Today’s Readings: Psalm 68; Lamentations 4:1-10; Mark 13:1-13; Romans 11:1-12; Psalm 113
Featured Reading: Mark 13:1-13
As a man, I realize I will never completely understand what goes on for a woman in the process of childbirth. This is especially true when it comes to the idea of conceptualizing how women are able to put up with the amazing amount of pain involved in actually giving birth. A cynical notion of explaining how women deal with the pain would be to say, “It’s the drugs they give you that pull you through.” I think it’s a little more complicated than that. The women I’ve talked with about the process all say roughly the same thing: it’s not the pain one experiences in the process of childbirth that defines the experience – it was the wonderful baby that came at the end of the process that defined the experience. The author of today’s passage from Mark makes a similar point. He makes no effort to deny that there will be pain involved in the process leading up to the culmination of days. In fact, he spells out that pain in some detail. And yet the author refuses to let that pain be the defining experience. Instead, he points out the beautiful thing the lies at the end of the process: salvation. Perhaps you are living through a particularly difficult time in your life right now. You might even be struggling to decide whether the pain you currently feel will be the defining aspect of your life. If that’s the case for you, remember today’s words from the Gospel of Mark. Use those words as a reminder that something better lies before you beyond the pain – if only you can “stay with it”. Til next time…
Featured Reading: Mark 13:1-13
As a man, I realize I will never completely understand what goes on for a woman in the process of childbirth. This is especially true when it comes to the idea of conceptualizing how women are able to put up with the amazing amount of pain involved in actually giving birth. A cynical notion of explaining how women deal with the pain would be to say, “It’s the drugs they give you that pull you through.” I think it’s a little more complicated than that. The women I’ve talked with about the process all say roughly the same thing: it’s not the pain one experiences in the process of childbirth that defines the experience – it was the wonderful baby that came at the end of the process that defined the experience. The author of today’s passage from Mark makes a similar point. He makes no effort to deny that there will be pain involved in the process leading up to the culmination of days. In fact, he spells out that pain in some detail. And yet the author refuses to let that pain be the defining experience. Instead, he points out the beautiful thing the lies at the end of the process: salvation. Perhaps you are living through a particularly difficult time in your life right now. You might even be struggling to decide whether the pain you currently feel will be the defining aspect of your life. If that’s the case for you, remember today’s words from the Gospel of Mark. Use those words as a reminder that something better lies before you beyond the pain – if only you can “stay with it”. Til next time…
1 comment:
and wife will say to husband; and brother will say to sister, tear this house down so that heaven may be brought to earth -- angry people.
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