{"id":2397,"date":"2023-10-10T21:36:18","date_gmt":"2023-10-10T21:36:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/preachingforgodsworld.org\/?p=2397"},"modified":"2023-10-10T21:36:18","modified_gmt":"2023-10-10T21:36:18","slug":"20th-sunday-after-pentecost-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/preachingforgodsworld.org\/20th-sunday-after-pentecost-2\/","title":{"rendered":"20th Sunday after Pentecost"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"2397\" class=\"elementor elementor-2397\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-2753f168 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"2753f168\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-3e26f16b\" data-id=\"3e26f16b\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-64fc71 eael-dt-th-align-center eael-table-align-center elementor-widget elementor-widget-eael-data-table\" data-id=\"64fc71\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"eael-data-table.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"eael-data-table-wrap\" data-table_id=\"64fc71\" id=\"eael-data-table-wrapper-64fc71\" data-custom_responsive=\"false\">\n\t\t\t<table class=\"tablesorter eael-data-table center\" id=\"eael-data-table-64fc71\">\n\t\t\t    <thead>\n\t\t\t        <tr class=\"table-header\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t            <th class=\"\" id=\"\" colspan=\"\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"data-table-header-text\">Lectionary<\/span><\/th>\n\t\t\t        \t\t\t\t            <th class=\"\" id=\"\" colspan=\"\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"data-table-header-text\">1st Reading<\/span><\/th>\n\t\t\t        \t\t\t\t            <th class=\"\" id=\"\" colspan=\"\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"data-table-header-text\">Psalm<\/span><\/th>\n\t\t\t        \t\t\t\t            <th class=\"\" id=\"\" colspan=\"\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"data-table-header-text\">2nd Reading<\/span><\/th>\n\t\t\t        \t\t\t\t            <th class=\"\" id=\"\" colspan=\"\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"data-table-header-text\">Gospel<\/span><\/th>\n\t\t\t        \t\t\t\t        <\/tr>\n\t\t\t    <\/thead>\n\t\t\t  \t<tbody>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<tr>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t   \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<td colspan=\"\" rowspan=\"\" class=\"\" id=\"\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"td-content-wrapper\"><div class=\"td-content\">Anglican lectionary <\/div><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/td>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t   \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<td colspan=\"\" rowspan=\"\" class=\"\" id=\"\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"td-content-wrapper\"><div class=\"td-content\">Isaiah 25:1-9<\/div><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/td>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t   \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<td colspan=\"\" rowspan=\"\" class=\"\" id=\"\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"td-content-wrapper\"><div class=\"td-content\">23\n<\/div><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/td>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t   \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<td colspan=\"\" rowspan=\"\" class=\"\" id=\"\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"td-content-wrapper\"><div class=\"td-content\">Philippians 4: 1 - 9<\/div><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/td>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t   \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<td colspan=\"\" rowspan=\"\" class=\"\" id=\"\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"td-content-wrapper\"><div class=\"td-content\">Matthew 22: 1 - 14\n<\/div><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/td>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/tr>\n\t\t\t        \t\t\t\t\t\t<tr>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t   \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<td colspan=\"\" rowspan=\"\" class=\"\" id=\"\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"td-content-wrapper\"><div class=\"td-content\">Catholic lectionary:<\/div><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/td>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t   \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<td colspan=\"\" rowspan=\"\" class=\"\" id=\"\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"td-content-wrapper\"><div class=\"td-content\">Isaiah 25:6-10a<\/div><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/td>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t   \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<td colspan=\"\" rowspan=\"\" class=\"\" id=\"\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"td-content-wrapper\"><div class=\"td-content\"><\/div><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/td>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t   \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<td colspan=\"\" rowspan=\"\" class=\"\" id=\"\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"td-content-wrapper\"><div class=\"td-content\">Philippians 4:12-20<\/div><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/td>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t   \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<td colspan=\"\" rowspan=\"\" class=\"\" id=\"\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"td-content-wrapper\"><div class=\"td-content\">(both)<\/div><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/td>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/tr>\n\t\t\t        \t\t\t    <\/tbody>\n\t\t\t<\/table>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t  \t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4462695e elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"4462695e\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.21.0 - 08-05-2024 *\/\n.