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My friend Ron has introduced me to a new word for this week, as he is prone to do on occasion. It is the word “scripturient.” Just sounds wonderful, doesn’t it? Means “having a strong urge to write.” Oooh, I like that and didn’t know there was a word I was missing in my vocabulary until now! I often have a strong urge to write. Not always. But I do take delight in words, and in the act of writing I frequently find that I get clearer about things in my own mind. In recent months I’ve found that even if I get a few words tangled in speaking, I can still write fine as long as I proofread three times before I send it. I promise to do that before I post this.
I hope that I’ve not been writing too much from your point of view as I know I posted just late last week, but then I read the lovely Gospel reading of the day for Feb. 3 about the woman who grabs Jesus’ cloak in the crowd and is healed. As Molly Cahill “scripturiates” in her reflection for the day (look, I’m creating new words!), the woman is not the only one who feels different afterwards. Jesus immediately asks, “Who has touched my clothes?” In what the woman has gained, there is also something that has been given. Something that probably has cost Jesus a bit. Something that possibly has drained him significantly.
It has led me to spend time thinking this morning about each of you, who I know have been so generous in standing before God on my behalf and being giving toward me in myriad ways. I’ve not been as good as I would like to be about saying thank you in every case, but it’s been very moving and stretching. In the last couple days alone, I found out a seminary class in Ethiopia was praying for me, as well as a few music-lovers in Fiji. How connected I feel to the cloak that covers the whole global beloved Body of Christ and what a sweet sensation to feel love passing through the threads of the tassels between us, even when love itself so commonly has a sacrificial element to it…even if it is the sacrifice of time or emotion or energy.
And, of course, as those of you who read last week already know, this is a week when I come with a particular request for generous prayer. On Thursday, February 5th I’ve got my first MRI again since before I began treatment to see whether it has had the anticipated effects or not. We’ll find out sometime next week. I’m also beginning a stronger regiment of chemo again on the 9th. The pills have already arrived but I’m hiding them in the laundry room so I don’t have to think about them yet. We also anticipate beginning two weeks of roof repair with a lot of fun pounding overhead where the tree landed. This all might lead to the end of my feeling scripturient for a while! But, with your prayers, I doubt it. I actually have two other books in mind to write, some reflections for Liguori, and one for Give Us This Day. So, hah, I plan to scripturiate onward! But we’ll have to see how it all goes.
Meanwhile, here is my preaching for February 5th. (If it is not already there, it'll pop up soon.) It was a powerful thing for me to work on personally—a reflection on the final words of King David who has been appearing daily in the weekday lectionary since mid-January. You can get sort of attached to the man and hesitant to see him go! But he has some good things to say at his end to make us think about what WE want to say. Listen and find out.
Photo Credit: Aaron Burden (Unsplash)