Shelter from the Storm

Bob Dylan

’Twas in another lifetime, one of toil and blood

When blackness was a virtue, the road was full of mud

I came in from the wilderness, a creature void of form

“Come in,” she said, “I’ll give you shelter from the storm”

And if I pass this way again, you can rest assured

I'll always do my best for her, on that I give my word

In a world of steel-eyed death, and men who are fighting to be warm

“Come in,” she said, “I’ll give you shelter from the storm”

Not a word was spoke between us, there was little risk involved

Everything up to that point had been left unresolved

Try imagining a place where it’s always safe and warm

“Come in,” she said, “I’ll give you shelter from the storm”

I was burned out from exhaustion, buried in the hail

Poisoned in the bushes an’ blown out on the trail

Hunted like a crocodile, ravaged in the corn

“Come in,” she said, “I’ll give you shelter from the storm”

Suddenly I turned around and she was standin’ there

With silver bracelets on her wrists and flowers in her hair

She walked up to me so gracefully and took my crown of thorns

“Come in,” she said, “I’ll give you shelter from the storm”

Now there’s a wall between us, somethin’ there’s been lost

I took too much for granted, I got my signals crossed

Just to think that it all began on an uneventful morn

“Come in,” she said, “I’ll give you shelter from the storm”

Well, the deputy walks on hard nails and the preacher rides a mount

But nothing really matters much, it’s doom alone that counts

And the one-eyed undertaker, he blows a futile horn

“Come in,” she said, “I’ll give you shelter from the storm”

I've heard newborn babies wailin’ like a mournin’ dove

And old men with broken teeth stranded without love

Do I understand your question, man, is it hopeless and forlorn?

“Come in,” she said, “I’ll give you shelter from the storm”

In a little hilltop village, they gambled for my clothes

I bargained for salvation an’ she gave me a lethal dose

I offered up my innocence and got repaid with scorn

“Come in,” she said, “I’ll give you shelter from the storm”

Well, I’m livin’ in a foreign country but I’m bound to cross the line

Beauty walks a razor’s edge, someday I'll make it mine

If I could only turn back the clock to when God and her were born

“Come in,” she said, “I’ll give you shelter from the storm”

I woke up this morning with the blues all around my head

I woke up this morning with the blues all around my head

I felt like someone in my family was dead

I jumped up like a rabbit and fell down to my knees

I jumped up like a rabbit and fell down to my knees

I called all around me,

Have mercy on me, please

Then over by the window, a voice came low and hollow

Over by the window a voice came low and hollow

It s poke into my pain, into my yearning sorrow

Spoke into my pain

Who was it? I cried

What wild ghost has come in agitation?

Who is it? I cried

What wild ghost has come in agitation?

It's half past midnight

Oh, why you disturb me so late?

Then I saw a movement around my narrow bed

I saw a movement around my narrow bed

A ghost in giant sneakers, laughing stars around his head

Who sat on a narrow bed, this flaming boy

Who sat on a narrow bed, this flaming boy

Said, "We've all had too much sorrow

Now is the time for joy"

All across the world they shout out their angry words

All across the world they shout out their angry words

About the end of love

Yet the stars stand above the earth

Bright, triumphant metaphors of love

Bright, triumphant metaphors of love

That blind us all who care to stand and look beyond

That dare to stand and look beyond, above

And I jumped up like a rabbit and fell down to my knees

I jumped up like a rabbit and fell down to my knees

I called all around me

Have mercy on me, please

Good Old Days

The Revivalists

Changes come, I watch them grow

In your eyes, an ancient glow

I caught a glimpse, a dangerous smile

Oh, my God, she's a wild child

I've been dreaming, I've been pushing through

I'm not the star of the story

I've been hurting, I've been missing you

I'm that special kind of lonely

These are the good old days, they're ahead and behind

These are the good old days, I have to keep that in mind

These are the good old days, they're ahead and behind

These are the good old days...

I came of age, tempting fate

Growing up, had to wait

In my dreams, I miss someone

Love is blind, deaf, and dumb

I've been dreaming, I've been pushing through

I'm not the star of the story

And I've been hurting, I've been missing you

I'm that special kind of lonely

These are the good old days, they're ahead and behind

Passing through, passing out

Dancing in the kitchen while the neighbors shout

Feeling up, getting down

Gotta show love while we're still around

So don't stop, just let it out

Don't quit, don't let me down

Don't stop, just let it out

Don't quit, don't let me down

'Cause I've been dreaming, I've been paying dues

I'm not one for the glory

And I've been falling, won't be landing soon

It's not the end of the story

These are the good old days, they're ahead and behind...

