During Lent, The Episcopal Relief and Development Organization which can best be described as the Episcopal Church's version of the LDS church's Humanitarian Aid Program sends out a booklet entitled "Lenten Meditations." They include a scripture passage and then a meditative comment form a church leader in response to the scripture passage. This year the overall "THEME" of the booklet has to deal with food scarcity throughout the world, so a lot of the scriptures may deal with food, or the scarcity of it, or how we should share it, etc. I have chosen to read and reflect on each day's passage as my Lenten project. Just so you can play along, I will post the scripture reference here for you to enjoy/ponder/ignore as you see fit.
Genesis 1:27-31
King James Version (KJV)
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.
31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
Genesis 1:27-31
King James Version (KJV)
28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.
31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
My reflection: This week, Bill and Jb have been sick. I have been doing my best to take care of them... to "have dominion over" them. It is my responsibility to see that they are properly medicated, clothed, rested, and fed. In reading this passage I realized, and it kind of surprised me, that I actually have been paying more attention to what they are being fed, now that they are sick. I have been trying really hard to give them better, more nutritional foods. Instead of soda I am encouraging them to drink water or Gatorade... not that Gatorade is that nutritious, but I do think it is healthier than soda. They have had sore throats, so I have given them smoothies made from fresh fruits and yogurts rather than strawberry syrup and ice cream. I would suppose that if I fed them "healthier" all the time, they would probably be stronger to start with, and maybe wouldn't get this sick at all. That is something I can do better. I can work on feeding them healthier foods all the time, rather than just taking the lazy way out and going for the pop tarts for breakfast.
p.s. So WHY did God create the nasty little viruses in the first place? HUH? The scriptures say things were GOOD. There is Nothing GOOD about a flu virus! Just sayin'!
What about you? Feel free to share your thoughts.
1 comment:
Sometimes when my darling little children are being especially darling, I have to remind myself of these scriptures. Once I remember that they are God's, and He loves them, and they are good, I can find a little more patience. Other times, they just emanate His goodness and I love it!
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