Lent Day 35 April 2

Lenten Reflection for Day 35

Date: Monday April 2, 2012

Author: Mike Harris

Bible Passage: Galatians 6:9–10 (NRSV)

⁹ So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up. ¹⁰ So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith.

Reflection:

Embedded in just this one Bible passage are two values I do not associate with a Christian lifestyle. The first is that doing right and being good awards you heaven. I get an emotional resistance when I sense the solicitation for good behavior as credit toward heaven. To me, the essence of morality is the recognition of and interest in the other, not because “I’m going to get mine in the end.”

If reading this Bible passage made most people transform their lifestyle so that they were fueling their homes and cars carbon neutrally, bought only sustainably produced goods, and invested their disposable time and income promoting a healthy planet then I would say its message is effective. If we are not getting better at these things every day, if the overall trajectory is not up, then we are not living moral lives. We are aware of how much we consume as compared to our size. We live in the land of opportunity. We are free to transform our lifestyle in this way whenever we want.

I think we lack interest in the “other.” I think we have too much interest in ourselves. And that self-interest eclipses out all other interests. We are not fully recognizing how to live moral lives. It’s just not an interest.

It’s not an interest, because we are interested in heaven here and now. We are interested in an ideal place for our identity to exist in. Then all day, everyday, we see the components of our ideal place everywhere we go. We work to save up to buy them, replace them when they get old and all of a sudden we are consuming way too much, trying to build heaven.

Doing right and being good on earth must be motivated out of more than heaven. It’s just seems inappropriate. The second thing I didn’t relate to is the “especially for those of the family of faith” line. And to that I ask; are we all equal yet? I do not think it is Christian to will more for people who are the most like-minded to you.

I think the undertone of the heavenly prize to moral behavior and the slight elitism toward the family of faith are the very things that my generation struggles with in Christianity and what leads them to reject the whole system.

Prayer:

Dear God, will you help us understand how to live better and more righteously? Give us the courage to trail blaze a sustainable life, one where we can develop naturally and holistically. Guide our minds to cooperative thoughts. Help us recognize other people, cultures, and species. Keep us interested in them. Provide guidance so that we can set up the conditions for all to flourish in. Amen