"And there was a man of mount Ephraim, whose name was Micah.
And he said unto his mother, The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from thee, about which thou cursedst, and spakest of also in mine ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it. And his mother said, Blessed be thou of the Lord, my son."
Judges 17:1-2
This is part of a larger story, talking a little bit about idolatry and a sense of anarchy because there was no king. These verses were interesting to me though because Mich confesses a crime to his mother, and she blesses him, even though presumably she formerly cursed the person who stole the money, not knowing who it was. Everything changed because of the new perspective.
It seems a lot like our lives actually. We can get irritated and angry at strangers, and believe bad things about this group or that group that we label in some way, because of political or religious or lifestyle differences for instance, but I think a lot can change if we are open to a new perspective. When we get to know people it is a lot harder to use labels, because we learn more about them, and even if we still don't agree with their perspectives, we are able see a lot of good in them. When we can talk to people without being defensive with each other, we find the good.
Today, let's think about how we would change our thoughts, words, and actions towards others if they were each members of our immediate family, or one of our best friends. That filter probably isn't always going to work, just like the rule to treat others as we would like to be treated doesn't always work... but the ideas behind there is still solid. As we learn more about other people, we're often more inclined to love them.
Let's work towards giving other people room to fail and to be forgiven, just as we wish for ourselves. Let's work on seeing other people in the best light possible, and when someone symbolically steals our shekels, let's remember that whoever did it could be our sister, our son, or our best friend. Maybe things aren't as bad as we thought, and maybe people aren't as bad as we sometimes think. :)
And he said unto his mother, The eleven hundred shekels of silver that were taken from thee, about which thou cursedst, and spakest of also in mine ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it. And his mother said, Blessed be thou of the Lord, my son."
Judges 17:1-2
This is part of a larger story, talking a little bit about idolatry and a sense of anarchy because there was no king. These verses were interesting to me though because Mich confesses a crime to his mother, and she blesses him, even though presumably she formerly cursed the person who stole the money, not knowing who it was. Everything changed because of the new perspective.
It seems a lot like our lives actually. We can get irritated and angry at strangers, and believe bad things about this group or that group that we label in some way, because of political or religious or lifestyle differences for instance, but I think a lot can change if we are open to a new perspective. When we get to know people it is a lot harder to use labels, because we learn more about them, and even if we still don't agree with their perspectives, we are able see a lot of good in them. When we can talk to people without being defensive with each other, we find the good.
Today, let's think about how we would change our thoughts, words, and actions towards others if they were each members of our immediate family, or one of our best friends. That filter probably isn't always going to work, just like the rule to treat others as we would like to be treated doesn't always work... but the ideas behind there is still solid. As we learn more about other people, we're often more inclined to love them.
Let's work towards giving other people room to fail and to be forgiven, just as we wish for ourselves. Let's work on seeing other people in the best light possible, and when someone symbolically steals our shekels, let's remember that whoever did it could be our sister, our son, or our best friend. Maybe things aren't as bad as we thought, and maybe people aren't as bad as we sometimes think. :)
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