Monthly Archives: October 2022

Our Mighty Fortress

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“Our Mighty Fortress”

Psalm 46:1-7 (46:7) – October 30, 2022

Here we are at Reformation Sunday, the week of the year when we remember Martin Luther posting his list of grievances against the church establishment of the Catholic Church, more than 500 years ago in 1517. These 95 grievances against the Church sparked a movement of protest that was felt around the world. And thus, the Protestant Church was born.

Our psalm reading today was Martin Luther’s favorite psalm. And, what a marvelous psalm to choose! Martin took this psalm to heart, for a whole host of reasons! These were literal reasons, too. The Lord was indeed his fortress, helping him to stay safe through all danger.

The official Catholic Church hierarchy certainly had it in for Martin Luther! After defending himself against strident criticism from scholars and theologians, and legal challenges for years, the official verdict registered by the Catholic Church was not in Luther’s favor. He broke with Rome in 1521. Because he would not recant his views on God, salvation by faith, and the Bible, Luther was officially on the run from the Catholic establishment.

I think of Martin on the run, like young David, after Samuel anointed him king. Martin Luther needed the Lord to be a strong and secure refuge for him, what with all the military and operational might of the Catholic Church coming after him! Looking at the first verses, “God as a Fortress against the threats of nature (verses 1-3). The dominant theme of the psalm is trust in God, first sounded in verse 1, “God is our refuge and strength.” [1] A mighty fortress indeed!

This brought me to thinking, how do you and I trust? Do we – do you trust God to be a secure protection for us and our families? If not, why not? Just like King David, we can see time after time where people from the Bible – both the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament – trusted in God to be their refuge and strong fortress, as Martin wrote in the hymn we sang today.

We also remember Father Martin Luther – for he was a Catholic priest – as a sincere, devout follower of Jesus Christ. He thought long and hard about sin and confession, faith and grace. He thought a lot about God’s Word, and eventually translated the whole Bible – both Old and New Testaments – into German, the common tongue of his day and area of Germany. And, thank God that Martin was not only a theologian, but a skilled writer, translator, preacher and musician, too.

The Catholic Church hierarchy did not approve of the Bible translated into the common tongue, which was one of the reasons Martin was on the run. As we examine Psalm 46, one big feature of this psalm is the word “help.” “’Help’ has a more active sense, identifying God as one who takes action to assist those in trouble. Verses 2 and 3 indicate that God’s people need not fear the worst that nature can hurl at them, whether it be earthquakes or floods. Because no matter what, God will be with them.” [2]

Like Martin Luther on the run in parts of Germany, like King David in the wilderness of Israel, God can be our help and refuge, too. Let’s be clear: this psalm is not talking pie-in-the-sky, or looking at the world through rose-colored glasses. This psalm is clear and realistic. It does not promise “we as God’s people will be free from the ravages of nature or of war or of individual suffering. But they do promise that we will not have to go through these things alone. ‘The LORD of hosts is with us … ‘” [3]

This precious hymn written by Luther was not only a refuge from earthly disasters, but is also personal in nature. Rev. Janet Hunt, a Lutheran minister, mentions that she hears it “as much more personal now, knowing as we do that ‘the old satanic foe’ threatened him with the sorts of ‘woes’ one could only begin to understand if one has been there. The heart-wrenching, life altering death of a child, to name but one. The days and nights of struggling to hold on to faith when the Church which had borne the faith to him no longer lived up to its promises. The fear which must have possessed Luther as his very life was threatened.” [4]

Sure, with everything going on in the world today, we also have reason to be scared half to death! Yet, we have “a God who has been time-tested and, over and over again, can be trusted upon to keep you secure in your time of trouble. Either way – and in all times and circumstances – we have a God who has got us covered. That is what Psalm 46 declares. And that is what Luther wanted to proclaim in “A Mighty Fortress is Our God.”” [5]

Can we – you and I – loosen our tight grip on all we are clutching to our chests, knowing that God indeed holds everything? Including us?

