Today’s Readings: Psalm 10; Daniel 3:19-30; Luke 24:28-34; Colossians 3:18-4:6; Psalm 11
Featured Reading: Luke 24:28-34
When I was a child, I had certain expectations about where I should see certain people. I thought, for instance, that my elementary school teachers spent all of their time in the same place: at school. I thought my Sunday school teachers spent all of their time at church. And I was convinced my wrestling coach spent all of his time in the gym. As long as I encountered these people in the place where I expected them, then I was okay. Every once in a while, however, I would encounter one of these folks in a different setting, and it would rock my world. I would run into Miss Helt – my second grade teacher – in the grocery store; or I’d run into Mrs. Zimmerer – my Sunday school nursery teacher – at a high school wrestling match. Because these folks were not in the setting in which I expected to see them, it often took me awhile to recognize them. As I matured, however, I realized how foolish I was to put these folks in a box. I learned they had well-rounded lives that took them into many places; as a result, I learned to expand my horizons and open myself to the possibility of running into them in all sorts of places. Over the years I’ve come to realize we often end up doing the same thing with pieces of our spiritual lives that I did with the people from my childhood. We put Jesus into a box and expect to encounter the risen spirit of Christ in certain places. We expect to run into him at church; we expect to encounter him during our times of prayer and meditation; and we expect to run into him when we do service work in the community. But how many times are we like the disciples in this morning’s reading from Luke – how many times does the risen Christ manifest himself in the midst of our every day experience and we completely fail to recognize him? If you’re anything like me, the answer to that question is: “Quite a lot.” In order to avoid that pitfall, I have to stop and remind myself not to box the spirit of Christ in; I have to remember to look for that spirit in the most unlikely of places - in the middle of my everyday life. I would invite you to do the same. Til next time…
Featured Reading: Luke 24:28-34
When I was a child, I had certain expectations about where I should see certain people. I thought, for instance, that my elementary school teachers spent all of their time in the same place: at school. I thought my Sunday school teachers spent all of their time at church. And I was convinced my wrestling coach spent all of his time in the gym. As long as I encountered these people in the place where I expected them, then I was okay. Every once in a while, however, I would encounter one of these folks in a different setting, and it would rock my world. I would run into Miss Helt – my second grade teacher – in the grocery store; or I’d run into Mrs. Zimmerer – my Sunday school nursery teacher – at a high school wrestling match. Because these folks were not in the setting in which I expected to see them, it often took me awhile to recognize them. As I matured, however, I realized how foolish I was to put these folks in a box. I learned they had well-rounded lives that took them into many places; as a result, I learned to expand my horizons and open myself to the possibility of running into them in all sorts of places. Over the years I’ve come to realize we often end up doing the same thing with pieces of our spiritual lives that I did with the people from my childhood. We put Jesus into a box and expect to encounter the risen spirit of Christ in certain places. We expect to run into him at church; we expect to encounter him during our times of prayer and meditation; and we expect to run into him when we do service work in the community. But how many times are we like the disciples in this morning’s reading from Luke – how many times does the risen Christ manifest himself in the midst of our every day experience and we completely fail to recognize him? If you’re anything like me, the answer to that question is: “Quite a lot.” In order to avoid that pitfall, I have to stop and remind myself not to box the spirit of Christ in; I have to remember to look for that spirit in the most unlikely of places - in the middle of my everyday life. I would invite you to do the same. Til next time…
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