Today’s Readings: Psalm 19; Exodus 20:1-20; Luke 17:11-19; Romans 15:14-17; Psalm 119:153-176
Back in 2001 I underwent a significant transition in my life: I switched the denomination to which I belonged. I realize for many Protestants this doesn’t sound like a big deal since many of us don’t spend much time thinking about the various ways the denomination to which we belong shapes our spiritual life. We figure it’s only our local church that does this. Well for me that switch was momentous for a couple of reasons. First, not only had I belonged to my previous denomination for my entire life; but I was the fourth generation of my family to belong to that denomination. Second, because of this long association I never had to think a great deal about church related things since everything from church structure to theology was already put together for me. When I changed my membership, however, I couldn’t take any of those things for granted. I had to deeply explore my own values and vision of the church and see where I best fit. This soul-searching was very painful. In fact there were times when I wondered if I would ever find a place where I would fit. Thankfully, I did. When I arrived at my new denominational home I had a tremendous zeal and a passion for my new faith tradition. That passion was so strong that I couldn’t understand why others who shared my faith tradition didn’t seem to have that same zeal. Having lived in my new “home” for 7 years, I can understand why. It seems there is a natural part of us that gets acclimated and comfortable to our new “home” and starts taking things for granted. I’ve certainly been prone to this dynamic myself. This aspect of our nature spoke to me in today’s reading from Luke. In that passage we were introduced to ten lepers who were looking for healing. Nine of the lepers had a connection of some sort to the religious traditions of the area while one did not. Once Jesus affected their healing, guess what happened? The nine lepers who had a connection with the religious traditions of the area went on largely as if nothing happened. They couldn’t even find a moment to stop and give thanks for their healing! It was only the one individual who was new to all who bothered to stop and give thanks. The story reminds me how easy it is to reach that point in our faith journey where we come to feel entitled to certain spiritual experiences or insights – so much so that you stop realizing what a blessing those things are and even stop giving thanks for them all together. So where are you on this continuum? Are you at a point in your journey where you are like the 9 lepers and often forget to stop and count your blessings; or are you at a point where you are like the 1 leper and are still bowled over by the abundance of blessings you experience? May God help each of us hold on to the wonders that we first felt when our faith was so new and so real so that we never stop giving thanks for all that we have been given. Til next time…
Back in 2001 I underwent a significant transition in my life: I switched the denomination to which I belonged. I realize for many Protestants this doesn’t sound like a big deal since many of us don’t spend much time thinking about the various ways the denomination to which we belong shapes our spiritual life. We figure it’s only our local church that does this. Well for me that switch was momentous for a couple of reasons. First, not only had I belonged to my previous denomination for my entire life; but I was the fourth generation of my family to belong to that denomination. Second, because of this long association I never had to think a great deal about church related things since everything from church structure to theology was already put together for me. When I changed my membership, however, I couldn’t take any of those things for granted. I had to deeply explore my own values and vision of the church and see where I best fit. This soul-searching was very painful. In fact there were times when I wondered if I would ever find a place where I would fit. Thankfully, I did. When I arrived at my new denominational home I had a tremendous zeal and a passion for my new faith tradition. That passion was so strong that I couldn’t understand why others who shared my faith tradition didn’t seem to have that same zeal. Having lived in my new “home” for 7 years, I can understand why. It seems there is a natural part of us that gets acclimated and comfortable to our new “home” and starts taking things for granted. I’ve certainly been prone to this dynamic myself. This aspect of our nature spoke to me in today’s reading from Luke. In that passage we were introduced to ten lepers who were looking for healing. Nine of the lepers had a connection of some sort to the religious traditions of the area while one did not. Once Jesus affected their healing, guess what happened? The nine lepers who had a connection with the religious traditions of the area went on largely as if nothing happened. They couldn’t even find a moment to stop and give thanks for their healing! It was only the one individual who was new to all who bothered to stop and give thanks. The story reminds me how easy it is to reach that point in our faith journey where we come to feel entitled to certain spiritual experiences or insights – so much so that you stop realizing what a blessing those things are and even stop giving thanks for them all together. So where are you on this continuum? Are you at a point in your journey where you are like the 9 lepers and often forget to stop and count your blessings; or are you at a point where you are like the 1 leper and are still bowled over by the abundance of blessings you experience? May God help each of us hold on to the wonders that we first felt when our faith was so new and so real so that we never stop giving thanks for all that we have been given. Til next time…
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