This Reformation Sunday, Psalm 46 talks of a refuge, and a help in our great need.

Yes, God is indeed our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. That’s something to truly celebrate. Alleluia, amen.


@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

[1] https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/reformation-day/commentary-on-psalm-46-12

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.

[4] https://dancingwiththeword.com/being-still-letting-go/

[5] “A Mighty Fortress is our God” is not the only English translation of Luther’s “Ein Feste Burg.” Thomas Carlyle, the nineteenth century Scottish commentator, offered this version: “A safe stronghold our God is still, a trusty shield and weapon.” Carlyle’s contemporary, George MacDonald, rendered stanza one, verse one, in this way: “Our God he is a castle strong, a good mailcoat and weapon.”

Be Merciful to Me!

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“Be Merciful to Me!”

Luke 18:9-14 (18:13) – October 23, 2022

When you were young, in school, did the other kids joke and horse around? Sometimes, did the other kids make fun of some people in their school or down the block, or tease and belittle them behind their backs? Even worse, to their faces?   

I can relate to this, very strongly. I was one of those kids who was picked on. I wore glasses ever since kindergarten, and on top of that, I was a chubby girl. The mean kids used to call me “four eyes” and “chubby, chubby!” Do you remember a couple of other kids who were really picked on, in your acquaintance? Called names like shorty or pipsqueak, jerk or baby. These names were so hurtful. Sometimes, the picked-on kids still remember, decades later.

Do these negative names or labels remind you of anything? They certainly did, with me! In our parable this morning, it sounds like our Pharisee could be one of the really mean kids on the playground! With such a high and mighty air, and a real feeling of superiority. What do you see from this Pharisee? He was a show-off, for sure! Plus, he did not particularly care how hurtful his statements about the tax collector were. That tax collector was standing nearby, too! How do we think that poor guy felt, with the Pharisee talking trash about him?

Just listen to what the Pharisee says about the tax collector: “The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this rotten tax collector.”

I know I have talked about tax collectors before. These people were Jews, and they grew up in the villages and towns where they plied their trade. Except – they were turncoats. Sell-outs. Someone had to collect taxes for the Roman Empire. They took the pay and authority from their Roman overlords and were despised for it by their fellow Jews. These tax collectors soon received the reputation for graft and shake-downs, and usually that unsavory reputation was well deserved. Both the Pharisee and the tax collector came into the Temple before the Lord. Both the Pharisee and the tax collector had sin in their lives – missteps, missing the mark of how God wanted them to live. Their attitude toward their sin was as different as night and day!

We need to consider two basic truths when we take a closer look at this parable. First, God loves us! Yes, it is true! The Lord loves each one of us, more than we can ever imagine.

But, the second truth is also very evident. We are all sinners. We all have missed the mark, and all have mis-stepped. We all do things and say things and especially think things that are displeasing to the Lord. Commentator Carolyn Brown says “The Pharisee understands only one of them – God loves me.  He sees only his strengths and good deeds and tells God all about them.  It is a one sided conversation.” [1] 

Do you know people like this? People who are full of themselves, self-important, and proud? Arrogant, even? They might set themselves up on pedestals and look down their noses at anyone who doesn’t come up to their exacting, stuck-up standards. Especially “inferior” people like “thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.”

The Pharisee does speak truth about himself, however. “Truth be told, he is righteous. He leads a life blameless according to the law. He fasts and gives alms and indeed bears no resemblance to the unsavory characters with which he compares himself. What, then, is his problem?” [2] He is overwhelmingly self-righteous, self-involved and blind to his own failings and shortcomings. He does not have a true picture of himself, from the inside out.
            What about the tax collector? This parable is one of my favorite parables that Jesus ever preached. I relate so much to this tax collector! We don’t even know his name. But, he understood both of these important truths that underlie this narrative. “He is well aware of his weaknesses and sins.  (Lots of people point them out to him regularly!)  If that was all he knew, he wouldn’t be at the Temple at all.  But he also knows that God loves him in spite of his sins.  So he comes to God to confess and leaves OK with God.” [3]

Do you hear? That is what the assurance of pardon is all about, after our confession of sins each Sunday. God forgives us our sins! God loves each of us very, very much! This does not negate our sinfulness, or sweep it under the rug, But, you and I have a realistic picture of ourselves as sinners touched by mercy, saved by grace, and much beloved by God.  

