Meditation Monday, June 14, 2021

“Now that you have purified your souls by your obedience to the truth so that you have genuine mutual love, love one another deeply from the heart.”

1 Peter 1:22

I hardly gave a thought to my dirty windows before the pandemic driven lockdowns. But,  every time there was a sunny day I saw the dirt. After awhile I admitted I really needed professional help! 

My outlook was radically different after the window cleaner left! To my chagrin, I realized I had become so accustomed to living with dirty windows that I had forgotten what clean windows really looked like. Clean windows gave me an entirely new perspective on my surroundings.

And so it is with life. What we see when watching others, or watching ourselves, depends on the clarity of the lens through which we look. It is so easy to make assumptions about others without making space to actually listen to them. It is so easy to stick labels on those we disagree with, totally missing their humanity. (God is not okay with that, just sayin’)

As brothers and sisters in Christ, we are called to make space to see and to be seen by others. We are called to go the extra mile to seek out opportunities to listen deeply to each other. Believe me, I get that this is easier to say than to do; it requires exchanging our egos for humility. Sometimes we just need the help of another brother or sister to go with us. (See Matthew 18: 15-20) 

The payoff of such obedience is huge! With clean lenses, we can offer comfort or forgiveness instead of writing someone off. What a witness that would be! Jesus says in John 13:35: “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” Wouldn’t it be awesome if we become known as “The House of Love”?

Windex anyone?

A young couple moved into a new neighborhood.The next morning while they were eating breakfast, the young woman saw her neighbor hanging the washing outside. “That laundry is not very clean; she doesn’t know how to wash correctly. Perhaps she needs better laundry soap.” Her husband looked on, remaining silent.

Every time her neighbor hung her washing out to dry, the young woman made the same comments.

A month later, the woman was surprised to see a nice clean wash on the line and said to her husband, “Look, she’s finally learned how to wash correctly. I wonder who taught her this?”

The husband replied, “I got up early this morning and cleaned our windows.”  

Jonathan Kestenbaum