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-stacked .elementor-drop-cap{background-color:#69727d;color:#fff}.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-framed .elementor-drop-cap{color:#69727d;border:3px solid;background-color:transparent}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap{margin-top:8px}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap-letter{width:1em;height:1em}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap{float:left;text-align:center;line-height:1;font-size:50px}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap-letter{display:inline-block}<\/style>\t\t\t\t<p><strong><em>Your invitation to love\u2019s banquet<\/em><\/strong><br \/>\u00a0<br \/><strong>Matthew 22:1-14<\/strong><br \/>Jesus\u2019 parable of the wedding feast has been interpreted in all sorts of ways, some of them helpful \u2013 some of them, not so much.\u00a0Over the years, commentators have interpreted the parable as an angry rebuke of the religious authorities who rejected Jesus; as an allegory to justify the destruction of Jerusalem by Roman soldiers in the year 70 C.E.; and as an account of why early Christian communities opened their doors to Gentiles as well as Jews.\u00a0At their worst, interpretations of the parable smack of conscious or unconscious anti-Semitism; at their best \u2013 well, let\u2019s give it a shot.\u00a0 What meaning can this parable have for us today?\u00a0 In particular, can it give us any spiritual guidance in these turbulent times?<br \/>\u00a0<br \/>Let\u2019s take it from the top.\u00a0 Once upon a time there was a king \u2013 a wise, all-powerful king who decided to hold a wedding banquet for his son.\u00a0 He got everything ready and prepared a feast of the finest foods.\u00a0 He sent out invitations to his chosen guests, saying \u201cEverything is ready; come to the wedding banquet\u201d (Matthew 22:4).\u00a0But the guests refused to come.\u00a0 Twice they were asked, and twice they turned him down.\u00a0 They \u201cmade light\u201d of the invitation, the story tells us, and some \u201cwent away, one to his farm, another to his business\u201d (Matthew 22:5), while the rest attacked and killed the messengers.<br \/>\u00a0<br \/>If we read this through the lens of spiritual experience, what might this part of the story mean?\u00a0 What comes to my mind are the many times that I refuse those invitations to the feast.\u00a0 Too often I act like one of those guests who is handed a beautiful, hand-engraved wedding invitation: I cross my arms and say, \u201cNope; not interested.\u201d\u00a0Has this ever happened to you?\u00a0Maybe you\u2019re sitting indoors, and you\u2019ve been inside all day, getting some work done, and you look up and notice that the sun is now low in the sky, casting a marvelous golden light across the purple underbelly of the clouds, and some part of you stares and says Oh! And you want to get up and gaze out the window for a while \u2013 or even step outside.\u00a0But you don\u2019t.<br \/>\u00a0<br \/>Or maybe there\u2019s a man with a loose gray coat and an unshaven face who is standing on the sidewalk where you just parked your car, and as you put a quarter in the meter, he mumbles a request: could you give him money to buy a cup of coffee?\u00a0 You look across the street and sure enough, there\u2019s a coffee shop right there; even if you don\u2019t want to give the man cash, you could perfectly well walk across the street and get him a cup of coffee.\u00a0But you don\u2019t.<br \/><br \/>Or maybe you feel stressed and distracted, or maybe sad and discouraged, and you sense a deep tug to prayer.\u00a0You know that new life will blossom in you only if you get yourself to sit down and pay attention to what is going on inside, only if you let yourself rest for a while in God\u2019s embrace.\u00a0But do you let yourself pause to take in that nourishment?\u00a0 You don\u2019t.\u00a0 You\u2019ve got other things to do \u2013 good things, important things.\u00a0That inner tug can wait.\u00a0 If you ignore it long enough, maybe it will go away.<br \/>\u00a0<br \/>Invitations to love\u2019s banquet can take many forms, and they come not just once, but every day, and many times a day \u2013 maybe as an invitation to gaze at the beauty of the world, or as an invitation to be generous, or as an invitation to pause for a while to give the lover of our souls our full and undivided attention in prayer.\u00a0Yet how easy it is to say No!\u00a0I have a million excuses \u2013 I\u2019m too busy, too focused on my own agenda, too distracted or overloaded to relinquish my worried, busy mind and to let my awareness open and to drop into my heart.<br \/>\u00a0<br \/>That\u2019s a loss, because deep at the center of our being is an unquenchable thirst for union with the divine.\u00a0Deep in our guts, our bones, our very DNA, is an irrepressible yearning to move toward the Source of life, the All, the Ultimate, the Holy One.\u00a0 Call it what you will \u2013 human beings the world over, whatever their religion, share a desire for what one writer calls \u201cthe union on this earth and in this body of the human with the divine.