Carolyn Brown reminds us: “Jesus tells his listeners to be honest with God.  When we come to God honestly, admitting our sins and trusting that God loves and forgives us, we are OK with God – and also OK with ourselves and the people around us.” [4] 

I invite you – me – all of us – to look around the room. See your family, friends, strangers or people you don’t really know. Each one of us is a sinner, in thought, word and deed. Each one does or says hurtful or thoughtless things. Now, look around the room again. God loves every one of us. Every single one of your friends, your neighbors, your enemies, even.

I ask you: which man went home justified with God? Both men were loved anyhow, but the truthful, humble, repentant tax collector was embraced by God. We can take this parable to heart, and follow the truthful, humble example set for us. We can all strive to be humble and penitent, just like this repentant tax collector.

Praise God we are loved by this amazing God, the God who delights in justifying the ungodly, welcoming the outcast, and healing all who are in need. Alleluia, amen.

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

[1] http://worshipingwithchildren.blogspot.com/2013/09/year-c-proper-25-30th-sunday-of.html

[2] https://www.workingpreacher.org/dear-working-preacher/the-pharisee-the-tax-collector-and-the-reformation

[3] worshipingwothchildren, ibid.

[4] Ibid.

Times of Tumult

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“Times of Tumult”

2 Timothy 3:14-15, 4:1-5 (4:2-3) – October 16, 2022

Have you turned on the television or the radio lately? Even looking at social media, political advertisements seem to be everywhere. Are you familiar with anyone who wants to only be with people who tell them exactly what they want to hear? Campaign rhetoric is constantly beating on our ears, and will be until the election in just a little over three weeks from now. And for some people, their itching ears lead them to hang out with cookie-cutter people who agree with them and their viewpoints one hundred percent.

The Apostle Paul knew a good deal about people with itching ears, who only wanted to hear cookie-cutter opinions from cookie-cutter people who agree with them, one hundred percent of the time. I am afraid life does not work that way, and neither does the Word of God.

This whole service today lifts up the Word of God. The books of the Bible – both Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament – are so meaningful to Christianity. Especially Protestant Christianity, which we will continue to celebrate in a wonderful way in just two weeks, with the marking of Reformation Day on October 31st.

Let us listen again to the words of Paul from 2 Timothy 4:3-4. “For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” Isn’t this very similar to what I have just said about turning aside to gather cookie-cutter people around them with cookie-cutter opinions? Saying what their itching ears want to hear?

On a pastors’ message board which I look at from time to time, Pastor Sybil from Kansas posted recently, referring to this very Scripture reading. “My dogs frequently scratch their ears, and our vet recently told us that ear infections can be common in dogs, especially if they swim in ponds (like ours do). One sign of the infection is constant itching. Our ears have been assaulted for months by campaign rhetoric (in the USA), and we have trouble discerning what is truth in what we hear.” [1]

We not only need to watch what we hear and what we listen to. But because Paul raises up the Bible as such a wonderful resource for us, we need to be careful of what we read, too!  These verses from 2 Timothy as well as our verses from the great Psalm 119 give us a lot of insight into God’s Word and how much good it can do for us. God’s Word can aid us to grow in Godly wisdom and understanding, too.   

Timothy was trained in understanding the Scriptures from a very early age, from his mother and grandmother’s careful teaching. So, Timothy had great training in and respect for the Word of God. Yet, Paul directs Timothy to continue to study the Scriptures, which make us wise for salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.

But, this does not only go for pastors and ministers. Yes, it’s true that pastors have a special responsibility to care for their churches, their flocks. But Paul’s words go much further than that. When you and I read the Bible, we all have the responsibility for passing on the truths we absorb. We all need to share the wisdom and experience we receive from Scripture. We can continue to learn ourselves, to better understand the teachings, doctrines and texts of our faith.

