Though I wasn't the preacher this past Sunday, I have been reflecting on the Gospel reading from Luke. I hear Jesus' call to invite "the poor, the blind, the crippled and the lame" to dinner, instead of one's friends and family, and think, "But I don't really KNOW that many poor, blind, crippled, or lame people." And then I think, "Why is that? Maybe I should."
What does it say about contemporary small town/suburban life that it's pretty easy to go day after day without crossing paths with folks who are all that different from me?
Our household gives regularly to the Gallatin Valley Food Bank, and that's a good thing, but I don't know many folks who receive regularly from the Gallatin Valley Food Bank. I wonder how my life would be different - better, I'd bet - if I did. Jesus isn't just calling us to share what we have with those we don't know, but to get to know those who would benefit from our sharing. I believe it's in the relationship that everyone benefits, perhaps the ones sharing most of all. Yes, it might make me more uncomfortable on one level, to put names and faces and very real lives to all the statistics it's so easy to shrug off, but is it right, or holy, to avoid that discomfort?
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1 comment:
you are right on both levels: we ought to develop relationships with people from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds, AND it's not so easy to do so around here. i think the "not so easy" part has a lot more to do with fear than with actual difficulty. i haven't tried it myself, but i bet it would take no more than 2 phone calls to connect with those less fortunate who could benefit from both material support and, especially, relational support.
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