Prayer:
Gracious Lord, we thank you for your constant and abiding sustenance for our lives, our health, our wholeness. Help us to take the time and the occasion to thank you. Amen.
Bible Reading:
Luke 17:11-19
Silence:
One to two minutes
Reflection:
In addition to the actual physical progress of the disease, leprosy demanded, according to law in Jesus’ day, the complete ostracization of a person from the community, for the protection against the spread of the horrible disease – no physical contact between those so afflicted and the social fabric that gave them meaning. So when Jesus healed these ten lepers, there was much more to it than a physical act, these ten were reconciled to the “source of their meaning” – their community, their families, their work, their churches, their friends. It is, therefore, understandable that they would waste no time, but return as quickly as possible to that which was so important – their lives and their loved one. These were not bad people. Jesus’ healing really did work, both physically and socially, no reneging. They just didn’t take the time to be thankful, to reflect on the “gift” they had been given. I don’t know if it ever occurred to them later on, but I am sure they did not take their healed lives for granted. I would hope that the same question would not be said about us, but that in the course of our lives we would take the time to be thankful, to reflect on just how much of our lives are gifts – from the first breath of the day to the daily bread on our plates to the friend or loved one across the table.
Action – Repentance and Creation:
Spend five minutes today making a list of all the things for which you are grateful. Thank God for them all, and where appropriate, write a note of thanks to someone who has been God’s means of production, and send it to them.