16PentecostProper21C, St Martin’s Episcopal Church, Moses
Lake, WA Morning Prayer by Annette Fricke
This gospel snippet, like most of
them in the gospel according to Luke is about reversals. Note that the homeless man has a name and the
wealthy man does not. It’s usually the other way around, isn’t it? I guess in some
sense we all have names, but this passage is talking about power and
prestige. The people who have names,
even in the United States, is because they are famous or known for something most
in the society consider to be important.
One of the retorts people continue to use past childhood when they
challenge the authority over them is, “Who died and made you king or queen?” In other words, “What makes you better than
me?” That is really what this lesson is
all about. If a person has a name, they
have recognition for something that they have accomplished in life, like being
a celebrity, the mayor of a town, the Queen of England, or the first person to
walk on the moon. It makes them special
compared to the average commoner. Another common expression is that someone should
“get off his or her high horse!” High horse is clearly used as a metaphor and
clearly implying that someone has decided that he or she is better than others.
Consider the words written by Dewey
Bennell, lead singer that some of us know as words sung by the band America in
1971:
“I've been
through the desert on a horse with no name
It felt good
to be out of the rain
In the
desert you can remember your name
'Cause there
ain't no one for to give you no pain,” then later
“But the
humans will give no love”[1]
These words convey
a view of life, the negative side of life, perhaps even depression, despair,
and loneliness which is more clearly the view in the America song, “Lonely
People” which came out in 1974.[2]
The point is
that relationships, although they may be difficult to form and maintain, are
essential to living life to the fullest.
This gospel section is an example of how lonely it can be both at the
top of society as well as the bottom. None
of us is better than someone else. We
are all human. Despite where we may feel we identify with this scenario;
loneliness is common to most people at some time in their lives. We are called
to make connections with people both from our weaknesses as well as our strengths,
to help each other out no matter how big or small the task. Be aware especially of the statistics for
suicide and reach out as someone they can talk with, make the first step for
those too shy or uncomfortable to initiate conversation. We can make a difference. Studies have shown that most people have had
some sort of traumatic events in their childhood which has been shown to have a
high correlation to problems with anxiety and depression later as adults,
sometimes also Posttraumatic Stress symptoms.
Our veterans who have been in combat situations are another as well as
teens and young males. We can help bring
wholeness. God will empower us to do so.
[1] https://www.bing.com/search?q=a+horse+with+no+name+lyrics&form=EDGSPH&mkt=en-us&httpsmsn=1&refig=2a41028bbb17493ab801514a008fc04d&sp=2&qs=AS&pq=a+horse+wi&sk=LS1&sc=8-10&cvid=2a41028bbb17493ab801514a008fc04d&cc=US&setlang=en-US
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tm4BrZjY_Sg
