Proper VII 06/22/25
The Still Point
A Time of Meditation and Reflection
Second Sunday after Pentecost:
Proper Seven
... At the still point of the turning world. Neither flesh nor fleshless;
Neither from nor towards; at the still point, there the dance is,
But neither arrest nor movement. And do not call it fixity,
Where past and future are gathered. Neither movement from nor towards,
Neither ascent nor decline. Except for the point, the still point,
There would be no dance, and there is only the dance... T.S. Eliot, Burnt Norton
Peace on each one who comes in need;
Peace on each one who comes in joy.
Peace on each one who offers prayers;
Peace on each one who offers song.
Peace of the Maker, Peace of the Son,
Peace of the Spirit, the Triune One.
Opening Prayer
O Lord, when your Son ascended into heaven, he sent down upon the Apostles the Holy Spirit, as he had promised, that they might comprehend the mysteries of the kingdom: Distribute among us also, we pray, the gifts of the selfsame Spirit; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Scripture Reading Luke 8:26-39
Jesus and his disciples arrived at the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. As he stepped out on land, a man of the city who had demons met him. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he did not live in a house but in the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he fell down before him and shouted at the top of his voice, "What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me" -- for Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many times it had seized him; he was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the wilds.) Jesus then asked him, "What is your name?" He said, "Legion"; for many demons had entered him. They begged him not to order them to go back into the abyss. Now there on the hillside a large herd of swine was feeding; and the demons begged Jesus to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. Then the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned. When the swineherds saw what had happened, they ran off and told it in the city and in the country. Then people came out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. Those who had seen it told them how the one who had been possessed by demons had been healed. Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them; for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned. The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him; but Jesus sent him away, saying, "Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you." So he went away, proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him.
Poem: “Sonnet 144” By William Shakespeare
Two loves I have of comfort and despair,
Which like two spirits do suggest me still
The better angel is a man right fair,
The worser spirit a woman coloured ill.
To win me soon to hell, my female evil
Tempteth my better angel from my side,
And would corrupt my saint to be a devil,
Wooing his purity with her foul pride.
And, whether that my angel be turn’d fiend,
Suspect I may, yet not directly tell,
But being both from me both to each friend,
I guess one angel in another’s hell.
Yet this shall I ne’er know, but live in doubt,
Till my bad angel fire my good one out.
Meditation
In reading this week’s Gospel, I’m finding one particular Fruit of the Spirit emerging on the surface of the story of the demonic legions entering the herd of swine: the Fruit of Self-Control. This story richly rewards us with Jesus’ instruction by example of how to engage with the “discernment of the spirits” (a form of self-control, I’d say), and there’s so much to learn here about possession and unpossession, identity, ego, strength, and frailty. The possessed man is so overtaken by his demons that when Jesus asks the very telling and very important question: “What is your name?”, the demons answer readily for the man, and name themselves - the man himself is voiceless in the moment.
That question of “what is your name?” instructs us in the discipline of discernment (the Fruit of Self-Control) in two ways. First, it shows us how to discern what or who we are identifying with that has the potential to possess us and hold us apart from the utter peace in which we rest when we are hidden with Christ in God. Second, it orients us to who we know we are when we know whose we are.
We think it’s easy to spot demons. We think we’d smell them a mile away. We think they’re the obvious little devils of selfishness, bullying, violence, dishonesty, or arrogance. We think that if we don’t feel possessed by ”bad” qualities, we’re good to go. But Jesus’ journey with the tempter in the wilderness (tempted by bread and power) shows us that the real demons to watch out for aren’t the easy-to-spot ones. Rather, they’re the ones we might identify as good, as helpful, as beneficial (bread and power are good, aren’t they?). We might think we don’t have demons to worry about because they aren’t the devils we’re expecting. But the legions inside us are often those things that have become attachments, things and places and people we love, things we don’t think we could bear to part with. Things and people and ideas and beliefs that have become possessions, so much that they have come to possess us. They might look rather angelic. They might look like our favorites. But what happens when we grow afraid of losing them? What happens when we name them and hold them to the light? Whatever we think we can’t live without, it’s worth naming it to see it for what it really is.
Questions for Reflection
Call to mind something, or someone, you feel attached to. How long has this thing or person been a part of your life? What happens to you when you consider what your life would be like without that thing or person? Do you feel like you can live without it/them? What are you most afraid of when you consider that loss? Sense the presence of the gem of blessing in the middle of that static buzz of fear. In the practice of the “discernment of spirits”, we can sift the gift of our life’s blessings from our fear of their loss like cream rising to the top of milk.
What’s been bothering you lately? Give this bother a name. Now ask again of the ‘bother’: “What is your name, really?” The name may change several times as you ask it. Once you notice the name ringing clear, ask this bother where it came from. What does it need from you? What do you need from it? What are you getting out of being bothered by this? What bodily sensations do you notice when you feel bothered by this?
Call to mind something, or someone, that disturbed you in the past but doesn’t anymore. What changed for you? What changed in you? Did the disturbance change? How? Give the disturbance a name. Have you noticed the gem of a gift emerging from this disturbance? What would you name the gift? Where was God when you felt disturbed by this? Where do you notice God now in it?
Prayers
We bring before God someone whom we have met or remembered today
We bring to God someone who is hurting tonight and needs our prayer
We bring to God a troubled situation in our world
We bring to God, silently, someone whom we find hard to forgive or trust
We bring ourselves to God that we might grow in generosity of spirit, clarity of mind, and warmth of affection
We offer our thanks to God for the blessings in our lives
We name before God those who have died.
Gracious God, you hear all our prayers: those we speak aloud, those we hold in our hearts, and those prayers for which we have no words. Hear the prayers of your people, and grant them as may be best for us, for the sake of your holy name. Amen.
Accept our thanks for all you have done, O God. Our hands were empty, and you filled them.
May Christ’s holy, healing, enabling Spirit be with us every step of the way, and be our guide as our road changes and turns, and the blessing of God our Creator, Redeemer and Giver of life be among us now and remain with us forever. Amen.
Reflections this month offered by: Kathleen Schmidt
