Pentecost +14 Sunday – C3

Pentecost +14 Sunday – C3

Years C
Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16

It is sometimes instructive to read scripture from a different point of view. Here we have a passage directly directed toward our actions in regard to others. Try reading it as though you were addressing a part of the congregation within yourself.

For instance - a beginning: Let self-love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to the stranger within, for thereby some have entertained angels unaware. Remember those parts of you that are in prison, as though the rest of you were in prison with them; and those voices within who are ill-treated, since you also are in the body with them....

For those of us who are so other-directed, it is important to hear a call to equal care for self.

= = = = = = =

looking for confidence
in all the wrong places
is an alternative
country wailing

we know we need it
for our fears are real
and rising with a dark moon
in a storm-darkened sky

there is no escape
the fiercest of nightmares
that are not only possible
but actually real somewhere

our needed confidence
is directly tied to contentment
our culture and our yearnings
disparage and dismiss

is there a place
of no forsakenness available
in our past or present
we can count as steadfast

is that place only in our dreams
where a helper is quick
to be present and protective
that others within won't scream

with or without confidence
we could do with a few
content people to imitate
and pass on to others