I suspect we all remember receiving letters. Maybe not much anymore, but I have several handwritten letters I received many years ago from two older friends. I still keep them, and take them out and read them from time to time. Both older friends have died, and I can’t just lift the phone and call them to continue the friendship. And, we did not agree all the time. We were not cookie-cutter friends, agreeing one hundred percent of the time. But, I still have those several letters. I can still read them and reminisce about the things we said and did together.

Isn’t the Word of God so similar to those letters of mine? We can pull out our Bible and read those letters to friends from the New Testament where there were disagreements, or the other parts of the Gospels or Hebrew Scriptures. Paul tells us to “embrace the totality of the scriptures, even the parts you wrestle with, the parts that confuse you. Don’t just hold on to that which agrees with your current preference and inclination. Keep reading, be challenged, be stretched, be troubled by this word. And keep asking this question: how does this text help me know Jesus better? How is the Word made flesh revealed in this written word?” [2]

Just like my dear relationships I had with my two older friends, we can think about our relationship with our Lord Jesus. As you and I read these sections of the Bible, do the words of Scripture help me – help you – to draw closer to Jesus? Are we in a closer relationship with God because of the amount of time we spend with God?

“All of us are charged with sharing our most precious relationship [with Jesus]. All of us are called to reveal that which defines us, the one who shapes us. All of us are called to tell our story in ways that issue invitations and gather up those who have been left out. And the mentor [Paul] tells us that it isn’t always going to work. There aren’t always going to be responses that let us know we’re on the right track.” [3]

The more you know this Jesus, the more you can preach this gospel, the more you can tell others this good news about our BFF, our best friend forever. Jesus. Isn’t this the best news of all?

[1][1] https://desperatepreacher.com//texts/2tim3_14/2tim3_14.htm

[2] https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/worship-planning/not-ashamed/nineteenth-sunday-after-pentecost-year-c-lectionary-planning-notes/nineteenth-sunday-after-pentecost-year-c-preaching-notes

[3] Ibid.

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

Turn Back in Thanksgiving

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“Turn Back in Thanksgiving”

The Healing of the Ten Lepers – Luke 17:11-19

Luke 17:11-19 (17:15) – October 9, 2022

People in need of healing are often seen in the Gospels. Can you imagine a sudden, spontaneous healing happening right in front of you? How about ten people being healed, all at once? That is exactly what happens here, in today’s Scripture reading from Dr. Luke.

The Rabbi Jesus is on His way towards Jerusalem, traveling with His disciples along the way. He comes upon not only one or two people in need of healing, but instead ten people. What would you do when faced with a group of people your society says are “untouchables?” Who cannot even come close, or come into the town, near other “healthy” people? Who have strained relationships, even no relationships with larger society?

Since Luke was a doctor, he must have had some experience with people with various types of skin conditions. What we now know today as simple eczema, or hives, or allergy-related skin issues must have been sources of great dismay. Much less actual leprosy, known as Hansen’s disease, where extremities get diseased as a part of this disfiguring wasting illness. Imagine your fingers or toes or ears just getting diseased and falling off. Horrible.

Let’s look at the verses from Leviticus 13, giving instructions to the people of Israel. “The person with such an infectious disease must wear torn clothes, let his hair be unkempt, cover the lower part of his face and cry out, ‘Unclean! Unclean!’ As long as he has the infection he remains unclean. He must live alone; he must live outside the camp” This is what all people with serious skin conditions were required to do. Imagine yourself, a relative, or a good friend forced to put their hands out in a stay-away gesture. A very sad state of affairs, indeed!

We start to understand how very much alone these lepers are. Not being able to come near their families or friends? “It wasn’t uncommon for lepers to group together. They can’t have much social contact with the “clean” members of society, so they form their own society of the “unclean,” the “untouchables.” Being just outside a village would be common, since they probably obtain food from family members or those in the village who have pity on them. Since they have no land to till, no livestock to look after, they are dependent upon others.” [1]

These ten lepers asked Jesus “Have mercy upon us!” Notice, not the Greek verb for “heal us!” but instead the verb eleeo,“have mercy!” This Greek word means “to be greatly concerned about someone in need, have compassion/mercy/pity for someone.”