\u00a0This is the true spiritual marriage, the consummation of love that in one way or another is the aim of every ritual and every practice in every religion.\u201d\u00a0<br \/>\u00a0<br \/>It\u2019s no wonder that the Bible so often uses wedding imagery to express the complete and intimate union of God and God\u2019s people, or of God and the individual soul.\u00a0Sometimes the Bible depicts the bridegroom as God; sometimes the bridegroom is Christ. Sometimes, as in this parable, we are invited to be guests at the wedding, and sometimes we ourselves are the bridegroom or we ourselves are the bride.<br \/>\u00a0<br \/>Love poets and mystics know all about the ecstasy of spiritual marriage.\u00a0Take, for instance, St. Francis of Assisi, whose feast day we recently celebrated.\u00a0 Francis gazed deeply into the natural world as if into a mirror, and he saw reflected back to him the outpouring love of God.\u00a0For him, God was not an entity \u201cout there\u201d \u2013 God was within him and around him; God infused and sustained and shone out from all things.\u00a0<br \/><br \/>Here is a little poem adapted from St. Francis:<br \/><br \/><em>Such love does<br \/>the sky now pour,<br \/>that whenever I stand in a field,<\/em><br \/><em>I have to wring out the light<br \/>when I get<br \/>home.<\/em><br \/>\u00a0<br \/>The human longing for union with God is universal, but how quickly we repress it, ignore it, or push it away!\u00a0Who knows why?\u00a0Maybe we don\u2019t want to feel our need and vulnerability; maybe we\u2019re afraid to relinquish control; maybe we\u2019re convinced we\u2019re not good enough and we can\u2019t possibly be loved that much.\u00a0But if we keep pushing God away, if we keep shutting ourselves off from the invitation to love and to be loved, then before long we will start to experience God as the enemy, and that\u2019s the next part of the parable: some guests mock the messengers and blow them off, and other guests seize, mistreat, and kill them.\u00a0The passage tells us that \u201cthe king was enraged\u201d (Matthew 22:7).\u00a0He sends in his troops, destroys the murderers, and burns their city down.<br \/>\u00a0<br \/>As a spiritual story, this parable is quite accurate and exact: when we turn ourselves into the enemy of God, eventually we begin to experience God as an enemy.\u00a0God has not changed, but we have \u2013 we have pushed God away and have deliberately alienated ourselves from the divine.\u00a0Before any spiritual union can possibly take place, maybe that stubborn, resisting part of the self needs to be brought low and to fall away.\u00a0All of us who, at some point, have made a mess of our lives, who have made terrible mistakes and headed too far down a willful, self-centered, and defiant path, know what that\u2019s like.\u00a0Sometimes the ego must be crucified before the soul can be born.<br \/>\u00a0<br \/>Yet the invitation to love never ceases.\u00a0 In fact, it keeps getting wider, deeper, more expansive, and more inclusive.\u00a0There is no guest list now.\u00a0The king\u2019s love reaches out to everyone.\u00a0 The wedding is ready, he says; the feast is about to be served and the food is hot.\u00a0He sends messengers into the streets to invite everyone to come, both good and bad, and they stream into the wedding hall until it is filled at last.<br \/>\u00a0<br \/>If you read this as a story of the interior life, it seems that only now \u2013 after our pride and defiance have been humbled and brought low \u2013 only now can we understand that every part of ourselves is being invited to the feast, that everything in us that we have cast away, abandoned, and rejected is being invited into the presence of God to be welcomed and healed and made whole.\u00a0 Our whole selves are invited to the feast, and everybody else is invited with us.\u00a0 There is no need now to shrug hopelessly and to say that we must settle for being alienated from each other, that we have keep living driven, restless, distracted lives, that we have to make peace with poverty, with racial injustice and economic injustice, that we have to condone destroying the earth and that we have to tolerate an endless succession of wars. Now we know the truth: we have been invited to feast at the table of divine life.\u00a0We have been invited into the very heart of God, and in the strength of that divine presence we are sent out into the world to bear witness to God\u2019s justice and mercy and love.<br \/>\u00a0<br \/>The parable ends with the startling little story of the guest who comes to the feast with no wedding robe and is summarily bound hand and foot and thrown into the outer darkness (Matthew 22:11-14).\u00a0Maybe this is a reminder to stay humble: God loves us completely and invites everyone to the feast, but we have our own work to do: to clothe ourselves day by day with the intention to love.\u00a0 As St. Paul puts it in Colossians, our job is to \u201c[strip] off the old self with its practices and [to clothe ourselves] with the new self\u2026\u201d The passage continues: \u201cAs God\u2019s chosen ones\u2026 clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.\u00a0Bear with one another and\u2026forgive each other\u2026 Above all, clothe yourselves with love\u201d (Colossians 3:9-10, 12-14).\u00a0In short, we wear the right clothes to the wedding feast of life when we clothe ourselves with love.<br \/>\u00a0<br \/>We are living through a time of extraordinary stress, a time in which each of us must clarify who we are and what we value.