Daily Worship

A part?

August 25, 2015 0 0

Luke 18: 9-14

Luke 10:31-32
A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.

Luke 18: 9-14
9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’

14 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

‘No man is an island’ so the poet said.
But some of us tend – women too –
to become like little peninsulas
semi-detached
connected in part
looking on but able, when we choose,
to withdraw.
We like our own domain
our independence.

What are the consequences of our pride,
of saying
‘Thanks, I can manage’
Do we assume it’s the same for others?
That it’s best not to interfere?
Do we become internally focussed,
hardened of heart,

apart?

How do we cross the boundary
of our own self?
How do we build and rebuild
the causeways
the bridges
and rediscover what it means to be

a part

of those around us
and allow them to be part
of us?

Lord God, may we not be passers by passing by,
but recognise our need, and others’, for your mercy.

Amen.