Crazy Train

Ozzy Osbourne

Crazy, but that’s how it goes

Millions of people living as foes

Maybe, it’s not too late

To learn how to love, and forget how to hate

Mental wounds not healing

Life’s a bitter shame

I’m goin’ off the rails on a crazy train

I’m goin’ off the rails on a crazy train

Heirs of a cold war,

that’s what we’ve become

Inheriting troubles,

I’m mentally numb

Crazy, I just cannot bear

I’m living with something that just isn’t fair

Mental wounds not healing

Who and what’s to blame

I’m goin’ off the rails on a crazy train

I’m goin’ off the rails on a crazy train

The present tends to seem more distressing to us than the past, for the simple reason that we are not obliged to live in the past. Nevertheless the distress of our present age is real and therein lies the temptation to despair. We see senseless wars and war crimes; we see Machiavellian politics and political corruption; we see growing inequality and flagrant injustice; in the words of the psalmist, the arrogant prosper and the wicked have no pain. And so we are tempted to despair. But we do not have to despair.

Jesus is the teacher who in the parable of the Good Samaritan calls us to show mercy. 

Jesus is the Good Samaritan who comes to us and saves us after we're are left for dead. 

Jesus is the one beaten by robbers who we are to be a neighbor to by showing mercy. 

Jesus is the innocent one crucified with the robbers, so that he can save them too.

We are all familiar with this theological problem: If God is all-loving, all-knowing, all-powerful, why is there is so much evil and suffering in the world? Theodicy is the attempt to reconcile these realities and thus justify God. But is a Christian theodicy possible?

When James and John in their hostility suggested a drone strike on a Samaritan village because Elijah did something like that, Jesus rebuked them for their wrong spirit. From this story we learn that you can find things in the Bible that you cannot find in the spirit of Jesus.

Jesus is creating a new humanity by breathing the breath of life upon the Church, just as God in the beginning breathed the breath of life upon a pile of dirt to create the first humanity. This breath of life is the Holy Spirit. Our part in all this is to develop a posture of openness and receptivity to God the Holy Spirit. We want to be the kind of people who welcome the Holy Spirit on a regular basis. As Christians we remain open to receive the Holy Spirit primarily for two things: transformation and empowerment.

In a world where fear, division, and isolation often feel like the norm—what if love became our home? What if, at the center of the universe, there isn’t just chaos or power… but a holy relationship?

On Trinity Sunday, we explore the image of God revealed through Jesus—one God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. A God who invites us out of the house of fear and into the house of love where’s a seat at the table for everyone. 

In 1971, commenting on the Charismatic Renewal, the German Catholic theologian Karl Rahner said, "The devout Christian of the future will either be a 'mystic,' one who has 'experienced' something, or he will cease to be anything at all." Christian mysticism is simply the experience of God, and the Holy Spirit is the experience of God.

The Ascension is not about the absence of Christ, but about the ascendancy of Christ. The ascension of Jesus to the right hand of God in the heavens is the ascendancy, the rise, the elevation, the promotion, the exaltation of Jesus to the position of all authority in heaven and on earth. Furthermore, the ascension of Christ does not lead to the absence of Christ, but to his cosmic presence everywhere.

The third appearance of the risen Christ to the disciples in John's Gospel is when Jesus restores Peter after his thrice denial around a charcoal fire in the courtyard of Caiaphas. The story of Jesus and seven disciples having breakfast around a charcoal fire on the shore of the sea of Galilee is one of the most tender and beautiful stories in all the Bible.

Emmaus is about seven miles from Jerusalem and a world away from what was. Once we recognize the risen Christ present in Scripture and Sacrament we have entered a new world.

"The heart has its reasons of which reason knows nothing: we know this in countless ways. It is the heart which perceives God and not the reason. That is what faith is: God perceived by the heart, not by reason." –Blaise Pascal

"We must take our subtle spiritual intuitions seriously and view them as the quintessence that underlies the ordinary world. The rejection of the sacred is the fundamental reason for our existential discontent." –Nick Cave

Christianity cannot fit within the empirical limitations imposed by the Enlightenment. If we reduce the Christian faith to rational explanation, practical advice, and political agendas we end up with a paper-thin, watered-down, cheap knock-off of Christianity that no longer has the capacity to astonish.

Thomas, one of the original 12 disciples, has been given the nickname "Doubting Thomas" which is unfortunate because it isn't true. Thomas believed in Jesus. He never doubted. He believed in Jesus' resurrection. He just needed a little more information than the other disciples. Thomas has much to teach us about believing in Jesus.

While it's still dark...things are not what they seem.

While it's still dark...angels are at work.

While it's still dark...evil is being overthrown.

While it's still dark...Christ is risen!

With his Triumphal Entry on Palm Sunday—lowly and riding on a donkey—Jesus set in motion events that would forever redefine greatness. But can we perceive this greatness? Those who cling to a model of greatness exemplified by warhorse-riding conquerors like Alexander the Great and Caesar Augustus are a theological anachronism—instead of living in an AD reality they're still stuck in a BC world.

This week's gospel reading takes us to the home of Lazarus, where the sweet fragrance of Mary’s worship contrasts the stench of death from the chapter before. Jesus, deeply moved, enters the dead places —not just in Bethany, but in our lives too. He is the Resurrection and the Life, the one who calls us out of darkness and into eternal life.