Tuesday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time
A recent national poll shows that seven out of ten Americans think this country has reached a new low point in its politics due to divisions among Americans that are as bad or worse than they were during the Vietnam era. Americans who were adults during the Vietnam era and who, therefore, can actually remember what that level of division felt like are even stronger with 77% of them saying that we are at least or more divided now than we were then. We are a deeply divided nation, and that is bad news for all of us.
Other recent research indicates that self-help gurus who urge us to focus on our inner happiness through meditation, self-reflection, solitude, and the like are wrong. What makes human beings truly happy, research shows, is not more me-time but more us-time. Even more, studies show that spending too much time in solitude is actually dangerous for us as it carries with it a risk of premature death at a rate like that of smoking and twice that of obesity. Contrary to this wisdom, Americans spend on average only about a half hour a day in social engagement with others that is not defined or required by work.
We are deeply divided, and we are increasingly isolated. And might our divisiveness have something to do with the fact that we are increasingly isolated? And vice versa?
Our reading in Luke today is about trying to get an idea of what the Kingdom is like. Jesus tells us that it’s like a tiny mustard seed that grows into a huge shrub—so big, in fact that “that the birds of the sky dwelt in its branches.” That sounds like a lot of birds in one big bush. Or, he says, it’s like a bit of yeast mixed with three measures of flour. Apparently, three measures of flour are a lot such that once risen and baked they would feed as many as 150 people! I am guessing that the woman in Jesus’s example, with all that bread fresh out of the oven, didn’t get a lot of “me-time” when her work was done! Who wouldn’t be drawn to her house for a fresh slice?
The Kingdom, Jesus seems to be telling us, is all about the unlikely abundance that it produces both of food and hospitality.
My prayer for us today is that we would be the Kingdom on earth—that we would put aside some me-time for some us-time. And let’s do it this week. And next week. And the week after that. What if we resolved to set aside some time to love our neighbor in the here and now—right now, with a loaf of bread, a bottle of wine, maybe some cheese and apples on the side? And what if we included in the mix of neighbors someone whose yard signs last fall indicated that they couldn’t bear the thought of voting for the person we did? Might that bring the Kingdom of God a bit closer?
There surely are people in our country who benefit from our divisiveness and isolation. But it certainly isn’t us. Let us hear God’s word today and resist the gurus and the pundits and live into the Kingdom—that is, love one another anyway.
- Sue Trollinger