Eastertide

May 25, 2020

Scripture Reading:
1 Samuel 2:1-10

Hannah prayed and said,
‘My heart exults in the Lord;
   my strength is exalted in my God.
My mouth derides my enemies,
   because I rejoice in my victory.
‘There is no Holy One like the Lord,
   no one besides you;
   there is no Rock like our God.
Talk no more so very proudly,
   let not arrogance come from your mouth;
for the Lord is a God of knowledge,
   and by him actions are weighed.
The bows of the mighty are broken,
   but the feeble gird on strength.
Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread,
   but those who were hungry are fat with spoil.
The barren has borne seven,
   but she who has many children is forlorn.—1 Samuel 2:1-5

Hannah’s Prayer is her thanksgiving for the ending of her barrenness and the gift of her son Samuel. She continues in a plea for justice by sharing various dichotomies illustrating mutual exclusion—barrenness and birth, oppression and overthrow of oppression, gluttony and hunger.

The Kingdom of God is a society where everyone has enough and everyone is a person of worth. We probably first think of money when considering what is enough but the idea covers a much broader spectrum. Indeed, having one’s basic needs met is the foundation of being. The ultimate goal in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs model is self-actualization, which cannot be attained without those basic needs,  safety, love and belonging, and esteem. How we love one another, always treating each one as a person of worth, wherever they may be on that continuum of development, is what gives them the initiative and even the courage to reach the ideal of self-actualization.

Jesus made it very clear in his teachings that our ability to love others requires us to love ourselves as we are loved by God. I think many of the problems we have in this world result from our inabilities to love ourselves. Hannah is rejoicing. She has learned to love herself, having spent many years in disdain for her very being because she could not have children. We each need to examine our own attitudes or heartaches that are holding us back from loving ourselves. With God’s help, we can clear them from our lives and learn to love like Jesus.

Prayer: Lord, help us identify and rectify those things that are holding us back from loving like Jesus. Amen.

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.