LENT CAN BE A TIME for us to look away from the center and to the edges, where so many live in the shadow of isolation. We look with compassion, for all of us know what it feels like to be on the edges, how hard it can be to discover, know, or be reminded that we are not a part of the group. We look to the edges with this confession: We help to isolate others because we ourselves fear isolation. Imagining we are on the inside – wherever that might be, in the company of whomever – we work to maintain our tenuous standing. Shared attitudes, gossip, even certain behaviors fortify the barriers between us and “them.” We are, in other words, complicit. Lent may be a time, then, to remember how Jesus unfailingly went out of his way to seek and to save those who were on the margins. Tradition regarded the sick, the dying, and the dead as “unclean.” … But Jesus received, blessed, ate with, and even commended many of these sinners over and against the “upstanding” of the day. He touched, healed, and raised many of the unclean. … He regarded those on society’s margins as persons and treated them as God’s own children.
Posted on: Wed, 12 Mar 2014 06:27:53 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015