Living in the Spirit
June 5, 2018

Scripture Reading: 1 Samuel 8:4-20; 11:14-15

Samuel said to the people, ‘Come, let us go to Gilgal and there renew the kingship.’ So all the people went to Gilgal, and there they made Saul king before the Lord in Gilgal. There they sacrificed offerings of well-being before the Lord, and there Saul and all the Israelites rejoiced greatly. –1 Samuel 11:14-15

If we want to identify the cause of the problems facing our country today, all we need to do is look in the mirror. We treat our political system like a spectator sport. We take sides and cheer for the teams we support while drinking cold beverages and eating hotdogs. Our personal investment is limited to coming up with the money to buy the tickets or pay for the cable TV on which we watch games. In many instances, we treat our places of worship the same way. I happen to like some spectator sports, basketball for one and see nothing essentially wrong with taking some time to enjoy the talents and skills of others as we do with music and theater. Our governments at all levels and our faith communities are not primarily the place for being spectators. We are the players on the field or court. There are no provisions for spectators in either governments or faith communities.

Image yourself at Gilgal with Samuel and the people. Can you feel the excitement? Do you get the sense that now all our problems are over we have a king? It must have been a big party with lots of food and drink. They even made well-being offerings things were going so well. Think winning the World Series or the NBA or NFL championship. The teams relish the win for a while but immediately get back into practice or reshuffling their teams to do better next year. Fans read about it in the paper or watch updates on TV.

.and people take the stands they do? Do we invest our energy trying to find common ground for the Common Good? Do we educate ourselves on the complex nature of governing in our world today?

What steps will we take to be better-informed citizens and to help others become more active in there role as a citizen?

Prayer: Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy*. Amen

*First part of Prayer of St Francis see at https://www.catholic.org/prayers/prayer.php?p=134

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.