\u00a0So, here is what I want to tell you.\u00a0When love\u2019s holy invitation comes, I want to say yes.\u00a0When love calls me to marvel at the sunset, to stop and gape at the beauty of the world, I want to say yes.\u00a0When love calls me to walk across the street to bring someone a cup of hot coffee and to add some honey to it, and some milk, as well, because that\u2019s the way he says he likes it, I want to say yes. When the divine call comes to sit down in prayer and to give the lover of my soul my full and undivided attention, I want to say yes.\u00a0 As Mary Oliver writes in her poem, \u201cWhen Death Comes,\u201d\u00a0<br \/>\u00a0<br \/><em>When it\u2019s over, I want to say: all my life<br \/>I was a bride married to amazement.<br \/>I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.<\/em><br \/>\u00a0<br \/>I want to say yes to life, yes to God, yes to the One in whose invisible, irresistible Presence we step fully into life, daring to connect deeply with ourselves and each other, refusing to be spectators, refusing to hold back, stepping out to create a world \u2013 and to fight for a world \u2013 in which everyone has a chance to experience how deeply God loves them. The banquet table is prepared, Jesus says to us. Will we come to the feast?<br \/>\u00a0<br \/>I will give the last word to Rumi, a Sufi poet who ends one of his poems like this:\u00a0<br \/><br \/><em>On a day when the wind is perfect,<br \/>the sail just needs to open<br \/>and the love starts.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><br \/><em>Today is such a day.<\/em><br \/><br \/><\/p><div><hr align=\"left\" size=\"1\" width=\"30%\" \/><\/div><p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"cke_anchor\" title=\"Anchor\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP\/\/\/wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw==\" alt=\"Anchor\" align=\"\" data-cke-realelement=\"%3Ca%20data-cke-saved-name%3D%22_edn1%22%20name%3D%22_edn1%22%3E%3C%2Fa%3E\" data-cke-real-node-type=\"1\" data-cke-real-element-type=\"anchor\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/sustainable-preaching.org\/2020\/10\/11\/19th-sunday-after-pentecost-2\/#_ednref1\" data-cke-saved-href=\"http:\/\/sustainable-preaching.org\/2020\/10\/11\/19th-sunday-after-pentecost-2\/#_ednref1\">[i]<\/a>\u00a0Roger Housden,\u00a0<em>For Lovers of God Everywhere: Poems of the Christian Mystics<\/em>, (New York City: Hay House, Inc., 2009), xiii.<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"cke_anchor\" title=\"Anchor\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP\/\/\/wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw==\" alt=\"Anchor\" align=\"\" data-cke-realelement=\"%3Ca%20data-cke-saved-name%3D%22_edn2%22%20name%3D%22_edn2%22%3E%3C%2Fa%3E\" data-cke-real-node-type=\"1\" data-cke-real-element-type=\"anchor\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/sustainable-preaching.org\/2020\/10\/11\/19th-sunday-after-pentecost-2\/#_ednref2\" data-cke-saved-href=\"http:\/\/sustainable-preaching.org\/2020\/10\/11\/19th-sunday-after-pentecost-2\/#_ednref2\">[ii]<\/a>\u00a0St. Francis of Assisi, \u201cWring Out My Clothes,\u201d in\u00a0<em>Love Poems from God: Twelve Sacred Voices from the East and West<\/em>, translated by Daniel Ladinsky (New York, Penguin Compass, 2002), 48.<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"cke_anchor\" title=\"Anchor\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP\/\/\/wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw==\" alt=\"Anchor\" align=\"\" data-cke-realelement=\"%3Ca%20data-cke-saved-name%3D%22_edn3%22%20name%3D%22_edn3%22%3E%3C%2Fa%3E\" data-cke-real-node-type=\"1\" data-cke-real-element-type=\"anchor\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/sustainable-preaching.org\/2020\/10\/11\/19th-sunday-after-pentecost-2\/#_ednref3\" data-cke-saved-href=\"http:\/\/sustainable-preaching.org\/2020\/10\/11\/19th-sunday-after-pentecost-2\/#_ednref3\">[iii]<\/a>\u00a0Mary Oliver, \u201cWhen Death Comes,\u201d\u00a0<em>New and Selected Poems<\/em>\u00a0(Boston: Beacon Press, 1992), 10.<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"cke_anchor\" title=\"Anchor\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP\/\/\/wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw==\" alt=\"Anchor\" align=\"\" data-cke-realelement=\"%3Ca%20data-cke-saved-name%3D%22_edn4%22%20name%3D%22_edn4%22%3E%3C%2Fa%3E\" data-cke-real-node-type=\"1\" data-cke-real-element-type=\"anchor\" \/><a href=\"http:\/\/sustainable-preaching.org\/2020\/10\/11\/19th-sunday-after-pentecost-2\/#_ednref4\" data-cke-saved-href=\"http:\/\/sustainable-preaching.org\/2020\/10\/11\/19th-sunday-after-pentecost-2\/#_ednref4\">[iv]<\/a>\u00a0Jalaludin Rumi, \u201cOn a Day When the Wind is Perfect,\u201d in\u00a0<em>Love Poems from God<\/em>, 80.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-0be21f2 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"0be21f2\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-4431e66\" data-id=\"4431e66\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-9bacbb4 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"9bacbb4\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<strong><span>Share the article:<\/span><\/strong>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-71295c7 elementor-widget elementor-widget-htmega-social-shere-addons\" data-id=\"71295c7\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"htmega-social-shere-addons.