Written by Donna Schaper
Excerpt from Romans
3:21 - 31
“For there is no distinction, since all have sinned and fall
short of the glory of God.”
Reflection
What is sin? It is to
fall short of the glory of God. It is to
miss the mark of our ideal humanity. It
is to be distant from God. Jesus, as the
ideal human, might be defined as one who never doubted the full presence of his
Father. What made him so special was how
close he stayed to the one he called “Abba.”
Often we mistake sin for its disguises in right and wrong
behavior. Smoking, drinking, and eating
too much come to mind. Abuse of our body
becomes more important to us than abuse of our souls. Glory, as well as health, is our destination
as a human. When we miss the mark of our
best humanity, we sin. Smoking,
drinking, and temple disregard are surely sins, but they are the outer sign of
inner conditions. Glorious souls rarely abuse the temple in which they are
housed.
We are in good company!
Apparently all of us are in this boat together, this place of minimal
glory and maximal distance from our mark as God’s creatures. What might be different? We might learn to live in the deep water
instead of the shallow. We might try to
get closer to God by the practice of prayer or by raising our hands in worship
to touch the Spirit of the room. We
might work less on the outside and more on the inside.
Prayer
O God, You who are the source of any glory we might ever
have, draw near. Help us know what it is
you meant us to be. Amen.
New for Lent--The
Jesus Diaries: Who Jesus is to Me, Entries from the Stillspeaking
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Eight short, conversational essays by writers of the Daily Devotionals.
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More items written by the Stillspeaking Writer’s Group
July 25, 2010
Ask and Receive
Excerpt from Luke 11:10-12
"For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? Or if the child asks for an egg, who will give a scorpion?
Reflection by Donna Schaper
Jesus is rarely this colorful of speech. He is more the plainspoken type. But here somebody has bugged him into indignation. He is sure that doors open, but he is speaking to a people who imagine doors don't. He is chiding those who give children snakes instead of fish, or cynicism instead of hope; those who teach children to think that closed doors are not just closed but also locked. If a child asks for an open world, would you give them a closed one? If a child needs an egg, why give them something that could harm them, like a scorpion?
Jesus asks a good colorful question. Why would anyone harm children? Unfortunately, many people harm children because they have been harmed as children. Scorpions arrived when kids looked for eggs. Doors can still open even for those who have yet to have the childhood they deserve. How can we find out if that is true? Go find a knob. Twist it. Go find a window. Open it. Give it a little shoulder. Get up tomorrow morning and get help to get over old injuries. Get yourself a fish and an egg. Have a resurrection breakfast. Every day is Easter, for those who ask and search. They receive and find. They knock―repeatedly―and doors can open.
Prayer
O God, if past injuries are ruining our present lives, if our own hurt gets in the way of our raising our children or the world's children, put a doorknob in our hand and have a friend stand by. Let us ask, again, and receive what we deserve. Amen.
