ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHING
January 16, 2022
In his Letter from Birmingham Jail, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote, “I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be, and you can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be…” How many people are far from who they were created to be because of circumstances beyond their control. Pithy saying such as, “Turn that frown upside down” or “When life gives you lemons you need to make lemonade,” are not terribly helpful. The painful happenings of life have defined them in ways that God never intended, yet change does not come easily. If we can be helpful in those moments, we need to do so. It’s not the time to judge or compare their circumstance to our own experience. It is simply our opportunity, if not our calling, to come alongside others in such a way as to affirm and encourage. If not, we may think we are moving in the right direction for ourselves, but if others are unable to be the people God created them to be, then no self-determination will ever make us into the people God created us to be.
As I journey with you, O God of All Creation, provide me eyes to see more clearly; a vision to perceive others as you see them. It is then that I can assist them in their own journey, and in doing so, help myself in my own. Amen.
