Meditations on Lent - #18
Sunday Musings
This Sunday I will attend a fundraising lunch at the Soup Kitchen to help support two transition houses for men and women in the early stages of reclaiming their lives from active addiction. It seems fitting to me that location is the Soup Kitchen which daily serves meals and provides a welcome gathering place for those who are homeless or otherwise in need of a hot meal and a place at the table with others who may be feel alone and forgotten. Many of the folks at the transition houses have been homeless and alone. I am also reminded of all the refugees fleeing violence and poverty who need a welcoming hand, a hot meal and a safe place to rest. Even those who today appear well off may be just a step away from being homeless. The recent partial government shutdown in the United States reminded many that many government workers live paycheck to paycheck. Some who are contract workers have no benefits, no savings account and will not be paid for the time off.
Among the homeless may be doctors, lawyers, former business owners, teachers, highly skilled union professional carpenters, ironworkers, brick layers, machinists, and others.
In the framework of the Christian religion the Gospel reading for today is found in Luke 13:1-9. Our attention is first directed to Jesus asking, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners that the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.” Then Jesus tells the parable of the fig tree which was not bearing fruit. The owner wanted to cut it down but the man who took care of the vineyard asks him to leave it for another year to see if with tender care it will bear fruit.
On this Sunday in Lent we are reminded that none of us have the right or the knowledge to judge another. No matter how we have hurt ourselves, our families and others we deserve to be nurtured back to health. There are no exceptions. If I listen carefully to myself and others I will hear that “all should be forgiven and given a second chance except ….” Many of us like to think that we could never be a homeless person. We could never commit that crime. We could never hurt a child. We could never be an addict, a sexual offender, a greedy business person, a violent aggressor, or a self-righteous, arrogant person. Yet, we are only a step away.
This morning without reading the Gospel lesson or anything else; without any conscious thought I wrote that my spiritual intention for today was to be more intentionally humble. It is easy for us humans to think we are better than or not as bad as or could never , but the truth is that this wonderful brain of ours which forms thoughts and directs our bodies to action can be affected by a great many factors. We are all only one misfire away from an action that “we swear” we would never do. We are all one step away from being the person we most despise. We can easily be that Galilean or that fig tree.
Today I will strive to notice when I am judging others; when I am being self-righteous; when I am forgetting that it is Grace if I am not yet today that person I would judge and despise.
Written March 24, 2019
Jimmy F Pickett
Coachpickett.org
Sunday Musings
This Sunday I will attend a fundraising lunch at the Soup Kitchen to help support two transition houses for men and women in the early stages of reclaiming their lives from active addiction. It seems fitting to me that location is the Soup Kitchen which daily serves meals and provides a welcome gathering place for those who are homeless or otherwise in need of a hot meal and a place at the table with others who may be feel alone and forgotten. Many of the folks at the transition houses have been homeless and alone. I am also reminded of all the refugees fleeing violence and poverty who need a welcoming hand, a hot meal and a safe place to rest. Even those who today appear well off may be just a step away from being homeless. The recent partial government shutdown in the United States reminded many that many government workers live paycheck to paycheck. Some who are contract workers have no benefits, no savings account and will not be paid for the time off.
Among the homeless may be doctors, lawyers, former business owners, teachers, highly skilled union professional carpenters, ironworkers, brick layers, machinists, and others.
In the framework of the Christian religion the Gospel reading for today is found in Luke 13:1-9. Our attention is first directed to Jesus asking, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners that the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.” Then Jesus tells the parable of the fig tree which was not bearing fruit. The owner wanted to cut it down but the man who took care of the vineyard asks him to leave it for another year to see if with tender care it will bear fruit.
On this Sunday in Lent we are reminded that none of us have the right or the knowledge to judge another. No matter how we have hurt ourselves, our families and others we deserve to be nurtured back to health. There are no exceptions. If I listen carefully to myself and others I will hear that “all should be forgiven and given a second chance except ….” Many of us like to think that we could never be a homeless person. We could never commit that crime. We could never hurt a child. We could never be an addict, a sexual offender, a greedy business person, a violent aggressor, or a self-righteous, arrogant person. Yet, we are only a step away.
This morning without reading the Gospel lesson or anything else; without any conscious thought I wrote that my spiritual intention for today was to be more intentionally humble. It is easy for us humans to think we are better than or not as bad as or could never , but the truth is that this wonderful brain of ours which forms thoughts and directs our bodies to action can be affected by a great many factors. We are all only one misfire away from an action that “we swear” we would never do. We are all one step away from being the person we most despise. We can easily be that Galilean or that fig tree.
Today I will strive to notice when I am judging others; when I am being self-righteous; when I am forgetting that it is Grace if I am not yet today that person I would judge and despise.
Written March 24, 2019
Jimmy F Pickett
Coachpickett.org
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