HUGO CHAVEZ COURAGEOUS IN FACE OF CANCER 

This blog provides a meditation on the Episcopal daily readings along with a headline from world news

1 SAMUEL 14: 1-15

Now a garrison of the Philistines had gone out to the pass of Michmash. 141One day Jonathan son of Saul said to the young man who carried his armour, ‘Come, let us go over to the Philistine garrison on the other side.’ But he did not tell his father. 2Saul was staying in the outskirts of Gibeah under the pomegranate tree that is at Migron; the troops that were with him were about six hundred men, 3along with Ahijah son of Ahitub, Ichabod’s brother, son of Phinehas son of Eli, the priest of the Lord in Shiloh, carrying an ephod. Now the people did not know that Jonathan had gone. 4In the pass, by which Jonathan tried to go over to the Philistine garrison, there was a rocky crag on one side and a rocky crag on the other; the name of one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh. 5One crag rose on the north in front of Michmash, and the other on the south in front of Geba.

6 Jonathan said to the young man who carried his armour, ‘Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised; it may be that the Lord will act for us; for nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many or by few.’ 7His armour-bearer said to him, ‘Do all that your mind inclines to. I am with you; as your mind is, so is mine.’8Then Jonathan said, ‘Now we will cross over to those men and will show ourselves to them. 9If they say to us, “Wait until we come to you”, then we will stand still in our place, and we will not go up to them. 10But if they say, “Come up to us”, then we will go up; for the Lord has given them into our hand. That will be the sign for us.’ 11So both of them showed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines; and the Philistines said, ‘Look, Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they have hidden themselves.’ 12The men of the garrison hailed Jonathan and his armour-bearer, saying, ‘Come up to us, and we will show you something.’ Jonathan said to his armour-bearer, ‘Come up after me; for the Lord has given them into the hand of Israel.’ 13Then Jonathan climbed up on his hands and feet, with his armour-bearer following after him. The Philistines fell before Jonathan, and his armour-bearer, coming after him, killed them. 14In that first slaughter Jonathan and his armour-bearer killed about twenty men within an area about half a furrow long in an acre of land. 15There was a panic in the camp, in the field, and among all the people; the garrison and even the raiders trembled; the earth quaked; and it became a very great panic. 

Luke 23:26-31

The Crucifixion of Jesus

26 As they led him away, they seized a man, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming from the country, and they laid the cross on him, and made him carry it behind Jesus. 27A great number of the people followed him, and among them were women who were beating their breasts and wailing for him. 28But Jesus turned to them and said, ‘Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. 29For the days are surely coming when they will say, “Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.” 30Then they will begin to say to the mountains, “Fall on us”; and to the hills, “Cover us.” 31For if they do this when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?’

Today’s readings can be seen as reflecting on courage. Jonathan knows how to detect courage in the enemy. If they have the confidence to come out and attack, they are in good courage; if they stay put and ask their challengers to come to them; they are afraid. Even if the enemy is in a strong position, a lack of courage may make them vulnerable. This soldierly insight allows Jonathan and his armour bearer to win against the odds, with God’s help.

 Jesus’ courage is evident in his composed reply to the weeping women: the lawless cruelty being visited on him is not special, he says, it’s only the beginning (the green wood) of destructive evil which will one day afflict the people of Jerusalem, who have encouraged the Roman power to carry out this cruelty upon him. Jesus’ insight is that those who use an evil power for their own ends may find it crushes them.

In both incidents the writers depict the action of God. How does God act? Not by supernatural means above the participants but through the courage and wisdom of those who trust in God. Nor should we attribute their courage to God as if it were infused in them from above. God co-operates with human agents sharing their character and experience. If this is true of the young warriors how much more is it true of Jesus whose struggle is so much more lonely than Jonathan’s and whose hope is so much more profound.

God will not do it for us but he/she will do it with us.