In today’s first reading, Jeremiah 7: 1-11, we are asked to
not put our “trust in…deceitful words: This is the temple of the Lord! The temple
of the Lord! The temple of the Lord!’ Only if you thoroughly reform your ways
and your deeds; if each of you deals justly with his/[her] neighbor; if you no longer oppress the resident alien, the orphan, and
the widow; if you no longer shed innocent blood…, or follow strange gods to
your own harm, will I remain with you in this place, in the land I gave our
fathers/[mothers] long ago and forever.”
That I raise a bible in the air repeatedly and am able to
quote myriad of or write eloquently about Scripture passages does not mean
necessarily that I have reformed my ways
or my deeds, that I am dealing justly with my neighbor and no longer oppressing
the resident alien, the orphan, and the widow. Nor does it mean that I am not following
strange gods to my own harm and the harm of others!
Honestly, how have I reformed my sinful, selfish, arrogant,
pride-filled, deceitful attitudes and behaviors this past week? How have I
reached out to my neighbor, to the person I do not like, to whom I do not want
to listen, to the person who thinks and believes differently than I do, who
does not share my enthusiasm about a significant person in my world or a recent
book I read and enjoyed? What am I doing to lessen the oppression of the
resident alien, the orphan, the widow?
What strange gods am I worshiping. How surprised I was this past week
to discover that I was seeking to be honored, glorified, appreciated—yes, to be
the center of other people’s lives? Is that not what is due to our God?
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