By the Rev. Barbara Mraz
At his final dinner with the White House news correspondents in 1999, President Barak Obama ended his speech with two words and a gesture: “Obama out.” Then he dropped the mike.
Since then, “mic drop” has been defined as “an instance of deliberately dropping or tossing aside your microphone at the end of a performance or speech one considers to have been particularly good.”
(Actually, the gesture originated with the comedian Eddie Murphy at the end of a stand-up routine in 1983. He dropped the mike at the end of the performance before walking offstage. His last comment had been about the progress that had been made in the theater where he was appearing since the time when the black singer Marian Anderson was kept out, and that day when he was onstage, a 23- year-old black comedian.)
I can’t resist pointing out that there is the equivalent of a “mic drop” in this Sunday’s Gospel.
Jesus has returned to the synagogue in Nazareth where he grew up and is asked to read the Torah portion. He finds the place he wants in the scroll from Isaiah which is handed to him. He reads:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has appointed me to bring good new to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of the sight to the blind
to let the oppressed go free….”
He rolls up the scroll, hands it back to the attendant, and sits down. Everyone’s eyes are locked on him.
Then he says, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
TOTAL MIC DROP.
See you Sunday in virtual church when you will hear what follows and why it’s important to each one of us.
Barbara
