Today’s gospel reading in John 9: 1-17 describes Jesus bringing sight to a man blind from birth.
Two lessons come to me in this passage. One, the blind man follows Jesus’ instructions without questioning. The other, Jesus used what was a hand to heal--mud, the earth.
I often wish for the Holy Spirit’s instructions in such clarity. But would that keep me from saying “I’m not the one,” or “That’s not the work I’ve chosen?” We could say that the blind man had nothing to lose. He didn’t have sight. He was a beggar. The story doesn’t tell us that Jesus said to him, “Come over here and let me put mud on your eyes, and if you do what I tell you, you will see.” Jesus just makes mud with his saliva, puts it on the man’s eyes and tells him to go wash in the pool of Siloam--simple instructions. Go and do as I say. I will provide the results. That is one message I take from this reading. Listen to the Holy Spirit. Pray and discern. Don’t explain to God, as Moses did (several ways) when God told him he was to lead the Israelites from Egypt (Exodus 3), that we can’t do what he asks of us.
The other piece of this text that speaks to me is Jesus use of mud to heal--a piece of the earth. Nature, the beauty of this earth, provides me with nourishment and healing each day. Last week, hiking near Estes Park, a friend and I saw this season’s first pasqueflower blossoms. Small delicate lavender flowers easily overlooked, nestled in dead grass and pine cones, they are one of the first flowers to bloom in the spring. The earth’s beauty opens in small ways as God’s love blossoms in us in small ways. Today’s prayer: “God, give me ears to hear your voice, eyes open to your love, and faith to follow your path.”
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Friday, March 11, 2011
Lent in Our Own Words by Amma Trish Cunningham
“He does not delay but repays in their own person those who reject him.” (Deut. 7:10)
What is hell? Is it a place or state of being to which God consigns the unrepentantly evil? Or is it a condition that we create ourselves in this life when we consistently follow our own wills instead of God’s? A verse from this morning’s Old Testament reading suggests that it is not punishment that awaits us in the future, but something we bring upon ourselves in this life by rejecting God. Mysteries that will only be revealed on the other side of the veil notwithstanding, my experience tells me that hell really is a self-induced state of misery caused by patterns of wrong choices; while it is unquestionably experienced in this life, I have great doubts about whether it gets any worse after this life has ended.
As a former hospital chaplain, I have been with people on their deathbed, many of whom have not led exemplary lives. I am struck by how child-like even the strongest, most willful people become. With the loss of power often comes a sense of resignation and peace. Even the most unloving, grudge-bearing individuals are hungry for words of God’s unconditional love and forgiveness. Understanding and forgiveness for wrongs committed against them finally take hold and they are able to let go of bitterness. A person who has hurt others will often acknowledge their responsibility, perhaps for the first time, and gain peace as a result. Regardless, as life slips away, anxiety and fear seem to dissipate, with no suggestion that something terrible is about to occur.
How am I rejecting God and creating hell? For what do I need to acknowledge responsibility? What do I need to forgive? How can I love God, my neighbor and myself more fully so that I may live in the kingdom of heaven even now?
Holy God, immerse me in your peace so that all that I think, do or say today may be in harmony with the mind of Christ.
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