22: God is a Tribute.

-Rev Melissa Fain-

23 The Lord proclaims:
the learned should not boast of their knowledge,
nor warriors boast of their might,
 nor the rich boast of their wealth.
24 No, those who boast should boast in this:
that they understand and know me.
I am the Lord who acts with kindness,
justice, and righteousness in the world,
and I delight in these things,
 declares the Lord.
​Jeremiah 9:23-24 CEB

If any of you were following my personal drama yesterday, you might already have an idea of where this is going.

Yesterday, at 5:30am, I wrote, what I believed, to be this amazing devotion. I was Ralphie from A Christmas Story, re-reading his work with awe. The words were just spilling from my fingertips, as I typed out what I also knew in my heart. I liked it so much, I read it an extra time before I hit the "Save" button. 

I had stepped away from my computer, pleased my Saturday morning was not going to be me getting up at 5am to write out a Lenten devotional.

Then the truth hit. As I had been writing, Weebly had logged me off. Not only had all those words not been saved, they had been lost forever.

Of course I lamented my loss on social media. It was one of my better written posts. Not only had I used the word "gobsmacked" appropriately, but it was really for the sake of others.

Even sadder, as I began to recreate the post, I realized it was not going to happen the same way twice. Sure, on Monday I'll post something similar, it just won't be that post. I lamented further how I had lost something special. 

That's when a group joke surfaced.  I'm part of various private groups, all part of a larger group of online friends. We talk religion and joke way more than we talk religion. This was about Tenacious D. They are a band that has been around for a while. I wouldn't post any of there music here, as the content can be questionable (while hilarous.) It is Jack Black (think Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle) and Kyle Gass's band.

Somehow, one of the lesser used group jokes circled around this song called "Tribute." I am going to share it below, because it has been edited for television.

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When talking about a copy or something that no longer has an original version, the tribute joke is dropped. As I was lamenting my loss, one of my friends joked, "Maybe you could write a tribute... Since you couldn't remember the greatest piece in the world."

I chuckled, and joked back, but I realized there was something truthful in what she was saying. 

Our personal experience with Spirituality and God will never be understood once we try to explain it to others. Something will always be lost. Anytime we try we are simply giving a tribute to the experience. That's just life. We are called to find God in those tributes, as mundane and normal as the tribute looks. 

So this is my tribute to the greatest devotion ever written. Why the greatest? You've never read it, so I'll remain the only judge to it's greatness. I say it was amazing. It could have ended world hunger. But in all seriousness, God has found a way into my explanation, and I think God for that. God is a tribute.

Let us pray:
Holy God, Unseen, I find a way to see you. Unfelt, your presence is touchable. Unspoken, you speak to my heart. Thank you. Amen.