Epiphany

January 31, 2020

Scripture Reading:

1 Corinthians 1:18-31

Consider your own call, brothers and sisters: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God. He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, in order that, as it is written, ‘Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.’ –1 Corinthians 1:26-31

Why do we long for privilege and then become blind to it becoming a prominent part of our being? I hope I was qualified for the first job I got as a teenager and that I exemplified that quality in my work. I am sure I got the job because the owner of the nursing home where I worked was a friend of my mother. I was in high school and thinking about becoming a nurse, and Mom thought some direct experience might help me make my decision. The nursing home even arranged special work hours for me. I worked 8 to 5 to coincide with Mom’s work schedule so we could ride together while the other aides work either a 7 to 3 or 3 to 11 shift. It worked out well as I could respond to the call lights while shift change occurred, but that was not the reason I had special hours.  I loved being a nurse’s aide, but I also realized I had no desire to be a nurse. Such an experience is not bad; it was good for me, very normal in my middle-class existence. And it was a privilege that few of the women with whom I worked had available.

Most of the other nurse’s aides were women in their fifties or sixties with limited education. In general, they had raised children, were grandmothers, had never worked outside their homes before, and were either widows or caring for a disabled husband while being the sole breadwinner in the home. They were living on the same salary I was making, with which I was saving for college and buying clothing. While this experience changed my vocational choice, it opened my eyes to the inequities in our world. It allowed me just a smidgen of the knowledge of privilege.

Prayer:
Open my eyes, that I may see
Glimpses of truth thou hast for me;
Place in my hands the wonderful key
That shall unclasp and set me free.

Silently now I wait for thee,
Ready, my God, thy will to see.
Open my eyes, illumine me, Spirit divine*! Amen

*First verse and chorus of Open My Eyes by Clara H. Scott see at https://www.hymnal.net/en/hymn/h/807

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.