps that
is what we see in this passage - the earth gazing at itself through
human/divine eyes of nature. I looked on the earth and lo, it was
waste and void...and so on. The emphasis is on "I looked"...repeated
three times. Mary
