Jesus the Cause of Division
“I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed! Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division!
Lord, when we are conflict averse
Shake us up
When we want to please everyone
Drag us off the fence
When we choose harmony over truth
Disturb our conscience
until we can do no other
but blurt out
however ineptly
what is on our minds
and in our hearts
all that won’t be silenced
any longer
And then...
Then, O Lord
when the touch paper is lit
may we stay close to the fire
Close enough to see
what emerges
from the ashes
And in that emergence
may we be reborn
as our horizon expands
to embrace the new
in the knowledge
of your constant refining
and renewing
your perpetual inclusion
the transformation
that cannot be manipulated
or engineered
through subtle niceties
but only through the fire
of your reforming Spirit
And, in every iteration
may we respond
with joy and wonder
to the life you reveal
forged in the bravery
of open hearts
and minds
and arms stretched out
in embrace
for all you have created
in your divine economy
of grace.
Amen. Thank you, Liz.
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