Lectionary Meditation

January 8, 2010

Today’s readings all present pairings: there’s the “Massah and Meribah” of Exodus 17, aka, Kvetchin’ and Moanin’ a name that could be given to some churches I know. “Is the Lord with us or not” is the question those who were thirsty were asking. Moses names the places after the behaviors. In the time of John’s gospel, the places named are already redolent with associations: Bethlehem, the place of royal promise, Galilee, the place of those who do not count. Which one is Jesus from? It can’t be both, can it? But that is the genius of the Gospel narrative. It is both. And Colossians proclaims that union: visible, invisible, earth, heaven. What with holding all those things together, combining Galilee and Bethlehem was a small feat indeed!