Remembering families

John Povey August 16, 2020 0 0

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Genesis 45: 13-15 (NIV)

13 Tell my father about all the honor accorded me in Egypt and about everything you have seen. And bring my father down here quickly.”

14 Then he threw his arms around his brother Benjamin and wept, and Benjamin embraced him, weeping. 15 And he kissed all his brothers and wept over them. Afterward his brothers talked with him.

“We are family. I got all my sisters with me. We are family. Get up everybody and sing.” So goes the famous song by Sister Sledge.

I wonder if these were the sort of feelings Joseph and his brothers had at their reunion.  The story in the book of Genesis is among the most tender in the scriptures. If only the road to that reunion had been easier! Instead, it was decidedly rocky. It began with Joseph’s own brothers, deeply jealous of him, even contemplating killing him, before “settling" for selling him into slavery, a possible if not likely death sentence.

Remembering Joseph, telling his story, means remembering that some family relationships are deeply troubled, even violent. Remembering Joseph means reminding ourselves that even in the most deeply troubled and divided family, forgiveness and healing are possible. Peacemaking may well involve great pain and cost for some, but leads to great joy and reconciliation in the end.

PRAYER:

God of love, we celebrate with thanks the loving and giving, the suffering and change, the dying and new life, that is part of being family. We hold in tender care those wounded by misunderstanding and lack of forgiveness, and ask for them your healing, and your peace. Amen.