Eastertide

April 29, 2019

Scripture Reading: Acts 9:1-20

Meanwhile Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?’ He asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ The reply came, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.’ The men who were travelling with him stood speechless because they heard the voice but saw no one. Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; so they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. For three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.  –Acts 9:1-9

I am usually confident about what I think is right. I try to always check my facts, if I have any question about what I and saying or writing and make corrections as indicated. I get in trouble on the gray areas of life, what I think someone’s intentions are, not understanding the long history behind someone’s behavior that sort of thing. I have made some mistakes in my life for which I had to make apologies or amends. Some wrongs I committed had no rectification. I pray that if I am guilty of wrongs that not only affect the lives of others directly but also have consequences that could impact the whole world, God would bring me up short and show me the errors of my ways. That is exactly what he did with Paul.

The closest I have come to immediate correction was once when I prayed that someone, I knew who was committing adultery be forgiven for his behavior. In my mind I received an immediate message that asking for forgiveness for someone else was not my purview.

I have spent restless nights, like Jacob wrestling with the angel*, dealing with some action I had taken or more often wanted to take that was not the right thing to do. I think the Holy Spirit had something to do with my coming to a better decision by morning.

The positive conclusion I can make about Saul’s experience described in the above scripture is that God loved him enough to confront him and set him on a better way of serving God.

Prayer: Holy One, guide me to your righteousness, protect me from being so distracted by the things of the world that I do not perceive your communion with me. Amen.

*See Genesis 32:22-31

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.