THE CREATION

A Negro Sermon 

by James Weldon Johnson 

1871 - 1928 

And God stepped out on space,

And he looked around and said:

I’m lonely—

I’ll make me a world.

And far as the eye of God could see

Darkness covered everything,

Blacker than a hundred midnights

Down in a cypress swamp.

Then God smiled,

And the light broke,

And the darkness rolled up on one side,

And the light stood shining on the other,

And God said: That’s good!

Then God reached out and took the light in his hands,

And God rolled the light around in his hands

Until he made the sun;

And he set that sun a-blazing in the heavens.

And the light that was left from making the sun

God gathered it up in a shining ball

And flung it against the darkness,

Spangling the night with the moon and stars.

Then down between

The darkness and the light

He hurled the world;

And God said: That’s good!

Then God himself stepped down—

And the sun was on his right hand,

And the moon was on his left;

The stars were clustered about his head,

And the earth was under his feet.

And God walked, and where he trod

His footsteps hollowed the valleys out

And bulged the mountains up.

Then he stopped and looked and saw

That the earth was hot and barren.

So God stepped over to the edge of the world

And he spat out the seven seas—

He batted his eyes, and the lightnings flashed—

He clapped his hands, and the thunders rolled—

And the waters above the earth came down,

The cooling waters came down.

Then the green grass sprouted,

And the little red flowers blossomed,

The pine tree pointed his finger to the sky,

And the oak spread out his arms,

The lakes cuddled down in the hollows of the ground,

And the rivers ran down to the sea;

And God smiled again,

And the rainbow appeared,

And curled itself around his shoulder.

Then God raised his arm and he waved his hand

Over the sea and over the land,

And he said: Bring forth! Bring forth!

And quicker than God could drop his hand,

Fishes and fowls

And beasts and birds

Swam the rivers and the seas,

Roamed the forests and the woods,

And split the air with their wings.

And God said: That’s good!

Then God walked around,

And God looked around

On all that he had made.

He looked at his sun,

And he looked at his moon,

And he looked at his little stars;

He looked on his world

With all its living things,

And God said: I’m lonely still.

Then God sat down—

On the side of a hill where he could think;

By a deep, wide river he sat down;

With his head in his hands,

God thought and thought,

Till he thought: I’ll make me a man!

Up from the bed of the river

God scooped the clay;

And by the bank of the river

He kneeled him down;

And there the great God Almighty

Who lit the sun and fixed it in the sky,

Who flung the stars to the most far corner of the night,

Who rounded the earth in the middle of his hand;

This great God,

Like a mammy bending over her baby,

Kneeled down in the dust

Toiling over a lump of clay

Till he shaped it in is his own image;

Then into it he blew the breath of life,

And man became a living soul.

Amen.      Amen.

BUMMER OF A BUS RIDE

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time is, “Bummer of A Bus Ride.”

When I read today’s first reading from the Book of Job, the thought that hit me was this: It would be a bummer of a bus ride – if one went on a trip sitting next to Job.

In today’s first reading listen to him, “Life is drudgery. Work – if you’re a hired hand, is a bummer. If that’s the story, your life is like that of a slave who wants to get out of the burning heat and sit down in the shade.”

He’s saying, “Life is months of misery. Troubled nights are a killer. I’m restless. I can’t sleep.  I have no hope in life. I’m going to die. My life is like the wind. I won’t see happiness again.”

If you ended up next to Job on a bus ride – or a plane – or in a small group – or had Job as a roommate in college, bummer.

TODAY’S READINGS

In today’s 2^nd reading  Paul is telling us that his main goal in life is to help make such an unhappy camper happy by bringing Christ into that person’s life. Paul – when he was Saul -  was an unhappy camper. He didn’t like Christians. 

Then on the road to Damascus, he fell on his face and  found out he was wrong. He changed. He then spent the rest of his life trying to bring the joy and love of Christ to as many unhappy campers he met.

In today’s gospel – people are coming from everywhere to be next to Christ. It's just to opposite of being next to Job. They want to receive Christ's blessings and avoid Job's whinings. They wanted to be next to Christ - the optimist and not the pessimist.

CONCLUSION

Who would you rather be next to on a bus? Job or Christ? Choose Christ. 

When someone sees us coming down the aisle of a bus - and the seat next to them  is empty, what are they thinking when they see our face?

I

February 8, 2015

COLD

Cold  - like 20 below freezing cold -

can be so silent, so sneaky, so tight.

Cold can creep into every stone,

into every bone in my body.

Cold can grab every outside metal

banister – as I stand there freezing.

Cold can stand there with me on the

top step – as I ring the bell – no answer.

Cold eases the cold as I knock, knock

on the sold front door – but nobody’s home.

Cold rushes with me as I rush home

to get inside and rub into a hot radiator.

Cold – I see myself being so cold when

someone wants me – wants me to open up.

Cold – I am too, too cold – I am so non-Samaritan,

when someone stands at my door and knocks.

Cold – it’s so much harder to be a Christian in the

cold, when I want my comfort and my warmth.

© Andy Costello, Reflection by the Bay, 2015

February 7, 2015

MOTIVE #1?

Does everything we do - have to have a motive?

When I watch NCIS or other detective TV program,

it usually begins with a crime. Then the lead

detective arrives and they begin asking, “Motive?”

Don’t we detectives say the same thing every day, “Motive?”

“Why did she say that? “Why did he do that?”

“What’s going on here?” “Why did I do what I did?”

Motive? Motive? Why? Why? Motive? Motive?

