Wednesday of the fourth week in lent

Date: Wednesday, March 13, 2024
Contributor: Gayle Marsh
Lectionary Link https://www.lectionarypage.net/WeekdaysOfLent/WedFourthWeek.html
 
We did not ask for reflections on Wednesdays this year. However, Gayle was kind enough to share this piece on bullying.
 
Remember the jingle, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me”? Maybe you chanted that back to persecutors or rehearsed the mantra time and again to disarm its message. Belittling names and words impact for a lifetime. We absorb toxic labels of stupidity, clumsiness, skinniness, fatness, ugliness: the list goes on. Girls and women are circled as objects for conquest. News stories document the failure to listen and respect that the word NO means NO. Period.

Bullying can happen wherever people gather; at school, at play, at work, online and at council meetings. Sadly, it can even happen in faith communities. Bullying can be stopped when we look at its dynamics, practice respect and speak out when power is abused.
Judging another person as somehow inferior and being suspicious of those who appear different is an underlying dynamic to recognize. On the surface, race, ethnicity, age, able-ness, occupations, social class, faith, gender, sexual orientation and political perspectives may divide us. Yet, we share a common desire to enjoy a safe world with clean air and water and wholesome food and respectful love. We have more in common than what separates us. Life is created in beauty by a God who delights in diversity and smiles upon our unique giftedness and "packaging" as my nephew calls it.

It's past time to go beyond comfort zones, to meet and greet others who appear different than us. How much do the people we spend time with look, act, and think like us?
One of the best-known teachings of Jesus is the Good Samaritan, Luke 10: 29-37. The Samaritan acts like a neighbor by becoming involved to help the outsider, the traveler, beaten and robbed and cast aside. We don't know the motivation underlying the bullies mean streak. We might assume a busy schedule and ritual purity laws were convenient excuses for the priest to look away. The Levite temple worker also failed to respond with care and compassion. We see bullies, a victim, and disengaged witnesses.
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And then a change agent, the Good Samaritan, steps forward. Investing time, energy and resources this Samaritan allows an interruption and stops to cares for a beaten soul lying on the road. Becoming fully human carries a responsibility to care beyond oneself.
Jesus asked, “Which of the three, the priest, the Levite or the Samaritan, is neighbor to the one who fell into the hands of the robbers?” The answer: “The one who showed mercy.” May we learn to welcome interruptions in our precious schedules, to become involved, to become the change our world longs to see. Jesus challenges us, “Go and do likewise.”