Reconciled

26Feb
So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift.

-Matthew 5:23-24


One summer at Church Camp, the boy counselors decided to play a practical joke on, us, the girl counselors. While practical jokes are a long-standing camp tradition, occasionally, the joke does not go according to plan. This was one of those times. The ill-fated joke deeply upset my roommate. Momma Bear Missy was out for blood. It was showdown at the Conference Center Corral.


Later, we had Church/Communion in our little 1950’s Chapel on the Texas panhandle prairie. (Queue music and whip snap) When it came time to pass the Peace, neither my nor my roommate’s burning ire had dimmed. Purposefully, and blatantly obvious, I did not pass the Peace with either of the instigators of said joke. (Clearly, not my finest moment). It so upset one that neither felt they could take communion based upon the passage above. If I had ever heard the passage prior to their angst, it did not register. After the service, we hashed through their joke, our lack of Grace, and the passage above. We left all slightly bruised though healed, once again lovingly devoted to our since childhood friendships. The whole event; however, left a lasting, tangible mark in my formation as young adult and as a follower of Christ.


“… go and be reconciled.” 

To reconcile necessitates action by all parties of a conflict. The culprit must humble themselves to their target handing sense of power and upper hand gained to the weaker person. In return, the injured party must lower their defenses and be vulnerable to further attack in order to receive the gift, the apology, and the returned equity. And, in so doing, the wounded must release their transgressor of the guilt, the shame, the transgression. Further, after being made whole again, both parties must relinquish the power to retaliate, to seek retribution or to attack again. To reconcile is to return to partnership, return to harmony, return to communion. 


As we roll into Deep Gras, I am hoping to plant a seed for Lent. Actually, a bean. In kindergarten, s child is given a bean, a dixie cup of dirt, and water. Let’s say you are the bean in conflict or grievance with another person, the dirt. If you both stay as you are, bean and dirt, you will both dry out and die. However, the water (Grace) has the power to reconcile you both. With the water, you both, together and in equity, flourish bringing a communion of energy, renewed life, to each other and in harmony to those who know and love both of you. This Lent, plant a bean in a dixie cup, bless it with gift of water. I hope that little plant leads you to reconcile that which needs it in your life. I hope tending the bean helps you tend a renewed relationship.


Musical Reflection - Give A Little Bit - Goo Goo Dolls


Priest: Do you, then, forgive those who have sinned against you?


Penitent: I forgive them.


Priest: May Almighty God in mercy receive your confession of

sorrow and of faith, strengthen you in all goodness, and by

the power of the Holy Spirit keep you in eternal life. Amen.


-Reconciliation of a Penitent, BCP p. 451

ForgivenessChildrenReconciliation

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