I often begin my day with a reading from a little book of meditations, The Courage to See. Each one includes a quotation from great literature, a passage from Scripture, and a prayer. This one popped up this week as I was getting ready for Sunday, September 13:
When you encounter another person, when you have dealings with anyone at all, it is as if a question is being put to you. So you must think, What is the lord asking of me in this moment, in this situation? If you confront insult or antagonism, your first impulse will be to respond in kind. But if you think, as it were, This is an emissary sent from the Lord, and some benefit is intended for me, first of all the occasion to demonstrate my faithfulness, the chance to show that I do in some small degree participate in the grace that saved me, you are free to act otherwise than as circumstances would seem to dictate. You are free to act by your own lights. You are freed at the same time of the impulse to hate or resent that person. Gilead by Marilynne Robinson, 2004
Then Peter came to [Jesus] and said to him, “Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.” Matthew 18:21-22
God, help us to forgive, as we expect to be forgiven. Give us strength to live together and love each other.
When you encounter another person, when you have dealings with anyone at all, it is as if a question is being put to you. So you must think, What is the lord asking of me in this moment, in this situation? If you confront insult or antagonism, your first impulse will be to respond in kind. But if you think, as it were, This is an emissary sent from the Lord, and some benefit is intended for me, first of all the occasion to demonstrate my faithfulness, the chance to show that I do in some small degree participate in the grace that saved me, you are free to act otherwise than as circumstances would seem to dictate. You are free to act by your own lights. You are freed at the same time of the impulse to hate or resent that person. Gilead by Marilynne Robinson, 2004
Then Peter came to [Jesus] and said to him, “Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.” Matthew 18:21-22
God, help us to forgive, as we expect to be forgiven. Give us strength to live together and love each other.
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