Seeing What We Are
Jonah 3:1-10
William Green
What do we do with what we don't like about ourselves? Criticize others for the same thing? How much of what disturbs us is really something we can't accept about ourselves? Think of what makes us angry, impatient, or afraid, or times we don't feel loved and appreciated.
During Lent we're called to repentance in preparation for the new life we celebrate at Easter. Repentance is not just remorse but acceptance and turning toward the more complete life God makes possible. This begins with having compassion for all those unwanted parts of ourselves, all those imperfections that we don't even want to look at. A clenched fist cannot give or receive a gift, and a clenched psyche cannot grow.
"Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name" (Psalm 103:1). "All" includes more than we're comfortable accepting. This, too, is taken into God's love--"the night is as bright as the day" (Psalm 139:12).
For Jonah "all" gets reflected in the arch-enemy of God's people, the Ninevites, who Jonah hates and God ends up accepting. Those "pagans" prove more capable of repentance--as does God himself who repents and changes his mind--than does Jonah, who can't accept and come to terms with his anger. And what about us?
Prayer: Your judgment is mercy, O God. Knowing this may I more completely accept myself and others, serving you in the spirit of Christ. Amen.
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