Wednesday, July 22

Today’s Readings: Psalm 88; 2 Samuel 4:1-12; Mark 5:35-43; Ephesians 6:1-9; Psalm 90

Several years ago when I lived in Washington State, I heard a story about how one of the political parties conducted themselves. The story really disgusted me. The party in question had been out of power for a while. One election season they re-captured control of one of the legislative chambers. This meant they had control over the way the chamber conducted its day-to-day business. One day – not too long into the legistlative session – the chamber was engaged in a long, drawn out debate on a particular bill. They were forced to work through their dinner break. The leaders of the party in control decided it was time for paybacks to the other party – so they refused to tell members of the other party when the delayed dinner break would be. Instead, the majority party leaders ordered pizza and took a spontaneous break when the pizza arrived. As if their initial behavior wasn’t bad enough, members of the majority party also refused to share their dinner with members of the minority party when the pizza arrived. When I read accounts of the action at the time, I thought, “I guess that’s how people respond when they get a little power.” Thankfully, such childish actions aren’t a universal response to power. David gives us a wonderful example of someone who can act differently when power falls in his lap. Shortly after Saul’s death, loyalists to David took it upon themselves to murder Saul’s grandson – Ish-Bosheth – in his sleep. Afterwards, they presented Ish-Bosheth’s head to David thinking he would revel in such a display of power. Many rulers probably would have. Not David, however. He reacted strongly (and violently) against such an inappropriate act. While it would be easy to think that stories such as today’s from 2 Samuel have nothing to do with our lives since none of us are kings, it’s important to remember that each of us has an area of our lives where we do have some power. For some, that power might occur within the context of our job; for others it might be in a civic or faith-based organization; for still others that power might be in a household setting. Regardless of where you power lies, today I would invite you to think about how you use that power. Do you use it for self-purposes, or do you exercise that power for good? Til next time…