Tuesday, March 15, 2022
The Everyday Practice of Goodness
An excerpt from Isaiah 1:2–4,16–20 (NRSV)
Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.
Come now, let us argue it out, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be like snow.
Reflection from Deidre McClurg,
The Church of St. Elisabeth:
Growing up, I was lucky to have a close relationship with my nine-year older, and devoted brother, Kingsley. I would visit him many times as a late teenager/early adult in his hometown of Boulder, Colorado. Not a trip went by where, at least on one occasion, my brother would stop and talk to a homeless person on the city’s famous Pearl Street. He’d search his pockets and pass on whatever coins or small bills he was carrying. And most likely carrying around all this change - precisely for this purpose. There was one homeless person that he was particularly fond of. This man, about the same age as my brother, wore daisies in his ears as he happily strolled the streets by day. He seemed like a gentle soul and was known around town as “Five Dollar Johny,” affectionately named by people in the community who noticed Kingsley’s habit of handing him $5 bills. I never thought much about this at the time, but looking back, I do remember feeling slightly inconvenienced that we had to pause and find exactly $5 dollars whenever we happened to cross Johny’s path.
Sadly, Kingsley passed away a few years ago. While we prepared for his memorial, the Rabbi asked me to describe the type of person that my brother was. I shared this story of Five Dollar Johny and my brother’s compassion for homeless people. The Rabbi’s response caught me by surprise – “So your brother was a religious man?” I didn’t know how to answer his question in that moment as I didn’t really remember connecting with my brother this way... But then a warm feeling washed over me. A new lens appeared, and cast a glowing light upon my brother’s life, his profoundly deep and caring heart, and his purpose for being. He was religious indeed.
This passage from Isaiah reminds me of how our faith can expand beyond the boundaries of oneself. We can practice our faith and honor God by protecting those around us who are vulnerable. Since my brother’s passing, I try to honor him and my faith by following in his tradition.
Stained glass from the Chapel at the Church of St. Elisabeth
For further study and prayer, the readings assigned for today are:
Psalm 105:1-42; Numbers 14:10b-24; 1 Corinthians 10:1-13
MUSIC
“Make Me an Instrument”
arr. Craig Courtney,
sung by the StGs quartet
Where there is hatred, let me show love;
where there is injury, pardon.
Where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope;
where there is sadness, joy.