Be Like God, Be a Builder

1 Tim 2:1-8 / Lk 7:1-10

In many parts of mainstream America, there are few epithets more lethal than "lawyer" or "politician." Say either one of those words in a crowded room and you can count on a hostile reaction from bystanders, and probably some horrific stories to justify their feelings. "Did I tell you about the time …" and so on.

Without arguing either way about lawyers or politicians, you don't have to listen long to hear similar words of disgust or derision about just about every other person or profession you could name. From Mount Olympus we speak with omniscience, certitude, and condescension about far too much, and in doing so we become part of the problem instead of part of the solution.

Any time we pretend to put ourselves outside the circle of human frailty, we both delude ourselves and deprive others of the compassion they need. And that leaves all of us in a heap of trouble. 

In today's epistle, St. Paul urges us to pray for those in authority. Jesus would have broadened it still further: "Pray for everybody, but don't just stop with praying from a distance. Come up close and do what you can to encourage your neighbors, and cause them to take heart, and grow into their best selves."

Even the best of us throw too many rocks at our fellow human beings. And that shrinks all of us. Why not instead offer our neighbors an understanding heart, which can see and hear their inner goodness and can name the good foundations that are already there, upon which even better things can be built. 

Why not be like God: Be a builder!

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