One morning this week, I put my pants on backwards and did not realize it until lunch. That is the danger of elastic waisted pants and dressing at daybreak. One might think that I would have felt a slight difference in the fit, and I did, but I figured my shape had shifted once again and I ignored that slightly “off” feeling. Luckily, I was able to turn things around in the ladies room at a golf course before people in the club house started pointing at me and snickering.
We should never ignore things when they seem a little off. When something is askew, it is important to address it before it becomes an issue or an embarrassment. At any point, it is never too late to turn things around and make them right. Time, materials and relationships can be saved and improved when we investigate things that do not feel or look comfortable. If we smell or taste something unpleasant, some action may be needed like tossing out those beans that have been fermenting in the refrigerator for two days. We must use our good senses with sensitivity.
Inaction can cause unrest. Peacekeeping measures may be necessary before people eat those beans that will cause what my children call “silent but deadly” odors. If we don’t speak before our feelings leak, emotions flare and result in tenuous relationships that are harder to resolve.
It must be super difficult to keep the peace in our current circumstances, with many people staying home to work and play. How does one keep structure in a family with differentiated needs? School teachers are great at this, but it must be a new challenge when instruction is a face on the screen. Nurses are great at balancing a patient’s needs, but what a challenge during a pandemic when healthcare workers experience a shortage of things they need at work. Law enforcement has also been overtaxed with the challenge to provide peacekeeping measures. I am grateful for all these heroes who have struggled to do their jobs in a time when the future is completely uncertain.
This takes me to the most troubling scripture. David warned us in Psalms, and Micah’s prophesy also pointed to the same thing that Jesus said in Luke 12:51-53:
“Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, but rather division. For from now on five in one house will be divided: three against two, and two against three. Father will be divided against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother.”
This is not what I want. It feels backwards, it sounds off. I have seen this situation and I wish I could make it right. This division occurs when people hear the Gospel of salvation, and some receive it, but others do not accept it. Jesus knew his death and resurrection would cause many people to break away from old traditions and cause a family rift when they followed a new way under a new covenant.
Love our neighbor, love our enemy, and pray for those who persecute us. Can we do this instead of riots, destruction and hate?
I pray all of us can put our pants on straight and head in the right direction by letting the radical Jesus show the Way.
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