Day #15
Larry Trotte
Prayer
33 But
a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he
took pity on him. 34 He
went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the
man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. Luke
10:33-34 NIV
Overcoming the Barrier
Ambrose, our
grandson, loves to watch the original Land Before Time movie when he comes to
our house. I love it, too, because it reminds me of his mommy and Aunt Christie
when they were little watching it on a scratchy VHS tape instead of Blu-Ray HD.
It’s a sweet movie that celebrates family and friendships and how both help us
endure difficulties. The story even lifts up the ugly reality of how we
separate ourselves through discrimination based on stereotypes. The lead
character is Littlefoot, a Brontosaurus, known as long necks in the story. His
friends are a diverse group of other types of dinosaurs including a little three
horn (Triceratops) named, Sarah. When they first meet and start playing
together Sarah’s father intervenes and proclaims with a sneer of indignation
that, “Three horns never play with long necks.” Sarah picks up on her father’s
prejudice and refuses to travel with Littlefoot and the others until later in
the story when difficulty compels her to join the group.
The two verses
above are from one of the truly iconic stories from Jesus’ life when he spins
an impromptu parable of man who was attacked while traveling from Jerusalem to
Jericho. In an attempt to break down the barriers between Jews and Samaritans
(and other prejudicial barriers experienced by subsequent hearers and readers)
Jesus casts the antagonists in the story as Jewish religious leaders who failed
to help the injured man, also a Jew. The protagonist is (gasp) a hated
Samaritan who stopped to help the man who was his religious and cultural enemy.
As we continue to explore our sense of self and how it directs our attitudes
and actions I want to suggest that the way we identify ourselves is often
powerfully influenced by the groups out of which we grow and within which we
live, to wit, family, friends, social circles, political alliances, faith
communities, etc. The ease with which we can fall into the herd mentality of
placing people into outlying groups underscores the crucial need for us to
identify our “selves” with Jesus. The more completely we give our easily
influenced self over to his eternally grounded self the more we will identify
with Jesus’ kingdom values as opposed to the transitory values of the groups by
which we find ourselves surrounded. Those conditional values often regard
others as members of a feared or hated category instead of individuals bearing
the image of God and deserving of unconditional love. Three horns can, indeed,
play with longnecks if we listen for God’s voice over the voices of division, break
from the herd, and join them on the journey.
Prayer
God of all people, please continue to
re-form my heart so that it longs for relationship with you and all of the
people you created, three horns, longnecks, and all the rest. In Jesus’ name,
amen.
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