Friday, March 24, 2023

 

Friday, March 24, 2023


Psalms 56; 57

Exodus 4:27-6:1

Luke 19:11-27


Observances: Paul Couturier, ecumenist (d. 1953); Oscar Romero, archbishop of San Salvador, martyr (d. 1980)


Bricks without straw.


When you are building your world-view, what materials do you use for construction? Some people define the difference between good and evil based on whatever they perceive society to have agreed upon. Others reject the notion of good and evil altogether; the concept that one thing is “right” and another “wrong” is something invented on the spot, according to immediate circumstances.


In the age of the Internet Scholar, spirituality has deteriorated into a confused mess of crystals, hubris and apathy. There is no consensus on where humans have come from, why we are here, and what we should be doing about it – and whether we should be concerned about these questions in the first place. Go and find your own straw, says Pharaoh – but you still have to work just as hard to keep going in a world without meaning. No wonder public debate has lost the art of contesting ideas and is now a competition of who can emote the strongest.


Christ teaches us that our foundation needs to be built on rock: on the solid rock of His words, and then acting upon them (Luke 6:46-49). Paul says the same thing in different words, when he tells us that in Christ is held the very wisdom of God (1 Cor 1:18-2:16). Peter gives us the imagery of scripture acting as a light shining in the darkness, that we would do well to follow, and that to keep this path results in the morning star of Christ dawning in our hearts (2 Peter 1:16-21). This book in your hands, the word of God, is the straw in your brick; the solid rock upon which to build your existence. There is no other way to live; no other path to eternal life.

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