Let Me Teach You

Scripture

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.  …. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. (Matthew 11:28-29 NLT)

Let Me Teach You

Icons are crumbling everywhere. Protesters are outside Tom Hortons. Loblaws has to offer gift cards for bread price fixing. And we thought the folks south of our border had problems. The volume of irritants sometimes makes it hard to determine the real wounds in our human family. It seems crazy when North Korea’s Olympic figure skaters are a sign of hope for world peace.

I don’t think things are getting worse, but the noise and volume of information we have to cope with has accelerated by some mathematical factor beyond my pay grade. When Jesus offered the words of invitation to learn from him, it was just as crazy around him. He turned his frustration with his critics, their misunderstanding of tragedies as divine judgment and resistance to the good into prayer.

After venting about it all with his Father, he turns in gentleness to those around him. To this day he invites us “Let me teach you”. Bring your frustration, weight of responsibility, fear for your children, concern about the world and in the midst of it find rest for the soul. We need moments of restful quiet to widen our perspective with Jesus’ help - not to escape from reality but to engage it with wisdom and faith.

 A Prayer for Today

O God, there are days when I wonder and fear for the future generations that will face the unknowns of life. Thank you for your presence with us now and your desire to teach us. Keep us open to learn from you, let your voice of love and compassion be the voice we truly hear this day… for Jesus’ sake