Stumbling to Bethlehem

Ever have one those songs that you hear just a portion of it and it sticks in your head? This song called “Stumbling to Bethlehem” by Patti Scialfa was played at the end of the season finale of Joan of Arcadia back in May. I searched the Internet and could not find the lyrics anywhere because the CD (23rd Street Lullaby) was suppose to come out in the middle of June. The song kind of faded in memory.

Then, the other night I ran across this ad for this month’s free concert on Direct TV channel 103. It was Patti Scialfa. The name sounded familiar but I could not place it. So I turned it on and began to watch. She wasn’t too bad. I listened some more. The third song was “Stumbling to Bethlehem”. Jackpot!

The song has this slow rolling, tumbling cadence that gives you this feeling that you are slowing walking down the road to the town of Bethlehem with a sense of heartache from shatter dreams, but also, more importantly, with a sense of hope. Scialfa’s voice is soulful with a touch of blues. It hints of those times when you have tripped, maybe even fallen. Maybe the world has knocked you down; maybe you tripped over yourself. Either way, your down. You’re tired of the darkness. You’re tired of trying it all by yourself. So this time you pick yourself up and head for the new light in Bethlehem, to the only real light in the world, back to the beginning.

Listen to a clip of this song.

Stumbling to Bethlehem
by Patti Scialfa

I was doing time in Salvation Park
up on the high rope, me your ace of hearts
just when I thought I was so special
I thought I had it all
You take one wrong step
before you fall and you’re

Stumbling to Bethlehem
in this absence of light
I’m stumbling to Bethlehem
don’t worry darling
yeah don’t think twice

Now there’s this man on the corner
in a long black sweater saying
“sinners they will burn forever”
Well I must be guilty of something
some price I forgot to pay
I must have done somebody wrong
somewhere along the way, that keeps me

Stumbling to Bethlehem
in this absence of light
I’m stumbling to Bethlehem
don’t worry darling
yeah don’t think twice

Now you can count up all your blessings
you can count up every curse
but never really know which is better
or which is worse
so you try to do right
but it gets so rough
there’s always someone to remind you
that you’re just not good enough and you’re

Stumbling to Bethlehem
in this absence of light
I’m stumbling to Bethlehem
don’t worry darling
yeah don’t feel twice
don’t worry darling
yeah it’s alright

Risk a Venture

Our duty as Christians lies in making ventures for eternal life without the absolute certainty of success… This, indeed, is the very meaning of the word ‘venture’; for that is a strange venture which has nothing in it of fear, risk, danger, anxiety, uncertainty. Yes, so it certainly is; and in this consists the excellence and nobleness of faith; this is the very reason why faith is singled out from other graces, and honored as the especial means of our justification, because its presence implies that we have the heart to make a venture.

If, then, faith be the essence of a Christian life, and if be what I have now described, it follows that our duty lies in risking upon Christ’s word what we have for what we have not; and doing so in a noble, generous way, not indeed rashly or lightly, still without knowing accurately what we are doing, not knowing either what we give up, nor again what we shall gain; uncertain about our reward, uncertain about our extent of sacrifice, in all respects leaning, waiting upon him, trusting in him to fulfill his promise, trusting in him to enable us to fulfill our own vows, and so in all respects proceeding without carefulness or anxiety about the future.

— John Henry Newman

Today is the feast day of my patron saint, Thomas the Apostle. Thomas kind of gets a bad rap as a doubter. To be honest, all of the apostles had their moments of doubt. Thomas gets the nickname because he happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time, as so it appears.

If Thomas had not been absent from the other apostles when the risen Jesus first visited them, then we would not have this beautiful scene in John 20:24-29. Each and everyone of us in our call to faith, at some point or another, has had Jesus say to us as He said to Thomas, “Stop doubting and believe.”

The question now is, did you answer like Thomas, “My Lord and my God!”?

If not, why?

Doubt is part of the process of building faith. It can prevent you from starting the journey home; it will even trip you along the way. The Holy Spirit uses doubt to mold your faith much like potter’s clay. The choice becomes yours. You can make the process easy or hard—easy like potter’s clay, or hard like marble. Just remember, marble is not malleable like clay. The Holy Spirit is going to have to chisel away at you to shape your faith. And those pieces that fall off, the un-needed parts, are going to hurt.

A mountain of doubts does not equal one denial.

— Author unknown

That Red Dirt Road

[Dirt road]

I learned the path to Heaven,
Is full of sinners and believers.
Learned that happiness on earth,
Ain’t just for high achievers.
I’ve learned, I come to know,
There’s life at both ends,
Of that red dirt road.

Seems fitting with the Oklahoma red dirt

The Weaver

My life is but a weaving
Between my Lord and me,
I cannot choose the colors
He worketh steadily.

Oftimes he weaveth sorrow,
And I in foolish pride
Forget He sees the upper
And I, the underside.

Not till the loom is silent
And the shuttles cease to fly
Shall God unroll the canvas
And explain the reason why.

The dark threads are as needful
In the Weaver’s skillful hand
As the threads of gold and silver
In the pattern He has planned.

— Author unknown

I desire…

From today’s Gospel reading, this seems to say an awful lot in just five words:

I desire mercy, not sacrifice.

— Jesus (Matthew 9:13)

See also the words of an Old Testament prophet, “For it is love that I desire, not sacrifice, and knowledge of God rather than holocausts.” (Hosea 6:6)