Signs - February 1, 2023
Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 72; PM Psalm 119:73-96
Isa. 54:1-10(11-17); Gal. 4:21-31; Mark 8:11-26
We went on a weeklong family road trip when I was about nine years old. My parents loaded up our station wagon with blue plush interior and woodgrain siding. They picked me up from a session of summer camp and we headed toward Virginia. We stopped off at a Tudor-style hotel in South Carolina for the night and swam in a swanky indoor pool that felt like a dream – but heavy on the chlorine. Continuing our journey the next day, we drove on to Virginia Beach, where some friends of my parents’ lived. We played on the sandy beach with their kids and relaxed for a day or two.
We spent a day at Colonial Williamsburg, taking a step back into history and living through the eyes of lifestyle in the 1700s. We donned three-cornered hats, watched candles being made, and observed a form of punishment in that time – the public stocks in the middle of the street. On another day, we wandered around the campus of the University of Virginia and visited Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello. The memories of that trip are fond, warm ones for me.
Here's another point that stands out about our journey: my dad was struck by how beautiful Virginia was. Specifically, he noticed that there were no billboards along roadways. The views of landscape and towns were not littered by signs. When we got home, he was so impressed that he wrote a letter to some person of influence or civic policy – that part is foggy, as it was decades ago – applauding the aesthetic, uncluttered feel of the communities we visited. I am reminded of the 1970 song “Signs” by Five Man Electrical Band – remade in 1990 by the rock band Tesla.
The refrain goes,
“Sign, sign
Everywhere a sign
Blockin' out the scenery
Breakin' my mind
Do this, don't do that
Can't you read the sign?”
Today’s gospel from Mark tells of Jesus, on the tails of feeding four thousand people. He has compassion for them and does not want to send them away hungry. When the meal is over and there are seven baskets of leftovers, Jesus gets into a boat with his friends and heads to another community. The Pharisees track him down and seek to start fights with him. They demand a sign from heaven to test him, we are told. Their questions for Jesus are not for understanding or even for belief. The Pharisees argue to poke holes in the fabric of who Jesus says he is. And it is exhausting. Jesus groans deeply in his spirit…he exhales in exasperation. He asks, “Why does this generation ask for a sign? Truly I tell you, no sign will be given to this generation.”
Perhaps Jesus would identify with the song “Signs”…Signs, signs, everywhere and everyone demanding signs! Jesus’ point is that signs clutter up belief, if signs are all that we are looking for. How beautiful can our lives be if we live into believing in God, rather than being distracted by what signs we see that might be indicators of hope and truth and salvation and light.
Katherine+
Questions for Self-Reflection:
What signs and symbols are helpful reminders of God’s love? What signs are distracting? What other ways are you drawn into believing in the message of Jesus?