I have listened to readings from gospel's in the morning as I walk and enjoy God's creation--even if the text's which are selected bring with them a word of judgement.
The first reading for Sunday is from Exodus 32--the golden calf. I have thought about how painful an experience that story must have been for both God and Moses. God wanting to be left alone with his anger; Moses petitioning God to forgive the people. If I was to walk up Mt. Sinai in that moment I suspect I would feel a great deal of tension between God and Moses.
The gospel reading for Sunday is the story of the Lost Sheep. Jesus leaves the other 99 behind to go searching for the one who has wandered off, wandered away. He carries that sheep back to the fold, but I can't help but wonder if the remaining 99 sheep felt alone, suffered maybe, when the shepherd was not close at hand. Even if he was doing the good work of restoration, it had to be a tough time.
As I reflect on these scriptural experiences this week, I am reminded of something that Thomas Merton wrote:
"As long as we are on earth, the love that unites us will bring us suffering by a very contact with one another; because this love is the resetting of a Body of broken bones."
Perhaps you are aware of suffering in your church; you can speak to the sting that accompanies it. Maybe a family member is sick, or has died recently, and the hole that they leave behind seems too massive for anyone to fill it. Perhaps our communal suffering makes you feel isolated and encourages you to distance yourself from God and from His Body.
However, I agree with Merton in this moment. God offers to 'reset' the brokenness of our lives. That does not mean that we will not feel or experience pain. We will be let down and frustrated by the needs of our world. Yet we are united together in a love for God. Yes, that love also brings with us some pain, but it is a momentary pain.
I wonder today, and for the rest of this week, if you can speak to the idea that Merton is addressing in his quotation? I wonder if you might be able to help another person find the love of God even if at the same moment they feel themselves being 'reset' and even if that 'resetting' is painful?
Blessings
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