All My Favorite People
Wednesday, January 14 • The Week of the First Sunday after the Epiphany • All My Favorite People • Hebrews 2.11-18
For this reason, Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters…
For it is clear that He did not come to help angels, but the descendants of Abraham.
For because he himself has suffered and been tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted.
From Hebrews 2.11-18
Shame is a powerful force in our lives. All my favorite people are dealing with shame. And so do I. In Daring Greatly, Brené Brown defines shame as “the intensely painful feeling or experience of believing that we are flawed and therefore unworthy of love and belonging.” Shame can orginate from the trouble of being human, which is sin and death. One way to define sin is the potential to blow up everything good in our lives. And death it turns out is more than physical cessation; it is separation from God and one another.
Today’s reading from Hebrews reminds us that God meets us wherever “the curse is found” (Hymn No. 100, The Hymnal 1982). The absolving, healing word of Christ’s Gospel speaks directly to our shame: what we hide, what has been done to us, and the painful histories in which we may bear responsibility, offering absolute and complete forgiveness, restoration, and freedom.
One of my favorite Over the Rhine songs is "All My Favorite People" (2011). Lyrics are below to aid you in your listening for the absence and/or presence of God’s grace in the world today.
All my favorite people are broken
Believe me, my heart should know
Some prayers are better left unspoken
I just want to hold you and let the rest go
All my friends are part saint and part sinner
We lean on each other, try to rise above
We are not afraid to admit we are all still beginners
We are all late bloomers when it comes to love
All my favorite people are broken
Believe me, my heart should know
Awful believers, skeptical dreamers, step forward
You can stay right here, you don't have to go
Is each wound you've received just a burdensome gift
It gets so hard to lift yourself up off the ground
But the poet says we must praise a mutilated world
We're all working the graveyard shift
You might as well sing along
Cause all my favorite people are broken
Believe me, my heart should know
As for your tender heart, this world's going to rip it wide open,
It ain't gonna be pretty, but you're not alone
All my favorite people are broken
Believe me, my heart should know
Awful believers, skeptical dreamers, you're welcome
Yeah, you're safe right here, you don't have to go
Cause all my favorite people are broken
Believe me, I should know
Some prayers are better left unspoken
I just want to hold you and let the rest go
Bible for Life
Did you know the Book of Common Prayer provides a daily reading plan for the Bible? Check it out, starting on page 934. I’m happy to show you how to get started.
Here are some other helps with your regular Bible reading provided by Scripture Union.
Liturgy for Life
Did you know you can find a guide for daily devotions in the Book of Common Prayer? Check it out, starting on page 136. There are prayers for married people that would make for a quick devotion over coffee or on a walk (BCP 429). You can find a grace to say before birthday cake as well as meals (BCP 830, 835). You can find a prayer of dedication for newborns or adoptions (BCP 439).
Need a Prayer Book? We have them in the pews. You can borrow one. You can also find your own in All Saints Gift Shoppe. Don’t hesitate to ask any of your clergy how to use it.
