Change

Lent is a good time to think about change and consider new possibilities. It is also a good time to be changed. One possible starting point is a change in perspective.

When Jesus was in the wilderness (Matthew 4, Luke 4) he was confronted with some very enticing possibilities: popularity, prosperity and power (and all the privileges these afford). The path of humility and suffering was open to him as well. What was ultimately in question was how the work of God’s kingdom would be done, from the “top down” (through power and privilege) or from the “bottom up” (the way of humility). Jesus chose to work from the “bottom up”. God always comes to us from that direction.

I could certainly use a change in perspective but it’s not a simple thing to achieve. I can’t get there if I begin with “what-I-think-the-world-might-look-like-from-the-bottom”. My participation in systems of power and privilege colors how I see and what I see. I can only begin to learn what others have always known by sharing life with people who bring God to us from the “bottom-up”.