Today’s Readings: Psalm 3; Lamentations 2:7-16; John 10:1-6; 1 Peter 4:1-6; Psalm 50
Featured Reading: 1 Peter 4:1-6
In talking with friends over the years about their experiences of high school reunions, I heard the same comment made time after time. That comment? Ten-year high school reunions are the worst of all reunions to attend. Compared to the 10-year reunion, the rest are pieces of cake. I heard that comment made so much that it made me wonder, “Just what’s so bad about 10 year reunions?” Then I had the experience of living through my own several years ago and discovering the answer for myself. I found that the 10-year high school reunion is a challenge because folks still cling to the belief that life is suppose to unfold exactly the way you expected it to when you were back in high school. The guys, for instance, feel pressured to show they have been wildly successful in their professional lives. In addition to professional success, women at the 10-year reunion are expected to prove they have found personal happiness through the establishment of a family. Virtually everyone in attendance at the 10-year class reunion is miserable because they are held hostage to the perceptions and expectations of others. It isn’t until you reach your 20-year reunion that people start letting their guard down and being open to how life unfolds on its own terms. While the notion of high school reunions would have been totally foreign to the author of today’s passage from 1 Peter, the importance of letting go of one’s expectations and accepting life on other terms would be a familiar theme to its author. In the passage, the author used the occasion of one’s suffering to note: “Think of your sufferings as a weaning from that old sinful habit of always expecting to get your own way. Then you’ll be able to live out your days free to pursue what God wants instead of being tyrannized by what you want” (1 Peter 4:1-2 from The Message). The passage challenges us to think about those things that drive us – OUR wants and OUR desires – not as our friends, but as tyrants that can threaten to overtake our lives. In that spirit of awareness, I would invite you to spend some time considering whose wants you are pursuing. Til next time…
Featured Reading: 1 Peter 4:1-6
In talking with friends over the years about their experiences of high school reunions, I heard the same comment made time after time. That comment? Ten-year high school reunions are the worst of all reunions to attend. Compared to the 10-year reunion, the rest are pieces of cake. I heard that comment made so much that it made me wonder, “Just what’s so bad about 10 year reunions?” Then I had the experience of living through my own several years ago and discovering the answer for myself. I found that the 10-year high school reunion is a challenge because folks still cling to the belief that life is suppose to unfold exactly the way you expected it to when you were back in high school. The guys, for instance, feel pressured to show they have been wildly successful in their professional lives. In addition to professional success, women at the 10-year reunion are expected to prove they have found personal happiness through the establishment of a family. Virtually everyone in attendance at the 10-year class reunion is miserable because they are held hostage to the perceptions and expectations of others. It isn’t until you reach your 20-year reunion that people start letting their guard down and being open to how life unfolds on its own terms. While the notion of high school reunions would have been totally foreign to the author of today’s passage from 1 Peter, the importance of letting go of one’s expectations and accepting life on other terms would be a familiar theme to its author. In the passage, the author used the occasion of one’s suffering to note: “Think of your sufferings as a weaning from that old sinful habit of always expecting to get your own way. Then you’ll be able to live out your days free to pursue what God wants instead of being tyrannized by what you want” (1 Peter 4:1-2 from The Message). The passage challenges us to think about those things that drive us – OUR wants and OUR desires – not as our friends, but as tyrants that can threaten to overtake our lives. In that spirit of awareness, I would invite you to spend some time considering whose wants you are pursuing. Til next time…
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