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People sometimes trust the two-legged gods a bit too much as well: they stand behind pulpits or lecterns, or they write books, or they hold public office. They make promises and utter platitudes, and we gravitate to them because what they say seems right. They say what we want to hear, and we lap it up like thirsty cats.
I’m afraid that for many of us, at times, it is more important to look good than to be good. It’s a frightening thought! How important is it for us to appear good? After all, we are not to be stumbling blocks to our neighbors.
Don’t, Jesus counsels, give “holy things” to the nations, to Rome and its imperial promises of power and prestige. They will trample the holy things and then turn around and rip you to shreds. Fair enough, empires tend to do that, but what are the “holy things” Jesus’ listeners are to withhold?
No reflection available for this day.
If I hadn’t asked, I wouldn’t have gotten the help. I asked, and I received. This is good, right? But life certainly doesn’t always work this easily.
I felt entitled to give him advice. But was I? Most of my adult life I have thought of myself as non-judgmental. When others speak negatively about a person, I often imagine good reasons why he or she might be that way and congratulate myself.