Ordinary Time

February 24, 2022

Scripture Reading: 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2

Since, then, we have such a hope, we act with great boldness, not like Moses, who put a veil over his face to keep the people of Israel from gazing at the end of the glory that was being set aside. But their minds were hardened. Indeed, to this very day, when they hear the reading of the old covenant, that same veil is still there, since only in Christ is it set aside. Indeed, to this very day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their minds; but when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit. –2 Corinthians 3:12-18

I do not identify distractions to wholeness in faith as veils, I call them filters but we all have them. We actually need them for many things. We teach toddlers not to touch hot objects and thus create a filter that should last a lifetime. We create fillers that deal with specific situations. Like black parents having the “talk” with their children about how they are to properly behave when encountering authorities in the hopes that they can avoid bad outcomes. I long for a time when that filter will no longer be necessary.

Some of our filters result in the collision of our faith and our society’s norms when we try to piece them together and they do not fit.  I love the story of the woman who cut about three inches off the end of a ham then put it in a pan to bake. Her daughter ask why she did that and she said her mother taught her how to bake a ham. The girl asked her grandmother why she trimmed the ham, and she gave the same reply as the girl’s mother. Great grandmother was then consulted, and she explained that she cut off the end of the ham because she did not own a pan long enough to hold a whole ham.

We can look back on some of our filters and find them amusing. Others are destructive and it is those others that we need to clear from our system. My faith group was formed partially because the founder broke away from a denomination that required an offering before someone could take communion.

We must routinely review our actions and beliefs to determine what is of God and what is not and adjust our behavior accordingly.

Prayer: Lord, help me clean my filters so that I am in sync with you in spite of what the world dictates.  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.