Weathering Storms - September 30

Todays Readings: AM Psalm 105:1-22; PM Psalm 105:23-45; 2 Kings 18:28-37; 1 Cor. 9:1-15; Matt. 7:22-29

The year before seminary, I started riding my bike to work.  It was a seven-mile ride each way and about half of that ride was on a pretty busy road through the middle of town.  I began to find alternate routes that might be a little longer but took me down back roads and neighborhoods. One change to my route took me through the campus of Christian Brothers University so that I could miss trying to navigate through a confusing and busy intersection.

My route through the campus involved a paved pedestrian path that led by the track with a big turn in the path.  I rode the route many times without any problems, but early one morning, after a rainstorm, a bunch of sand was at the base of the turn on the pedestrian path.  I took the turn just as I had the day before and the day before that.  And as I leaned my body to balance the bike, the tires slid across the sand with my body and bike following suit. 

The same trip, the same turn, only this time it was different.  And the only difference was a bunch of sand on the hard, asphalt path.  What I could handle so easily before was very different this time.  And I came crashing down hard.

In today’s Gospel passage, Jesus uses the metaphor of building a house on a foundation.  Those that build their house on rock can weather the storm.  Those who build their houses on sand, when the rain and floods come, the house will fall.  For Jesus, the foundation is following his word. To expand that image just a bit, maybe following Jesus’s way of love changes our foundation, allows us to weather storms, take turns, and not experience the total devastation of outside forces and obstacles.  It keeps our house intact or keeps us moving along the path set before us.

This morning, it is almost exactly 18 months since the onset of the pandemic and almost exactly 18 months since we started writing daily reflections inspired by God’s word through Holy Scripture.  If you are reading this, maybe it’s an opportunity to ask the question, how has this practice changed your foundation?  Has it made a difference in how you have handled events, relationships, challenges, and moments of wonder and joy in your life? 

I’d be curious to hear your answer.  I know Becky and Katherine would too.  And I am grateful to be a part of a community that seeks to make our foundation on God’s love and Jesus’s word and mission.

Faithfully,

John+

Questions for Self-Reflection:  What is your practice of reading Scripture?  Do you have a practice or set out to read Scripture in a certain way?  Do you focus more on the reflection or on the passages? 

Daily Challenge:  Read a least one of the Scripture passages for today.  I suggest the Gospel if nothing else.