Devotion - Thursday, November 20

It does seem as if the appointed readings conspire to bring us back to a common theme.  Having written yesterday about Micah's insistence that we "walk" in the way of the Lord, I was prepared this morning to turn to another theme - only to open my devotional guide and see the the next lesson in our gospel readings is the story of the young man who comes to ask Jesus "What must I do to inherit eternal life?"

You know the answer.  The young man did too.

When Jesus asks him, "What is written in the law?  How do you read?"  The young man replies with "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself."  He knows the answer.  We know the answer, too.

But in the story (Luke 10:25-37) the young man isn't ready to live the answer.  So he attempts to get around the answer by asking, "Who is my neighbor?"  and Jesus replies by telling the story of the Good Samaritan - the stranger who picks up the wounded traveler, bandages his wounds, and pays for his continued care.

We know the answer.  Applying the answer to our lives is the difficult part.

At our gathering last night, Bishop Herman Yoos spoke of the group assigned to notice strangers in the shopping mall who seemed to be in need of prayer.  "Pray for them," silently, without calling attention to your act, was the assignment.  He told a story of how that simple assignment grew into a meaningful and significant exchange.  I was glad to hear of that one example of what happened when prayers were offered for a neighbor - but I hope that one outcome did not detract us from seeing the outcome in all the other instances.  What a powerful assignment.  It is one that you could carry into your day, today, on campus.  Look at the faces of others.  Notice the stresses and strains.  Pray - not for the hundreds of nameless classmates but for the one sitting two rows over who shows signs of needing a neighbor's prayers.

We know the answer.  We know what God has given us and what God asks us to share.  In small ways, and in seemingly insignificant ways, we begin to apply the answer to our lives.  Seemingly insignificant - but far from insignificant.