Mini Reflection for January 29, 2021
This week, we’re looking at the story of Cain and Abel.
You can read the full story here: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%204%3A1-16&version=GNT
This week we’ve looked at the story and considered what an offering of thanks to God looks like for us. We’ve also looked at the idea of jealousy and how to understand it. And if the hard things we have to deal with in life are punishments from God or if they are something else.
Today, I want us to think about “Am I my brother’s keeper”.
We live in a very massive and diverse world where there are people we will never meet in our lifetime. We may meet people we might never would have met if we never traveled, if we never went to this school or that store or visited this place, or (insert other scenario you can come up with here).
For Cain and Abel, they were connected as brothers. They had the same mother and father and siblings. They had a familial routine, norms, morals and other expectations. However, even as they were of the same family and upbringing, they were two very different people with different skills and abilities and callings. They may not have agreed on everything, but they existed, together, in the same family.
But Cain took this too far. He let the anger and jealousy take over what God put deep inside him. And ironically, when God asks him where Abel is, he replies, “I don’t know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”
What would you think God’s response would be? My guess would be, “Well… yes! You were created to care for all of creation, so your brother’s in that equation too.”
But what does it look like to care for others? I think it’s easy to answer when it’s someone we agree with, maybe easiest when they are a beloved friend or family member. But how do we care for someone when we have a bitterness inside of us against them? How do we “keep” them?
When I have someone in my life that I don’t see eye-to-eye with, for whatever reason, I often go to God. “God, who is this person and why are they in my life. What is it that they will teach me? What is it that I will teach them? How can I share myself when I am blocked in some way. Help me, O God, to be open, to be kind and compassionate, to be empathetic and to hear you within them. And God, if my humanity takes over and my emotions run high in a negative way, whisper in my ear… help me to breathe, to see, to glean your wisdom and strength. Amen.”
I think one of the hardest things we have to do in life is to learn to co-exist. It’s easy to help people when we don’t know them, their story, their past and their present… we don’t have time or knowledge to make judgments. However, once we know someone and they ask for help, we might form opinions and judgments that may prevent us from helping or caring. So if we do our best to move forward, knowing God is in the other, working within them in some mysteriously divine way, we might be able to see something new. We might be able to judge less and to care more. We may be able begin to understand the other in some kind of way.
Forbes published an article on October 2, 2017 titled, “12 Ways Successful People Deal with People They Dislike”. Here’s a link to the article: https://www.forbes.com/sites/deeppatel/2017/10/02/12-ways-successful-people-deal-with-people-they-dislike/?sh=4b1df9407f2b
A couple of pieces I agree with are #6 (Be mindful of your emotions), #8 (Find common ground), #9 (Recognize the value in differing opinions) and #10 (Take a good look in the mirror).
I wonder if Cain stepped away from his emotions for a little while, to stop and pause and go to God, if the story would be different. Or is the crux of the story in how Abel didn’t respond when their offerings were complete? Hmmmm…
Here’s a video that warmed my heart and thought we could all use a little of this today, especially as it’s near Bell Let’s Talk Day. This is “What is caring?” put out by Parkway Schools
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeAv4Be55F8
A prayer for us today:
Creating and loving God, continue to be in our hearts and to stir our emotions if they are stuck in a negative cycle. Help us to not be naïve, but to see the good and you, God, in others. Help us to search out how you are working in their lives and around them. And if we begin to feel emotions like jealousy, find a way to stop us and to tell us to reflect in the moment, to discover what it is within us that is triggered and why. But help us, O God, to be keepers of this world, of ourselves and each other, knowing you are with us throughout all our lives. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
This week, we’re looking at the story of Cain and Abel.
You can read the full story here: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%204%3A1-16&version=GNT
This week we’ve looked at the story and considered what an offering of thanks to God looks like for us. We’ve also looked at the idea of jealousy and how to understand it. And if the hard things we have to deal with in life are punishments from God or if they are something else.
Today, I want us to think about “Am I my brother’s keeper”.
We live in a very massive and diverse world where there are people we will never meet in our lifetime. We may meet people we might never would have met if we never traveled, if we never went to this school or that store or visited this place, or (insert other scenario you can come up with here).
For Cain and Abel, they were connected as brothers. They had the same mother and father and siblings. They had a familial routine, norms, morals and other expectations. However, even as they were of the same family and upbringing, they were two very different people with different skills and abilities and callings. They may not have agreed on everything, but they existed, together, in the same family.
But Cain took this too far. He let the anger and jealousy take over what God put deep inside him. And ironically, when God asks him where Abel is, he replies, “I don’t know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”
What would you think God’s response would be? My guess would be, “Well… yes! You were created to care for all of creation, so your brother’s in that equation too.”
But what does it look like to care for others? I think it’s easy to answer when it’s someone we agree with, maybe easiest when they are a beloved friend or family member. But how do we care for someone when we have a bitterness inside of us against them? How do we “keep” them?
When I have someone in my life that I don’t see eye-to-eye with, for whatever reason, I often go to God. “God, who is this person and why are they in my life. What is it that they will teach me? What is it that I will teach them? How can I share myself when I am blocked in some way. Help me, O God, to be open, to be kind and compassionate, to be empathetic and to hear you within them. And God, if my humanity takes over and my emotions run high in a negative way, whisper in my ear… help me to breathe, to see, to glean your wisdom and strength. Amen.”
I think one of the hardest things we have to do in life is to learn to co-exist. It’s easy to help people when we don’t know them, their story, their past and their present… we don’t have time or knowledge to make judgments. However, once we know someone and they ask for help, we might form opinions and judgments that may prevent us from helping or caring. So if we do our best to move forward, knowing God is in the other, working within them in some mysteriously divine way, we might be able to see something new. We might be able to judge less and to care more. We may be able begin to understand the other in some kind of way.
Forbes published an article on October 2, 2017 titled, “12 Ways Successful People Deal with People They Dislike”. Here’s a link to the article: https://www.forbes.com/sites/deeppatel/2017/10/02/12-ways-successful-people-deal-with-people-they-dislike/?sh=4b1df9407f2b
A couple of pieces I agree with are #6 (Be mindful of your emotions), #8 (Find common ground), #9 (Recognize the value in differing opinions) and #10 (Take a good look in the mirror).
I wonder if Cain stepped away from his emotions for a little while, to stop and pause and go to God, if the story would be different. Or is the crux of the story in how Abel didn’t respond when their offerings were complete? Hmmmm…
Here’s a video that warmed my heart and thought we could all use a little of this today, especially as it’s near Bell Let’s Talk Day. This is “What is caring?” put out by Parkway Schools
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeAv4Be55F8
A prayer for us today:
Creating and loving God, continue to be in our hearts and to stir our emotions if they are stuck in a negative cycle. Help us to not be naïve, but to see the good and you, God, in others. Help us to search out how you are working in their lives and around them. And if we begin to feel emotions like jealousy, find a way to stop us and to tell us to reflect in the moment, to discover what it is within us that is triggered and why. But help us, O God, to be keepers of this world, of ourselves and each other, knowing you are with us throughout all our lives. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
RSS Feed