Paying Attention in Troubled Times

READ: Sometimes Jesus said things are difficult to understand and make us ask questions. One time when he was teaching his disciples, he told them that people will hear what he says and they will disagree about what he means or how to respond. He said, “Do you think I came to smooth things over and make everything nice? Not so. I’ve come to disrupt and confront! From now on when you find five in a house, they will be divided.”
​What’s important, Jesus went on to say, is how we respond to the times of dispute. He reminded his followers that they knew how to look at the clouds in the sky and tell if there was a storm coming. In the same way, they could look at what was happening in the world around them and see that God was bringing about changes. The divisions in the world that they could see were a sign for them to pay attention to what God was doing, and to do their best to follow Jesus’s teachings to love God and to love their neighbor. (Luke 12:49-56)

WONDER: I wonder how the disciples felt when they heard Jesus say that he came to disrupt and confront? 
I wonder what kind of disruptions Jesus brings?
I wonder how you would have responded if you were one of Jesus’s followers?
I wonder if you’ve ever had a disagreement with someone close to you? 
I wonder how Jesus felt when he saw divisions among his disciples?

PRAY: Dear God, thank you for the signs of you in our world: in the rainbow after the rain, our reflections in puddles, a kind word from a friend, a smile from a loved one, a helping hand in tough times. Help us to see each day that you are always near to us, in the world and in every living thing. And help us to respond in love--for others, for the world, and for ourselves. Amen.

​EXTEND

• Take a walk around your neighborhood. What signs do you see (stop signs, street signs, for sale signs, e.g.)? Now look for signs without words. Do you see signs of summer? Signs of drought or rain? Signs of a change in seasons? Signs of changes in your neighborhood?  
• ​Read Worst of Friends: Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and the True Story of an American Feud written by Suzanne Tripp Jurmain and illustrated by Larry Day. The book tells the story of the friendship of Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. They had a long close friendship which became fractured as they worked together on designing the framework of our U.S. government. For several years they were bitterly divided by their political opinions. Over time they were able to mend their friendship.

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