What was it Jesus said to the group of lepers? Not, “Go, be healed!” but instead, “‘Go, show yourselves to the priests.’ And as they went, they were cleansed.” (17:14)

As interested observers, we see that much that happens in this brief interaction is fairly typical, looking at all the healing miracles of Jesus from the Gospels. “Neither the pattern of healing — a plea followed by an eminently observable command [from Jesus] — nor the response of worship from the one who returns — to praise, prostrate, and thank — is unique. Both are reliable elements in healing stories. God acts in and through the ordinary.” [2]

I used to attend church with a missionary who now is retired. I haven’t been in touch with Kathleen for a number of years, but she was in Africa for quite a while doing work for a Christian organization. As she did this relationship-building work with mostly moms and their children, and sometimes the elderly, Kathleen observed miraculous healings going on. These healings were sudden, and happened either with the help of fellow missionaries or pastors. Overwhelmingly, the healings took place in very ordinary, everyday circumstances. In people’s homes, in the marketplace, on the side of the road. God acted in and through ordinary things, and places, and actions. God miraculously built bridges, to draw many to God in relationship, in radical welcome.

It started out as an ordinary day. The ten lepers all were cleansed and healed as they went to show themselves to the priests. However, only one leper out of ten came back to say “thank You” to Jesus. What a bridge to build a relationship!

“By the end of the story, all ten are made well. But one has something more. He has seen Jesus, recognized his blessing and rejoiced in it, and changed his course of action and behavior. And because he sees what has happened, the leper is not just healed, but is made whole, restored, drawn back into relationship with God and humanity. In all these ways he has been, if we must choose a single word, saved.” [3]

Can you see God building relationship in your ordinary life? Helping you along your ordinary comings and goings? That is what God does. It was an ordinary day when these ten lepers suddenly met the Rabbi Jesus – at a distance. Nothing particularly unusual until they had their interaction with Jesus. Can God act in and through our ordinary life? Most important, can we say “thank You” to God for kindness, provision, even miracles that happen in our lives?

It does not matter whether we have any illness or infirmity: physical, mental, relational, psychological. We all have the possibility to be made whole, restored, drawn back into intimate relationship with God and with humanity. Even though we are all at a distance through sin and separation from God, thank God that our Lord Jesus is so willing to draw each one of us into an embrace, a radical welcome, and a close relationship. Thank God each of us can be made whole. Alleluia, amen!

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

[1] http://www.jesuswalk.com/luke/074-thankful-leper.htm

[2] https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-28-3/commentary-on-luke-1711-19

[3] https://www.workingpreacher.org/commentaries/revised-common-lectionary/ordinary-28-3/commentary-on-luke-1711-19

The Lord’s Great Love!

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“The Lord’s Great Love!”

Lamentations 3:19-23 (3:22) – October 2, 2022

I know everyone here has been sad, at one time or another. Who hasn’t? Lots of things cause sadness. Just think of things that have caused you sadness, either long time ago, or more recently. Being sad is part of having emotions, and is part of the human condition.

Looking at our Scripture reading today, we see the word “affliction.” This is a more serious state than simply being sad. Feeling sadness can affect us enough, emotionally speaking! Who hasn’t been downcast and sorrowful from time to time? But, being afflicted, with bitterness? That is a different aspect to being sorrowful, even grieving deeply.

Listen to these verses from today’s reading, again: 19 I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. 20 I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me.” Affliction is more than sadness. The prophet Jeremiah knew that very well! He was called to be a prophet to the nation of Judah and its people during one of the most challenging periods of its history! Jeremiah could not help but cry bitter tears when all of this prophecy and future trauma was revealed to him by the Lord.  

