Gleanings from the Daily Office – Step One

GLEANINGS (from the Daily Office) – Step One – Year One, Proper 19, Tuesday, September 15, 2015, Mark 4:12-17

“From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’”

How does the saying go? A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. In our case the step is repent. We are to be our sorry for our transgressions. But to repent includes so much more. We are to turn around, go another direction.

By our broken nature, life is about us. I don’t care so much if the planets revolve around the sun as long life revolves around me. Original sin? I want what I want when I want it. It’s all about me. Now most have been socialized enough not to acknowledge these things out loud. But at our core we are about self-preservation.

God in Christ is calling us to a life about him, where our allegiances yield to his reign. It is a far cry from where we are personally and at large. Many governments are tyrannical and ours is increasingly. It brooks no opposition. There is little room for doubters and late adopters. Governments demand our allegiance. The republic assumes a fealty to principle which is no longer there. Whims rule.

That I leave or least subordinate in order to be a follower of Jesus. We resist. It is that moment when we keep driving though we have missed our turn. To turn around is to concede our mistake. Noooooo!

And we are double minded. Our allegiance to country yields things that we like. We are reluctant to bite the hand that feeds us.

A yet a life long journey begins with a single step. Repent.

–Frodo: “I wish none of this had happened.” Gandalf: “So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.”–