Blind, but now I see

Morning: Psalm 34; Isaiah 49:1-6; I Corinthians 4:1-16

Evening: Psalm 104; Zechariah 14:12-21; Matthew 20:29-34

Two blind men call out to Jesus, “Let our eyes be opened!”  Three reasons prevent sight – actual blindness, eyes physically closed, or, you just don’t see the obvious right before your eyes. Jesus is concerned with the third kind of vision problem – seeing but not seeing.  He wants us to see things as they really are and not ‘shut our eyes’ to what we find unpalatable or disagreeable. Interestingly, the two men were blind together and then together they could see.  One person’s blindness may reinforce another’s, or, we may help one another see the truth and follow it.

The measure of greatness

Morning: Psalms 140, 142; Isaiah 24:14-23; I Peter 3:13-4:6

Evening: Psalms 141, 143; Zechariah 14:1-11; Matthew 20:17-28

The first leader I ever heard ask her team, “How may I serve you?”, and mean it, was a manager in a Catholic hospital established by the Sisters of St. Joseph. The sisters modelled their own leadership style on the quintessential servant-leader, Jesus, and this manager caught their vision.  In that 1990s business-type environment, this leader’s question sounded astounding.  But, hers became a team that lived to serve, and was renowned for its excellence.  They were a great team, because their great leader’s first priority was to serve.  Still, I do not hear leaders asking her question often enough.

Quit comparing your work with others’

Morning: Psalms 131, 132; Zephaniah 3:1-13; I Peter 2:11-25

Evening: Psalms 134, 135; Zechariah 13:1-9; Matthew 20:1-16

The landowner in Jesus’ parable values all the workers’ efforts equally, no matter that some worked all day and others only hours.  Each day’s news about climate change from scientists suggests it is ‘late in the day’ already … We may have passed important tipping points, but there is still time, they say, to address this immense planetary crisis. We must act with urgency to help heal the earth.  Even small actions matter.  Jesus teaches that it will help us, too, to stop comparing the value of our work with that of others, and just get on with our own.

The blinding burden of riches

Morning: Psalm 119:145-176; Obadiah 15-21; I Peter 2:1-10

Evening: Psalms 128, 129, 130; Zechariah 12:1-10; Matthew 19:23-30

Jesus says it’s hard for the rich to find life.  Still, people think, “I could manage riches … Let me try!”  Compared with many nations, Canadians are rich.  In general, though, they don’t think so; there’s always someone richer.  So, the rich may not even realize that riches are an impediment to their life.  If you don’t know how fulfilled you’re not, riches are like death … you don’t ‘come back’, after becoming rich, to warn others, because you don’t know how un-fulfilled you are!?  Is that Jesus’ point? … riches can blind us to how deeply they affect us.

Is anything keeping you from being complete?

Morning: Psalms 120 – 123; Nahum 1:1-13; I Peter 1:13-25

Evening: Psalms 124 – 127; Zechariah 11:4-17; Matthew 19:13-22

Jesus does not demand celibacy of his followers.  Likewise, his command “to sell everything and give it to the poor” is not for everyone.  But it begs the question about what may be preventing us from being complete or holding us back from fully embracing who we are in the world.  Celibacy helps some people to devote themselves to God.  Others may find that something is preventing them from being free to serve … for the rich young man, it was his wealth.  Jesus is asking us to let go of anything that holds us back from being truly free.

We are one interconnected whole

Morning: Psalm 106:1-18; Joel 3:1-2, 9-17; I Peter 1:1-12

Evening: Psalm 106:19-48; Zechariah 10:1-12; Matthew 19:1-12

Carl Jung, famous 20^th century pioneer of psychology, taught of the close connection between sexuality and spirituality … We individual human beings are not separate compartments but one, interconnected whole – body, mind and spirit. Jesus’s teaching was similar.  His teaching about human sexuality – today, it is on divorce and adultery – has often been seen as purely moralistic. Jesus’ concern, though, was to help us understand that our decisions about how we use our body, or how we interact with the body of another, also deeply affect our own and the other’s mental and spiritual life.

Mercy depends on justice

Morning: Psalm 118; Isaiah 19:19-25; Romans 15:5-13

Evening: Psalm 145; Zechariah 9:9-16; Luke 19:11-27

Some Gospel passages seem so much at odds with the way we think of Jesus – full of mercy and compassion – that we have to delve into them more deeply.  Today, Reign of Christ Sunday, looks forward to a final fulfilment of justice on earth.  You cannot escape the fact that justice will mean hardship and suffering for those who try to subvert or escape justice.  Mercy does not contradict justice; mercy depends on justice.  In the many justice rallies across the world in the last 10 years, some have affirmed this with placards that declare: “No justice, no peace.”