Dr. Karla J. Bellinger

Jan 13 2025

Seeing Differently, through God’s Eyes

When I was in forestry school in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, I recall skiing one winter morning through a birch grove as the sun rose. The white birch bark glowed pink in the snow, reflecting the sunrise. Around me, trees had fallen, some had been chopped up for firewood. Yet each of the ancient trees had stump sprouts rising from its base. (That is the nature of birch trees.) In three years, young trees had grown fifteen feet. How so tall? They didn’t have to start from scratch; the saplings were fed by the root systems of the older trees.

Our Christian faith is like a stump sprout that rises from our Jewish roots. We share a common vision: that peace will reign and justice will thrive. Isaiah envisions a king who will make creation flourish in solidarity: even a cobra will be so tame that a baby can handle it. Together we are rooted in God’s vision, a hope for a more glowing future.

At the same time, John the Baptist bursts in wielding an axe with rough words for the Pharisees—repent! Cut down every tree that does not bear good fruit! Yet he too sees a radiant vision: One who is coming after him who will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire!

We are rooted in God’s vision of what can be. The courage of Advent is this faith in the future. We await Christmas. We await eternity. Earthly life will be cut down and pass away, yet we live on the brink of a blessed and infinite future. That mode of seeing can fill the way that we live our lives today. Like the fiery glow in the birch forest, as people of Advent we live within the sunrise of a new day.

Consider/Discuss

Isaiah tells us that a shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse. None of us start from scratch either. Our faith is rooted in the faith of those who have gone before us. Our faith is now supported by those who travel with us. We hope that our faith will bear fruit in those who arise from our roots. What do each of those roots look like—past, present, and future?
In this season of preparation for the coming of Jesus, as God sees into our hearts, what is one thing that we could chop off or prune in order to bear stronger fruit?

Living and Praying with the Word

God of the future, thank you for your vision. Open our eyes to see you as you surround and enfold us on this journey. Help us to see this sunrise in which we live. We want to walk with you more robustly. We give ourselves to you this day, for you are the source of our hope. Fill us with the fullness of your peace forever. Thank you and thank you again for your goodness to us.

Jan 12 2025

Transformed by Glory

On this the last Sunday of the liturgical year, many tongues will sing, “Christ Jesus Victor, Christ Jesus Ruler, Christ Jesus Lord and Redeemer.” For the Son of Man is coming in his glory and all his angels will be with him. He will sit on his glorious throne, and all peoples will come before him. Let the trumpets sound!

On this day, we do not look at the little ways in which the Holy Spirit speaks—through the smell of popcorn, the labor of climbing a mountain, or the planting of onions. This feast lifts us to the majestic, toward the awesomeness of God. All those who await us in heaven have vibrated with this glory. They have seen Christ the King.

Have you gotten a taste of that glory—in a dream? On the edge of a song? In the radiance of a sunset? In the joy of a meal? We don’t believe based on nothing. God has spoken. God has spoken to us.

The One we celebrate was so tiny at the beginning of this adventure. Today, he is grand as Christ the King. It is as though the coo of a newborn baby has swelled into the Hallelujah Chorus; the silence of a grain of sand has become the roar of the Pacific Ocean; the whisper of a gentle breeze has become the rumble of an earthquake. Rejoice!

In gathering the nations, the King wants our wholehearted “yes!” Have we been so completely changed into the person of Christ that we act as he acts, forgive as he forgives, and reach out as he reaches out? Have we given a cup of water to a little one? Have we fed the hungry? These actions are not just a garment thrown over our grubbiness. The trumpet blasts to transform our whole being.

Consider/Discuss

Teresa of Ávila called her beloved in prayer “Your Majesty.” Try using that invocation as you enter into a moment of silence and contemplate the grandeur of God. Have you seen God’s glory? Tasted it? Heard it? Felt it? Share the story of that glory with a fellow traveler on the pilgrim road.
As we ponder the sovereignty of Christ, it is an act of our will to obey and follow, to serve as he serves, to love as he loves, and to give as he gives. What one grace can I ask for today to solidify my will to serve my King?

Living and Praying with the Word

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, thank you that we are not alone. Thank you for the fellow pilgrims who have walked with us this year. Thank you that we walk with the saints on earth and the hosts of heaven. Secure in that solidarity, we turn ourselves toward the light of the new liturgical year. We do not know what lies ahead. We do not know what will be. But we do know that the alleluias of the heavens will hold us, for with them, we too will to glorify you with our lives.

Jan 12 2025

Return on Investment

Another test! This time, it looks like the final in the evangelist Matthew’s finance class. Is there an eternal spreadsheet in heaven? Do the angels daily tabulate how much God has invested in us and how much we give back? When we get to the pearly gates, will St. Peter be holding out our heavenly balance sheet?

In today’s parable, “talents” were worth a thousand dollars each. In ancient times, the master who gave five talents, or five thousand dollars, invested a lot of money. Even one thousand dollars would have been a generous risk. Did he find the return on investment (ROI) worth it?

A mom gets up at 2:46 a.m. to tend to a vomiting four-year-old. A programmer sips his fourth cup of coffee to get the energy to put the final edits on a project. A coach invests long hours to improve her shooting forward’s free throws. Is the ROI worth it?

What are we to make of this parable? Is Jesus urging us toward a responsible lifestyle in which we carefully use (and not bury in the ground) the talents we have been given to build a better world? Is he telling us to dutifully invest the goods of faith toward lifting the lost? Yes and yes.