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t            <div class=\"htmega-social-share htmega-social-style-1 htmega-social-view-icon-title\" >\n                <ul>\n                                            <li class=\"elementor-repeater-item-30d5755\" data-social=\"facebook\" > \n                            <i aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"fab fa-facebook\"><\/i><span class=\"htmega-share-title\">Facebook<\/span><span class=\"htmega-share-counter\" data-counter=\"facebook\"><\/span>                        <\/li>\n                                            <li class=\"elementor-repeater-item-e452574\" data-social=\"twitter\" > \n                            <i aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"fab fa-twitter\"><\/i><span class=\"htmega-share-title\">Twitter<\/span><span class=\"htmega-share-counter\" data-counter=\"twitter\"><\/span>                        <\/li>\n                                            <li class=\"elementor-repeater-item-44f48b2\" data-social=\"googleplus\" > \n                            <i aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"fab fa-google-plus\"><\/i><span class=\"htmega-share-title\">Google Plus<\/span><span class=\"htmega-share-counter\" data-counter=\"googleplus\"><\/span>                        <\/li>\n                                    <\/ul>\n            <\/div>\n        \t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-51199fb3 elementor-section-content-middle elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"51199fb3\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-33 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-72144904\" data-id=\"72144904\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-51751578 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"51751578\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.21.0 - 08-05-2024 *\/\n.elementor-widget-image{text-align:center}.elementor-widget-image a{display:inline-block}.elementor-widget-image a img[src$=\".svg\"]{width:48px}.elementor-widget-image img{vertical-align:middle;display:inline-block}<\/style>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/preachingforgodsworld.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Unknown-150x150.jpeg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-image-2399\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-66 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-4daf7569\" data-id=\"4daf7569\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5dae6ba8 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"5dae6ba8\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.21.0 - 08-05-2024 *\/\n.elementor-heading-title{padding:0;margin:0;line-height:1}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title[class*=elementor-size-]>a{color:inherit;font-size:inherit;line-height:inherit}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-small{font-size:15px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-medium{font-size:19px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-large{font-size:29px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-xl{font-size:39px}.elementor-widget-heading .elementor-heading-title.elementor-size-xxl{font-size:59px}<\/style><h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Rev. Dr. Margaret Bullitt-Jonas<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-390d0d85 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"390d0d85\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><a href=\"http:\/\/sustainable-preaching.org\/people\/revd-margaret-bullitt-jonas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-cke-saved-href=\"http:\/\/sustainable-preaching.org\/people\/revd-margaret-bullitt-jonas\/\"><strong>The Rev. Dr. Margaret Bullitt-Jonas<\/strong><\/a>, Missioner for Creation Care (Episcopal Diocese of Western Massachusetts and Southern New England Conference, United Church of Christ) and Creation Care Advisor (Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts). Her Website is\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/revivingcreation.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-cke-saved-href=\"http:\/\/revivingcreation.org\/\">RevivingCreation.org<\/a>.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost<br \/>\n15th October 2023<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2400,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[51,39,9],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/preachingforgodsworld.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2397"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/preachingforgodsworld.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/preachingforgodsworld.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/preachingforgodsworld.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/preachingforgodsworld.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2397"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/preachingforgodsworld.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2397\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2408,"href":"https:\/\/preachingforgodsworld.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2397\/revisions\/2408"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/preachingforgodsworld.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2400"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/preachingforgodsworld.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/preachingforgodsworld.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/preachingforgodsworld.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}