Then - when - we start thinking, we find out,

behind that inner why, that inner cry, is the

simple answer, “Something was missing.”

When empty, we want to be filled.

Is that the most basic motive in life?

Something’s missing. I’m hungry.

I’m thirsty. I need. I need. I need.

So we fill ourselves, with food, drink, others,

fun, answers, stuff that stuffs us.

We try to control what we can’t control - so 
in anger or frustration - we snap - we hurt.

So we spend our days sending out

555 texts and 333 tweets – our attempts

to fill up our emptiness and loneliness –

because we’ve discovered we can't do it all.

We can’t be it all. The more is elsewhere.
The control is elsewhere. We scream.

Then comes the double whammy:

we find out that all this reaching out 
for more drains and strains us. We discover
that when our net is full – we’re dragging -
we break - we lose what we thought we had.

We find out there is the morning after,

the hangover, the headache, the heartache,

and then the triple whammy, we have

the deeper itch - angst and agita –

because of our dumb moves . 

Then, if we are lucky, we’ll confess what Augustine confessed in his Confessions: “Too late I loved you, 

O Beauty ever ancient, ever new! Too late 
I loved you! And, behold, you were within me,

and I out of myself, and there I searched for you.” 

Good News! We have finally learned what the Psalmist whispered, “Be still and know that I am God.” [Psalm 46:10] Being still, stepping back can
get us in touch with our motives - our desire
for God. Isn't God the real motive for life? Isn't 
God the Eternal Scream, the Eternal Whisper?

© Andy Costello, Reflections by the Bay, 2015

THE LORD IS MY LIGHT 

AND MY SALVATION 

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 4^th Friday in Ordinary Time is, “The Lord Is My Light and My Salvation.”

FLASHLIGHT

My sister Mary told me a cute story. Her husband, Jerry, was a money counter along with 6 other retired guys at their parish church.

One Monday – after coming home from working on counting the collection money - he tells my sister the following. “Mary, you are not going to believe what the topic of conversation was amongst our guys this morning?” It was, “What kind of flashlight do you use for when you have to go to the bathroom all those times you get up during the night?"  

PSALM RESPONSE

Great story.... It fits in perfectly with today’s psalm response which we said, 5 times at least: “The Lord is my light and my salvation.”

A light saves our footsies from being hit and banged when getting up to go to the bathroom during the night.

We need lights to manage our lives through the dark.

Christ is the light of the world. We need his light to navigate through life – especially when we are in the dark.

TODAY’S READINGS

We can read today’s readings and find lights and insights on how to live life to the full.

Here are ten found in today’s 1^st reading and today’s gospel.

The first light is hospitality. It's right there in today's first readings from Hebrews 13: 1-8.  Make  sure we practice hospitality. Hospitals heal. Hospitality means treating others sweetly. It’s doing the extra for others. Whoever we are, hospitality is the sprinkling of the extra on our guests – as well as making sure everyone has the  essentials to life. On a scale of 1 to 10, how am I as a host? Ten being the highest.

The second light is to treat prisoners well or those who feel that way – for example someone who has had a stroke or has to take care of a parent – or feels trapped in grand parenting as a baby sitter or is in a wheelchair. Listen – support - help – treat right those who are not being treated well.

The third light  - if you’re married, make your marriage and your marriage bed sacred – as sacred as the altar.

The fourth light – don’t let money blind you – or control your life.

The fifth light  - is being content.  It's not that easy, but if we learn contentment,  we’ll have an easier life – at home, in restaurants, stores, traffic and with weather, and health.

The sixth light is being with and seeing Christ in all this – in our lives.

The seventh light is stop bragging.

The eight light comes from today’s gospel: enough with the grudges that end up like a heavy back pack on our backs.

The ninth light – also from today’s gospel – don’t let young flesh – seduce our old eyes.

The tenth light learn to say, “I made a mistake. I can’t do what I promised.”

CONCLUSION

There they are 10 different lights to help you get through the dark.

February 6, 2015

WAKE UP!

I met a man – an old man – who said,

“Every morning – when I wake up,

I wiggle my toes – and if they wiggle,

I say to God, “Thank You God

for another day of life.”

He had a great smile on his face

when he told me this wonderful news.

I’ve been doing the same thing ever since.

Why do they close a person’s eyes

when they die? I’ve often wondered why?

Is it because down deep it’s an act of faith

that the inner eye or the so called, “Third Eye”

of the person who has died is now waking from

sleep – wiggling their inner being to a new day.

Do most of us spend most of our life sleep walking

and sleep talking and wiggling our toes without

knowing what we’re doing in the here and now.

We live and breathe and have our being in the

here and now. Wake up! Be born again in

the here and now – each day becoming

more and more ready for resurrection

and new life – in Christ and with all the people

who ever lived – without knowing we are one

with each other – and one with the universe

for ever and ever, Amen!

© Andy Costello. Reflections in the Bay, 2015

February 5, 2015

SAVE  THE  DATE

We get them from time:

a “Save The Date” notice.

It’s usually an announcement

for an upcoming wedding.

The more we talk to people

the more we discover we all

have several dates we save –

saved joyfully with love and memory.

But then there are the dates we save -

sorrowfully with tears and stabs

in the heart, jabs of hurt and pain.
These are the dates on which 
we lost  a child or a spouse, 
a mom or a dad, brother or sister.

We can’t plan them, we can only 

endure them circled on the calendar, 

like a crucifix, on the wall of our mind.

© Andy Costello, Reflections on the Bay 2015