Today’s Lectionary Readings: Psalm 106; Leviticus 23:23-44; Matthew 7:1-12; Galatians 1:11-17
In my teens and twenties, I spent a good amount of time working as a community activist. My special field of interest was human rights. I had what seemed to most an unlimited amount of passion and energy around these issues. As I look back on this period of my life now, however, I realize that I spent much of my time attacking those who saw things differently than I did. I was amazingly arrogant and felt as if I had all of the answers that would fix the world. Sadly I failed to realize that hidden in my obsession to fix the world was a desire to overlook the work I needed to do on myself in order to fix my own corner of the world. On some level, I guess, I hoped that if I could fix the things outside of myself then maybe – just maybe – I might feel better inside. Over the years I’ve learned to reverse my priorities and start by tending to my own need for healing and reconciliation first - before I try to advocate this for others. Of course, this is the very lesson Jesus was trying to teach me for years in today’s passage from Matthew 7:1-12. Stop worrying about the speck in your neighbor’s eye; start tending to the log in your own. I was a VERY slow learner in this regard. Today, I would invite you to explore your own life and see if there’s a situation where you have been perhaps lashing out at others instead of tending to your own life. It might be in a personal relationship where you’ve been trying to fix the other person instead of yourself; it might be in a political scenario where you’ve been railing against a party or a candidate instead of examining your own positions; it might be in relation to a cause where you’ve been attacking those whose values are different than yours rather than re-committing yourself to live your values. Whatever the area, this work could be some of the most transformative work you ever do. May God’s grace and peace be with you as you embark on the work. Til next time…
In my teens and twenties, I spent a good amount of time working as a community activist. My special field of interest was human rights. I had what seemed to most an unlimited amount of passion and energy around these issues. As I look back on this period of my life now, however, I realize that I spent much of my time attacking those who saw things differently than I did. I was amazingly arrogant and felt as if I had all of the answers that would fix the world. Sadly I failed to realize that hidden in my obsession to fix the world was a desire to overlook the work I needed to do on myself in order to fix my own corner of the world. On some level, I guess, I hoped that if I could fix the things outside of myself then maybe – just maybe – I might feel better inside. Over the years I’ve learned to reverse my priorities and start by tending to my own need for healing and reconciliation first - before I try to advocate this for others. Of course, this is the very lesson Jesus was trying to teach me for years in today’s passage from Matthew 7:1-12. Stop worrying about the speck in your neighbor’s eye; start tending to the log in your own. I was a VERY slow learner in this regard. Today, I would invite you to explore your own life and see if there’s a situation where you have been perhaps lashing out at others instead of tending to your own life. It might be in a personal relationship where you’ve been trying to fix the other person instead of yourself; it might be in a political scenario where you’ve been railing against a party or a candidate instead of examining your own positions; it might be in relation to a cause where you’ve been attacking those whose values are different than yours rather than re-committing yourself to live your values. Whatever the area, this work could be some of the most transformative work you ever do. May God’s grace and peace be with you as you embark on the work. Til next time…
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