Today’s Readings: Psalm 18:1-19; Jeremiah 25:30-38; Luke 12:32-40; 1 Peter 2:11-17; Psalm 18:20-50
Featured Reading: 1 Peter 2:11-17
Ten years ago this September, I made the most dramatic move I’d made in my entire life. I moved 1,100 miles - from Spokane, WA to Denver, CO - in order to attend seminary. For the first couple of years I lived in Denver, I made a point of holding on to my identity as a native Washingtonian. I would frequently comment on aspects of life in Colorado as if I were a removed social commentator. I would note, for instance, that where I came from driver’s actually slowed down and stopped for yellow lights. In Colorado, however, it seemed extremely rare to find drivers that either slowed down or stopped for yellow lights. Or I would note that in Washington, residents expected their municipal governments to provide free weekly curbside recycling. In most of Colorado, residents did not expect such service. For those first few years of my life in Denver, I found that having a sense of distance between myself and the community in which I lived allowed me to maintain behaviors that were important to me. As the years passed, however, I began to let my guard down. And what do you know? Little by little my behaviors began to change. After nearly getting rear ended several times when I attempted to stop for a yellow light, I found that gradually I too began to hit the gas when the light turned yellow in order to race through the intersection like many of my fellow Coloradans. My behavior around recycling changed as well. Since there was no free weekly curbside recycling program in the area in which I lived, I too stopped recycling. In other words, instead of holding on to the values and practices that I thought were important, I allowed myself to let go of those values so that I could simply fit in. The author of today’s passage from 1 Peter warns us about the dangers of dropping our guard and allowing ourselves to simply fit in when he wrote: “Friends, this world is not your home, so don’t make yourselves cozy” (1 Peter 2:11 from The Message). As you sit with those opening words from 1 Peter, I would encourage you to spend some time contemplating in what position your faith places you. Does your faith and its accompanying values seem at odds with the world around you, or does your faith simply reflect the world around you – thereby making the world a cozy place for you to live? Til next time…
Featured Reading: 1 Peter 2:11-17
Ten years ago this September, I made the most dramatic move I’d made in my entire life. I moved 1,100 miles - from Spokane, WA to Denver, CO - in order to attend seminary. For the first couple of years I lived in Denver, I made a point of holding on to my identity as a native Washingtonian. I would frequently comment on aspects of life in Colorado as if I were a removed social commentator. I would note, for instance, that where I came from driver’s actually slowed down and stopped for yellow lights. In Colorado, however, it seemed extremely rare to find drivers that either slowed down or stopped for yellow lights. Or I would note that in Washington, residents expected their municipal governments to provide free weekly curbside recycling. In most of Colorado, residents did not expect such service. For those first few years of my life in Denver, I found that having a sense of distance between myself and the community in which I lived allowed me to maintain behaviors that were important to me. As the years passed, however, I began to let my guard down. And what do you know? Little by little my behaviors began to change. After nearly getting rear ended several times when I attempted to stop for a yellow light, I found that gradually I too began to hit the gas when the light turned yellow in order to race through the intersection like many of my fellow Coloradans. My behavior around recycling changed as well. Since there was no free weekly curbside recycling program in the area in which I lived, I too stopped recycling. In other words, instead of holding on to the values and practices that I thought were important, I allowed myself to let go of those values so that I could simply fit in. The author of today’s passage from 1 Peter warns us about the dangers of dropping our guard and allowing ourselves to simply fit in when he wrote: “Friends, this world is not your home, so don’t make yourselves cozy” (1 Peter 2:11 from The Message). As you sit with those opening words from 1 Peter, I would encourage you to spend some time contemplating in what position your faith places you. Does your faith and its accompanying values seem at odds with the world around you, or does your faith simply reflect the world around you – thereby making the world a cozy place for you to live? Til next time…
1 comment:
The circumstance that most derailed me was being on swing shift for a year. I gave in totally to the schedule and used it as an excuse to avoid many things.
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