The Human Condition – SSJE

To be like God does not require our reaching out toward unfettered power, privilege, and prestige, and so separate ourselves from God, as did our first parents. Br. James Koester reflects on the desire to be like God as leading to so much evil in our world, and reminds us that to be like God is rather found in acts of humble service and mercy.

Over the last 37 years I have begun to explore the hidden passages of my soul that lie at the bottom of my own forgotten staircase. Br. James Koester, in his reflection on how he has changed over decades in community, invites us to notice how what we want and need similarly can change and be stripped down to the essentials.

The faithful testimony of Simeon and Anna, though, reminds us of one truth: Jesus comes to meet us, whether we’re ready or not. On the feast of the Presentation, Br. Lain Wilson invites us to meet Jesus with clear eyes, open hands, and ready hearts.

Our most intimate Friend, who knows us inside and out, rejoices to lay his head in the tangled pile of straw in that overcrowded stable that is my life, and yours. Br. Keith Nelson prompts us to identify the mangers of our lives where we are being invited to lay the Savior and reclaim our humanity from all that threatens it.

Life has a way of shattering us. We will all go through situations that will break us. Humbling situations that we will have no control over. Br. Jack Crowley asks us to hear Jesus' humbling words and to remember that we are all humble servants of God, no better or worse than any other human being.

We can and do come to Jesus with preconceived notions of who or what can save us, heal us, or make us whole. The actual Jesus may or may not conform to those expectations. Br. Keith Nelson reflects on how Jesus communicated to his listeners, and how we can respond, on our own journey to God, to the gradually unfolding Truth that Jesus reveals to us.

We pray and work our lives as best we can, most often in silence, most often when no one is looking. Most of what we pray is between us and God. Br. Jack Crowley reflects on the challenges and opportunities that we face in lives full of work and prayer.

Pray to God for the peace and courage to help you to release the desire for answers carved in stone, and instead to follow an invitation to deeper relationship. Br. Jamie Nelson invites us to pray with the certainty of uncertainty in our lives, and to find in those moments the presence of our loving Redeemer.

In this reflection, Br. Keith Nelson draws our attention the figure of Herod, a prisoner to his conscience, and the Son of Man's search for all those held captive by the chain of sin.