The Phoenix and the Owl

The magnificent Phoenix bird, having lived a thousand years and now nearing the time of its demise and resurrection, having flown in the clear and pure atmosphere of the mountain heights, feeding on ambrosia and the finest grains of earth,

saw, with his clear jeweled eyes, far below, perched upon a stump, an owl with a decaying rat clutched in his talons.

Having compassion for the ignoble bird, the Phoenix swooped downward to invite him into the nobility of his birthright, the mountain heights and spring-fed streams.

The owl more tightly grasped his precious, putrid rat and screeched with threatening scowl.

The Phoenix sadly curved his flight upward, upward

Until even the owl's forest was a green patch on the distant low horizon.

Mark Graham 8/30/16

Far Away and Up Close

We are all more attractive and admirable from a distance than up close. It's easier to get along with someone if you don't live with them. "A prophet is not without honor except in his own household." Jesus, Matthew 13:57

Bonhoeffer quote (Grace)

" It is by the grace of God that a congregation is permitted to gather visibly in this world to share God’s Word and sacrament. Not all Christians receive this blessing. The imprisoned, the sick, the scattered lonely, the proclaimers of the Gospel in heathen lands stand alone. They know that visible fellowship is a blessing. They remember, as the Psalmist did, how they went ‘with the multitude . . . to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holy day” (Ps. 42:4) … Therefore, let him who until now has had the privilege of living in common Christian life with other Christians praise God’s grace from the bottom of his heart. Let him thank God on his knees and declare: It is grace, nothing but grace, that we are allowed to live in community with Christian brethren."
--Dietrich Bonhoeffer, from Life Together