Fully Alive in God

  M. Campbell-Langdell All Santos, Oxnard (Job 42:1–6, 10–17; Ps. 34:1–8, (19–22); Hebrews 7:23–28; Mark 10:46–52)   “What do you want me to do for you?” In seminary, I made friends with a person named Tammy. I love Tammy, who was my hallmate in the dormitory and who studied at the Franciscan Seminary. She is hilarious and brilliant. But Tammy had a problem. She was in a wheelchair, and thus people would infantilize her or presume they knew things about her and what she wanted. Her problem was not being in a wheelchair, so much as how others reacted to her being in a wheelchair.   I remember a very important lesson, pushing her wheelchair up a steep corridor in the seminary one time. I had to remember to ask what she wanted, and not just push her like she was a person without agency. That is why I think the words here that Jesus says to Bar-Timaeus are so important- “what do you want me to do for you?” Bar-Timaeus. It means, son of Timaeus, and we are told tw...

M. Campbell-Langdell All Santos, Oxnard (Job 42:1–6, 10–17; Salmo 34:1–8, (19–22); Hebreos 7:23–28; San Marcos 10:46–52)   —¿Qué quieres que haga por ti? En el seminario, hice una amiga llamada Tammy. Me encanta Tammy, que era mi compañera de dormitorio y que estudiaba en el seminario franciscano. Es graciosa y brillante. Pero Tammy tenía un problema. Estaba en silla de ruedas, y por eso la gente la trataba como a una niña o daba por sentado que sabían cosas sobre ella y lo que quería. Su problema no era estar en silla de ruedas, sino cómo reaccionaban los demás ante su situación de estar en silla de rueda. Recuerdo una lección muy importante: una vez, mientras empujaba su silla de ruedas por un pasillo empinado en el seminario, tuve que acordarme de preguntarle qué quería y no solo empujarla como si fuera una persona sin capacidad de decisión. Por esto, pienso que las palabras que Jesús dice a Bar-timeo en la lectura de hoy son tan importantes: —¿Qué quieres que haga p...

(image: Emily Larryware) M. Campbell-Langdell All Santos, Oxnard (Job 38:1–7, (34–41); Psalm 104:1–9, 25, 37; Hebrews 5:1–10; St Mark 10:35–45) "Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Gird up your loins like a man, I will question you, and you shall declare to me. Listening to God confront Job here, I can’t help but think of the song from the very irreverent musical “The Book of Mormon” called “Man Up”! Part of the song goes like this: 'Cuz there's a time in your life When you know you've got to MAN UP. Don't let it pass you by, There's just one time to MAN UP. Watch me man up like Nobody else! I'm gonna man up all Over myself![1] Without getting too far into the territory of toxic masculinity which is a whole other sermon, God reaches back to Job here and tells him to gird up his loins because he is about to take him on a trip around the universe. God is big and Job is very small in the scheme of things. Some commentators have poin...

  M. Campbell-Langdell All Santos, Oxnard ( Job 23:1-9, 16-17; Psalm 22:1-15; Hebrews 4:12-16; Mark 10:17-31 ) Good morning. Today’s scriptures remind me that there is more here than meets the eye. Job suffers greatly, and yet he actually gets to talk with God! In addition, here is the rich young man. We see him interact with Jesus, asking how to inherit eternal life? He has followed the commandments from his youth. And Jesus, looking at him, loves him and says, sell everything, give it to the poor, have treasure in heaven, and follow me. I don’t know about you, but I think that the man and oftentimes many readers of this scripture get focused on the first part. Selling everything. It is a tall order. We begin to wonder- would we need to do that too? Or is this command only for the young man? I tend to think that Jesus would give each of us a different command based on whatever it is that separates us from God. Since the young man thought he was only blessed because of his ...

  M. Campbell-Langdell All Santos, Oxnard ( Job 23:1-9, 16-17; Salmo 22:1-15; Hebreos 4:12-16; Marcos 10:17-31 ) Buenos días. Las escrituras de hoy me recuerdan que hay más de lo que se ve fácilmente. Job sufre mucho, pero ¡habla directamente con Dios! En adición, tenemos este hombre joven y rico. Lo vemos interaccionar con Jesús. Dice: “, ¿qué debo hacer para alcanzar la vida eterna?” Ha seguido los mandamientos desde su juventud. Y Jesús lo mira con amor, y dice, “Una cosa te falta: anda, vende todo lo que tienes y dáselo a los pobres. Así tendrás riqueza en el cielo. Luego ven y sígueme.” No sé de ustedes, pero muchas veces yo pienso que nos enfoquemos mucho en la primera parte de esto. En vender todo. No es algo sencillo. ¿Nos empezamos a preguntar- tenemos que hacer esto nosotros? ¿O este mandamiento es solo para este hombre rico? Pienso yo que tal vez Jesús tendría otro reto para cada uno de nosotros basado en lo que nos separa de Dios. Como el hombre rico pensó que s...

  M. Campbell-Langdell All Santos, Oxnard (Job 1:1; 2:1–10; Salmo/Ps. 26; Hebreos/Hebrews 1:1–4; 2:5–12; San Marcos/ Mark 10:2–16) Good morning! Buenos días. The texts for today cover a lot of different areas. They may even make us feel uncomfortable as we feel challenged, but they also speak of God’s majesty and the importance of relationships, with God and with people. Los textos de hoy cubren varios temas. Estos temas hasta nos pueden hacer sentir incomodos porque presentan desafíos, pero también hablan de la majestad de Dios y la importancia de relaciones – nuestra relación con Dios y las relaciones que tenemos el uno con el otro. Let us start very early on with Job. Job is a story that began to be formed before the time of Abraham, or is talking about the time before the Abrahamic faiths, and the way that people tried to understand what God was doing in the world, how bad things could happen to good people, but also how we could, as people, have a relationship with...