"For there must be also divisions among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you." (1 Cor 11:19)
Just yesterday I mentioned this passage to an Orthodox clergyman, one who has been working tirelessly for church-unity, and specifically for the preparations for the Holy and Great Council. I tend to think of him as one of those "which are approved." But when I mentioned this passage to him, the clergyman unexpectedly replied, "the 1 Corinthians passage makes me realize how abysmally I have failed." And when I asked , Why?, he said, "because I've been thinking: I haven't always focused on the goal..."
Humility! How refreshing and liberating it is, not to play the "blame game," or point fingers at others, as we bear our common cross of disunity and other human failings. Today let me take up this cross, as God's humbling gift; as His tap on my shoulder, reminding me of my own failings and loss of focus. Let me bear our humbling cross, rather than deepen our divisions through burdensome self-justification and self-righteousness. Today let the apostles's liberating, humbling call be heard in my heart: "Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." (Gal 6:2)
~Coffee With Sister Vassa~
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