大象传媒

A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Dr Krish Kandiah

Good morning.

Avoiding things was something I used to be rather good at. By keeping busy I found I could avoid stressful situations and difficult people. By getting up early and staying late at work I could avoid the frustrations of rush hour or looming deadlines. By doing enough exercise I could avoid lying awake at night and worrying. But avoidance as a coping mechanism has turned out to be rather ineffective. Stress, anxiety and frustration have a way of finding their way back in. And as for difficult people, well it turns out I may well be one of them.

Thankfully, Jesus worked in a very different way. I love the story of when Jesus went out of his way not to avoid someone everyone else did. It was the end of a busy day for him he but when he sees a man who was socially shunned, ceremonially unacceptable and deemed physically deformed, he reaches out to him.

The man had a contagious skin condition they called leprosy, but that didn鈥檛 stop Jesus touching him. We see both the fearlessness and the compassion of Jesus at play in this one action.

But Jesus鈥檚 action causes a supernatural and sociological revolution. Instead of the contamination spreading to Jesus, healing spreads to the man with leprosy.

Many of us are reluctant, fearful even, of offering hospitality to others. It comes with the possibility of rejection, of criticism, of physical discomfort, of embarrassment, of heartache. We can get very good at avoiding it. But what happens if we reach out today? Better, I think, an empty room of people that choose to avoid your invitation than an empty heart that refuses to show compassion to others.

Lord God, help us to be brave and wise, kind and courageous, untiring in our willingness to embrace others with hospitality. Help us to see people through your eyes and be willing to offer dignity and love where we can.

Amen.

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