Any healthcare worker who works in a critical care area or trauma care unit is familiar with great sadness and affliction, in the lives of patients and their families. For some seriously ill patients, they have indeed been afflicted, and some for a long time. This can be devastating. As a hospice chaplain, I have the privilege of walking with some of these families during some of the darkest times of their lives – when they are drinking from the cup of affliction.

The prophet Jeremiah was quite familiar with the cup of affliction, too. He walked with, traveled with, the whole nation of Judah as they made their way through the valley of the shadow, and through some of the most difficult times of the nation.

The people of Judah had stubbornly rejected the Lord their God, and their stubbornness and selfishness would bring them suffering, destruction of their capital city of Jerusalem, and finally, an extended exile in Babylon for almost a century. Are people today any better? Do they follow the Lord, or do they run off after gods of their own devising? Their own creation? And by referring to “people today,” can’t that refer to you and me, too? Do we faithfully follow God and what God has directed? Or, do we stubbornly stamp our feet and go our own way?  

We can see how great is Jeremiah’s grief if we look closely at this book of Lamentations, and see him grieve with God. No wonder Jeremiah’s heart was breaking for his people; he knew what God was going to allow to happen to them, as a result of them forsaking their loving God!

I know there are some here who have experienced that deep affliction, much more than sadness. What have you done when you have experienced that deep trauma? That agonizing depth of despair and wordless, breathless sighing? What is your help and stay?

Carolyn Brown tells us: “Sometimes, it just feels like we’re yelling and God is not listening. That is the hardest time.  But even then, lots of people tell us that if you keep talking to God about it, eventually, sometimes after a very long time, it helps. No one can say exactly how or why. But it helps. So, we need to tell children that, when they are really, really angry and hurt and sad, they can tell God all about it.” [1] 

Jeremiah has a clear answer, too. “21 Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: 22 Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for Gods’s compassions never fail.” Yes, we can run away like disobedient preschoolers, dashing away across the playground. But, God never stops loving us. God may be grieved with us, as God was very grieved with the nation and the people of Judah, in Jeremiah’s time. But, God never stops loving us. Ever.

 “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for God’s compassions never fail.23 They are new every  morning; great is your faithfulness.” And, these are the bible verses where the lyrics for that marvelous hymn come from: “Great is Thy faithfulness, great is Thy faithfulness. Morning by morning, new mercies I see. All I have needed Thy hand hath provided; great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me.” Yes, no matter how stubborn God’s children are, no matter how much they ignore or run away from God, the Lord’s love and mercy and faithfulness are great. God’s compassions never fail. Never.

We can see how great God’s love is for humanity through the incarnation. Yes, God sent God’s son to earth to become human, live among us, and die for us. And, on this World Communion Sunday, we remember how our Lord Jesus provided communion for us, as a sacrament, a means of grace, and to remember Him. Through the centuries, all believing Christians have celebrated this meal, this Lord’s Supper, in remembrance of Him.

“Today, through World Communion, we are also celebrating that though each church does things differently, we each and all of us need God and His grace. By participating together around the world in Holy Communion, we celebrate our common need for God, and together we celebrate receiving His love and grace.

“There are many different people. There are many different churches. There are many different ways of worshipping and serving God. But in the end, we all need God and we all are God’s children. Today we celebrate that we are different, yet we are the same.” [2] Yes, we can celebrate our particular way of observing the Lord’s Supper. And, we can respect and appreciate the many different practices of taking Communion, from all across the world.

So, let us come to the Lord’s Table, along with countless people around the world today, as well as through the ages. It does not matter whether we join together in a cathedral with elaborate ritual and reverence, or in a simple house church with plain words and equal reverence.

Thank God we all have God’s love, and we all have been gifted with the Lord’s Supper. We all do this, in remembrance of our Lord Jesus Christ. Alleluia, amen!

@chaplaineliza

(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and  A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!

[1] http://worshipingwithchildren.blogspot.com/2013/09/year-c-proper-22-27th-sunday-of.html

[2] https://onthechancelsteps.wordpress.com/2013/09/22/same/