"And unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also the other; and him that taketh away thy cloak forbid not to take thy coat also."
Luke 6:29
This is interesting. I don't know if this is a cultural thing or just a me thing, but whenever there is a possibility that I could be "taken advantage of" I get kind of anti-people. I don't want to buy a car at a dealership because I assume that they will be trying to rip me off... things like that. I could elaborate, but then this would be a personal essay rather than the scripture of the day. :) Anyway, today this scripture made me think about that, and I think that God is trying to tell us not to worry about people trying to rip us off... If they do, then let them have whatever they need. Perhaps they need it more than you do. But more than that, and even if they don't need it at all... we are hurting ourselves when we throw up walls against other people. We need to be able to love the car salesman just as much as we love anyone else, and we can't do that if we are paranoid and distrustful of them. Again, it is about risk and vulnerability. We have to allow ourselves the possibility of being hurt in order to set sail to discover new lands. Yes, the crew might mutiny... yes, the boat might leak... there are a thousand things that could happen, some more likely than others... but if we spend our whole lives trying to build walls to protect ourselves, we'll never find the promised land... we'll never even begin the journey. Sometimes we *will* get embarrassed, and fail... but we learn from those things and go on, they aren't the end of the world, or even the end of the journey. I think that part of my ideal for a long time has been to find safety and refuge from the world, but that is getting it backwards. I can't be out there trying to protect myself from the lessons that I should be learning... and saving myself from the journey that I need to take. Instead, I should accept the bad with the good, and keep going towards my destination. Anyway, I could go on... but then this would be a dissertation and not the scripture of the day. :)
Luke 6:29
This is interesting. I don't know if this is a cultural thing or just a me thing, but whenever there is a possibility that I could be "taken advantage of" I get kind of anti-people. I don't want to buy a car at a dealership because I assume that they will be trying to rip me off... things like that. I could elaborate, but then this would be a personal essay rather than the scripture of the day. :) Anyway, today this scripture made me think about that, and I think that God is trying to tell us not to worry about people trying to rip us off... If they do, then let them have whatever they need. Perhaps they need it more than you do. But more than that, and even if they don't need it at all... we are hurting ourselves when we throw up walls against other people. We need to be able to love the car salesman just as much as we love anyone else, and we can't do that if we are paranoid and distrustful of them. Again, it is about risk and vulnerability. We have to allow ourselves the possibility of being hurt in order to set sail to discover new lands. Yes, the crew might mutiny... yes, the boat might leak... there are a thousand things that could happen, some more likely than others... but if we spend our whole lives trying to build walls to protect ourselves, we'll never find the promised land... we'll never even begin the journey. Sometimes we *will* get embarrassed, and fail... but we learn from those things and go on, they aren't the end of the world, or even the end of the journey. I think that part of my ideal for a long time has been to find safety and refuge from the world, but that is getting it backwards. I can't be out there trying to protect myself from the lessons that I should be learning... and saving myself from the journey that I need to take. Instead, I should accept the bad with the good, and keep going towards my destination. Anyway, I could go on... but then this would be a dissertation and not the scripture of the day. :)
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