There are many characters
in the Bible that I find fascinating. I’ve
written about the Prodigal Son and his father, two of my favorites. A loving father who gave his son some time
and distance in order to find himself, but continued to watch and wait
faithfully for his return. The other, a truculent
youth, who perhaps thought he knew it all, eager to step out on his own, only
to fail miserably as he made mistake after mistake, but came to his senses, came
home and said he was sorry, offering to live the life as a servant. And the father accepted the apology and loved
his son, happy that his son came to his senses.
A lesson of contrition, remorse and repentance, and forgiveness.
I can relate to
Jonah, the guy who tried to run from his call, who tried to run and ignore his
duty, who just didn’t want to go and do what he was supposed to do, and as a
result, ended up getting swallowed by a whale.
Eventually he ended up going where he was supposed to go in the first
place and could have avoided the whale. Several
lessons there, I think.
Elijah, the fiery
prophet, who thundered and shouted his message, yet had to listen at a cave
entrance to whispers and gentle murmurs, learning that not all messages need to
be loud and forceful, but can be soothing and gentle and come in the least
expected ways, and can be taught and conveyed by the least and lowly.
Peter is one of
my favorites because he tried so hard, screwed up, and tried some more. He denied ever knowing his Friend, even swore
in his denial, but repented, tried again, and became a leader. A lesson of perseverance, of never giving up
or giving in.
The Samaritan
Women.
Five husbands,
living with a sixth. Traveled a mile or
so to a well to get water. Wondered
about that. Maybe cast out, ignored,
shunned. Seen as evil, a tramp. Seen as having no ethics, no morals.
Yet . . .
The Lord stopped
to chat with her. He was thirsty and asked
her for a drink of water. Interesting
because Jews didn’t get along with the Samaritans. The two groups disagreed with one another,
didn’t share the same beliefs, didn’t live the same lifestyle, and didn’t have
customs in common with each other.
Yet . . .
The Lord didn’t
seem to recognize the differences, the disagreements. The Lord overlooked the disparity in
belief. The Lord questioned The
Samaritan Woman’s husband(s), but didn’t seem to judge her. And she, in turn, went back to those very
people who shunned her, who looked down on her, and invited them to come and
listen to a “great prophet.” And come
they did. And the Lord stayed two days
with these people, these very different people.
Perhaps there is
a lesson for us there, too. For all of
us.
Perhaps we need
to stop judging and start accepting. Perhaps
we need to seek to understand those who are different from us, who happen to live
a different life and lifestyle from us. Perhaps we need to seek the common
ground between those who we see as different, who we see as less than, and
accept, talk, converse with them.
Perhaps they have something they can share with us, give to us that is
beneficial, just as water was given to quench the thirst of The Lord. And perhaps we have something beneficial to
share with them. Our gifts, our talents,
a hand to help, words to guide, and ears to listen. Something to think about . . .
Live Your Life,
and Make A Difference!
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Thank you for your comment. I welcome your thought. Joe