Breathe

 

Today, let’s breathe.  One of my favorite quotes about the Sermon on the Mount is that if the disciples had heard this all at once, their minds would have exploded.  I also think trying to wade in the waters of these words, swim in the sea of what Jesus said and what pastors have preached about these words, is enough to overwhelm us. 

 

Today, let’s pray together.

 

God, we know what we do, say, how we show up matters and makes a difference.  We know that our emotions are what they are ~ not always understandable.  There are not good emotions or bad emotions, these are data points in response to our experiences and encounters.  I pray for those who are hurting right now.  I pray for those who are angry.  I pray for everyone reading these words that they will know that not everything can be solved like a Rubix Cube.  I wrestle and struggle like Jacob with the Sermon on the Mount.  My heart breaks and soul aches, for the ways Jesus words are used to oppress rather than liberate.  I ask for You to inspire and infuse our conversations about Jesus’ words.  Help us do more than debate or make decisions, choose a side, give us a discerning spirit that knows how we intimately interact as Your created beings does matter.  Help us confess our demeaning ways and words.  Help us find a new spirit of relationship with each other infused by You.  In the name of the One who stretches us, sometimes offends us, and calls us to a wayless way of following in these days.  Amen.