Notice what is around you - October 2, 2023

Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 89:1-18; PM Psalm 89:19-52; 2 Kings 17:24-41; 1 Cor. 7:25-31; Matt. 6:25-34

This past weekend, while attending a family wedding, made a trip to the Museum of Science in Boston, Massachusetts.  It was the perfect place to spend a few hours both for our children and for adults.  One of the exhibits on the top floor featured insects and I was especially drawn to a complex ant home that spanned two separate areas.  In one area, you had ants grabbing leaves and marching down an elongated tube to a large multilayer structure where the ants were building a home.  We marveled at the complexity of the ants’ existence and how well they worked together for the common good and their own ability to survive. 

A few hours later, we were walking through the markets near Faneuil Hall, watching street performers and pigeons compete for space and attention, tourists crowded around and soaking up the culture and cosmopolitan vibe of downtown Boston.  There was a lot of life happening, people coming and going on their own little missions, not too much differently than the beautiful ant colony exposed to those who had wandered into the insect exhibit.

There is a lot of life happening around us at all times.  Sometimes looking at what is happening beneath our feet or in visiting a cosmopolitan city, can change our vantage point.  It’s easy to feel the weight of the thousands of decisions we make every day, some important and necessary for our lives.  Maybe that’s why we hear in today’s Gospel from Matthew to consider the birds of the air, or the lilies of the field.  We need to see all of the life teaming around us, thriving, growing, moving, living, and connecting so that we can also be reminded that God has created our lives and put before us what we need to live in the kingdom of God too. 

This certainly doesn’t mean that life will be absent of hardship or challenges, but seeing all of life moves us from being the center of the universe and gives a healthier framework for seeing God’s agency in all of life and can move our worries from being overly consuming by changing our framework. “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?” – Matthew 6:25

John+

 Questions for Self-Reflection: Think about the last 24 hours.  What has given you joy? Name it and give thanks!