From Matthew's gospel, chapter 10: "If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; if not, let your peace return to you." Matthew's Jesus is speaking to his apostles as he advises them on their discipleship. He is sending them out to preach the coming of the kingdom and here is addressing the inevitable happening: some will not receive or welcome the news. His suggestion is to hold on to the peace of the good news and carry on. This is such sage advice it seems to me. For some reason, I especially need to hear it. From a lot of angles. One, it is good to be reminded that not everyone is going to like you. That's a fact. and Two, move on! and keep your eye on the prize! Oh, and of course, there is the challenge of remembering Jesus' peace... which takes constant prayer. My goal for this week is to turn to prayer, in what ever shape or form that takes... my current favorite: singing in the car a made up prayer, which is amusing cuz I am not really a songwriter in real life, and because what surfaces as my prayer is sometimes a surprise.. but I try to go with it and am delighted that my songwriter self knows better what I need to ask God for than my fold my hands, and kneel-before-God self.
1 comment:
I like the idea of writing prayer songs. How much fun! This gospel hit me differently this time. You are right that not everyone is going to like you, but what if you don't like your host in this scenario? What if they use some odd smelling cleaning products that just get up your nose or the house is noisy at all hours or there's a talker in the crowd who just won't shut up or...you have to stay because they welcomed you! There's humbling.
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