Bible in a Year - Mark 7:21-23 - All on Display
Bible in a Year - Mark 7:21-23 - All on Display
This is what I saw just a few minutes ago as I checked in on the news after finishing up a meeting. I’ll get to the pieces on the left in a bit but on the right, all of what Jesus speaks of in Mark 7:21-23 was on display. In that part of the Gospel, Jesus says,
“For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
Mark 7:21-23
As I scrolled down CNN.com, pretty much all of it was there in the stories on their front page. It was a reminder of how all of these things have been in the human heart a long time and are still with us today. I grieve all of it today.
But at the same time, I need to hold it alongside other parts. I have my meditating Baby Yoda who reminds me to take those prayerful cleansing deep breaths when stress gets higher. I have a beautiful gift from my daughter that connects me to a moment of beauty with my family in a beautiful place.
All of it is on display here - the ugliness of the things we human beings do to one another and also that which can help us navigate times such as these.
If you would like words to be praying on a day such as these, my two denominations shared these prayers:
From the United Church of Christ
