Purpose of this Blog

(reprinted from http://forthedayisbreaking.blogspot.com/2014/03/purpose-of-this-blog.html)

One night, on his way back to his brother, Jacob's fear began to overtake him.  After years of being the one who connived against his brother, robbing his older twin of everything from a birthright to the most cherished of blessings that could only be passed down from father to oldest son, Jacob was ready to admit that he was trapped--trapped between a rock and a hard place, actually.  Night after night, Jacob would lay asleep with only a rock for a pillow, and yet it was in these lowly states that God would come to him, offering him hope and a future!

Or at least, that's how the first vision came about.  Right after Jacob had taken complete control of all that was Esau's (his birth and his blessing as the oldest son in the family), Esau did what many brothers would do in that moment: chase Jacob away from the family and tell him that if he should ever return, he would kill him.  Shortly thereafter, as Jacob laid down to rest for the night, God came to him in a glorious vision with a ladder and angels ascending and descending.  In Jacob's disbelief (for surely he never knew God was in that place), God makes a promise to Jacob: that God will bring Jacob home again, to the land where his brother chased him from.  It must have been hard to believe that in Esau's rightful anger and wrath that Jacob would ever be able to return home (and not only that but that all families would be blessed through Jacob's conniving), but it didn't really matter; Jacob woke up the next morning, took the rock he was using for a pillow, and made it into an altar to God, wanting to remember that God was in this place.

A long time later, when Jacob obtains a family and is told to return home, he finds himself alone again.  Being incredibly selfish (as is common for Jacob), he sends everyone ahead of him (including his wives and children), hoping to appease Esau's anger.  Esau, though, isn't angry anymore.  Jacob just doesn't know that yet.  Alone, Jacob rests for the night and God visits again, but this time, it's not in as enjoyable a vision as before.  Instead, it comes from a stranger who tries to overcome him.  Wrestling all night (that must have been tiring!), the dawn approaches and the stranger begs to be let go, but Jacob denies him that right.  In the Bible, to see the face of God would be to die, and only one person is even guessed that he may have seen the face of God and lived before Jesus came, as the son of God.  That person was named Moses.  But Jacob doesn't know about Moses (Jacob was born way before Moses).  Jacob wants something: he wants a blessing.  But even seeing God's face could be a blessing, knowing that the glory of God would shine upon him in wonderful ways.  He clings all the more tightly to God, despite the injury he gets in his hip from all of this wrestling.  Time ticks quickly and the stranger gives a new name to Jacob, one that would be familiar with many people today: Israel, meaning "striven/wrestled with God".  And that's exactly what Jacob had done.  And not only that, but God says that he even prevailed (or won) in some kind of cosmic bet.  The bet was probably that no one could truly hold enough faith to cling as long as Jacob did.  Now, with this new name, Israel could assume a new identity: one in which the pain of the past would be a real memory but would not define him.  Indeed, Jacob got up the next day and limped on.

Our world is a scary place in today's world.  Violence ranks the top spots in our newscasts; yesterday's friends quickly become today's biggest enemies; individualism is on the rise and loyalty seems to be at an all-time low.  Fear is at the center of many people's lives as the apocalyptic genre grows exponentially with end-of-the-world TV series, zombie movies, alien video games, and good medicine gone bad books.  Like Jacob, it's easy to focus on the past and the fear that it produces.  But Jacob also has a message for today: for the day is breaking.

The sun peeks from behind every cloud.  The sun rises above even the highest of mountains.  The sun warms even the coldest of days.  Darkness does not last forever; just cling to God until the sun does come.  Cling until the hope you wish for becomes the reality of your situation.  Cling until you see God at work.

Because God is at work in this world, assuring us that there is always a dawn.  May the journeys you go on, the journeys spurned by a hurt past, lead you to a new name, a new life, and a new reality that God is there with you.


A little about this blog and author:  This blog comes from the inner workings of Pastor Kevin O'Hara, a called and ordained pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA for short).  He is theologically conservative, progressively liberal, and politically moderate (whatever that means).  He lives in paradox, where two things that are often seen as opposites are compared next to each other (like living in darkness while daylight is around you, as Jacob did above).  He is a called pastor at the Lutheran Church of Our Savior in Patchogue, New York, which is on Long Island, about 30 minutes outside of New York City.  Originally from outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he works with his congregation and the community to instill hope to all of God's people, no matter the religious preference, gender, sexual orientation, age, ability, ethnic background, socioeconomic status, faith practice (although this is taken from a Lutheran/Christian perspective) or any other discriminating factor.  He firmly believes that God has made us all unique and gifted in various ways; the core of who we are does not need changing.  However, sometimes, in this broken world, we act in ways that aren't according to God's commands.  This blog is set up to have conversation around how communities live in light of our brokenness (in the church, this is called sin).  There is hope in every disaster; there is a new day that will dawn.  God is faithful to God's people.

As a site for conversation, it will be appropriate to follow some guidelines.  It is important to listen to every voice; however, it will be up to discretion of the pastor if certain voices are being purely used to "bully" others.  By this, I mean, there is a clear difference between saying you don't agree with something with supporting reasons why and saying you don't agree with someone because they're a [use any derogatory language].  This blog is meant as a safe place on the internet and the author reserves the rights to delete comments and block users who misuse this code of conduct.  For example, Pastor Kevin O'Hara is an openly gay pastor in a relationship, all honored and supported by the church body; he knows only too well the pain of words.  In order to promote peace, the author believes that all voices need to be heard, but silencing a voice because it is intimidating others may need to happen.

Please follow, read, and reply as you feel moved.  It would be helpful to somehow identify yourself, although you don't need to do so fully.  God's blessings be with you and on this site as we explore this world, faith, and hope.

Have no fear, God tells us, "for the day is breaking."