But even more than that, Christian life is not a bargaining “You gave me this, God, so I’ll give you that.” The mom may (or may not) make a return on the time she gives to her child in the middle of the night. She loves anyway. The Creator of the world will never make a balanced return on us. God loves anyway. God takes a risk on us. The Giver of gifts asks us to invest our lives in the boldest of schemes: follow Jesus wherever and however he leads. That is a grand venture. The ROI is out of this world.

Consider/Discuss

Have you ever cried out in frustration, “God, you owe me!” or “I deserve more!” How does the bargaining of a “balance-sheet Christianity” disparage the generosity of the risk-taking God? Are we willing to invest our lives and take a risk on the divine giver?
In abuse situations, children hide. When a boss’s temper is erratic, employees pull inward. If you had a hard taskmaster, would you feel like hiding your talents in the ground? What would help you to be willing to step out and take a risk?

Living and Praying with the Word

God of love, there is no way that I can give you back as much as I have been given. Do not let me see myself as a number on a heavenly balance sheet. Whatever you call me to do, help me to spend my life with love and generosity. I believe that this life is worth my best effort. Refresh my energy, for sometimes I feel it wearing out. You did not count the cost. Help me to do the same. For you, eternal God, have not just promised a “reward.” You have promised me yourself as my future.

Jan 12 2025

Trembling, But Confident

A friend told me that this parable frightened her when she was little. What if she was foolish and forgot her oil and Jesus abandoned her and she was cast out into the darkness?

A teenager told me about a time when she was five years old. She had come in from playing, and found the curtains drawn and her darkened house empty. Her parents and siblings were nowhere. She sat down and sobbed, thinking that the end-times had come. Jesus had taken them and she had been left behind.

As the sun grows dimmer and the church calendar draws toward its close, we hear much about the final judgment. The Jews of Jesus’ day expected Almighty God to declare war on evil at any moment and hold all people accountable for their deeds. Some of Jesus’ apocalyptic words feel foreboding. Be ready. The end is coming. If there is “a test,” will I pass it? Am I Christian enough? Might I be among the foolish, one who has messed up just too many times?

On the other hand, we might identify with the smart virgins: I am pious. I say my prayers. I am Christian enough. Perhaps everyone will “pass” at the end of time, for God is merciful. Might God choose to hand everyone an “A”?

Which is it? Well—both—and neither.

Yes, the end is coming, whether at our own death or at the conclusion of time. But panic only paralyzes, and presumption makes us imprudent. In wisdom, how are we to approach the Blessed One at judgment? Holy fear and a bit of awestruck trembling are needed. So is the graced conviction that we are profoundly loved and radically forgiven. Awe and confidence walk together hand in hand.

Consider/Discuss

Christian faith is full of paradox. As we prepare for “the end,” how do we keep a healthy balance between holy fear and graced confidence? Toward which side do you tend to lean?
Should the “wise” virgins give some of their oil to the “foolish” ones? Should God give everyone an “A” on the final exam? Why or why not?

Living and Praying with the Word

Jesus our Bridegroom, you don’t only come in a rush at the end of time. Sometimes you tiptoe in quietly and beckon to us in the depths of our conscience. We know that our end is coming. Give us a touch of holy fear to help us heed you now so we are ready then. Do not let our love grow cold as we wait for you. Come to us, Spirit of warmth, and keep our lamps burning brightly.

Jan 12 2025

The Aroma of the Heavenly Feast

The last time I made popcorn the smell reminded me of my mom. The kernels exploded out of the hot-air popper into her green and white mixing bowl. I melted butter as she had. I sprinkled the buttered kernels with salt and stirred it all up. I popped three kernels into my mouth. Delicious! (She ate her popcorn one kernel at a time, so she was a bit more proper than I was.) It may make me old fashioned, but I don’t microwave popcorn in a bag. Why? It does not evoke memories. It does not smell right. It does not bring my mom back to life.

On this feast of All Saints, we celebrate the dead and bring their memory back to life. Yet, when we think about those who have departed, those who have gone to heaven before us . . . well, I think that we have it backwards. But, really, truly, they are the living. We are the dying. From the flash when we were conceived, through our first whiff of lilacs, until that moment when our breathing stops, we are dying for the aroma of eternity. Something heavenly awaits us.

Can you sense that? My mom is alive! My grandma is alive! Your mom or brother or child or sister or aunt or dad is alive! Within the limits of our earthly snuffling, we only sense barrenness where we used to inhale their fragrance. We cannot perceive them. That hollowness can hurt. But they are partaking of the feast of heaven—the most sweet-smelling chocolate cake on earth cannot compare. They have gone before us into the banquet of life. The God of glory is the Fragrance of fragrances, the Delight of delights. Today, with all the church, militant and glorified, may we get a whiff of that glory!

Consider/Discuss

What is your initial reaction when you read that we are the dying and those who have gone before us are the living? Does that feel morbid or glorious? How does it change your worldview when you shift that perspective?
Who do you most want to celebrate today on All Saints Day? Which of the Beatitudes does he or she best exemplify?

Living and Praying with the Word

God of glory, you give us so many heroes and heroines of the faith! They toiled for what was right. They fought for justice. Thank you for giving us so many examples of people of holy virtue. They lived and died for you. They knew you and loved you. We want to be saints, too. Lift us higher! Empower our faith! Take us with you to the banquet! Ah, the joy of All Saints!