1 & 2 Chronicles: Our Sacred History – Part III
Monday, May 29, 2023
Division
When we achieve success we must recognize that complacency and comfort bring more sorrow than joy. True, meaningful and lasting happiness are born of sorrow more often than laughter.
What do we do when the world begins to splinter around us as a prelude to falling apart? How do we gather ourselves when our interior self begins to fracture and break? How do we handle our own deep grief or intense sorrow of loved ones? Why is listening – fully listening – to our individual and shared stories so important to the human experience? Today we invite the Spirit into our lives and we open our hearts to an honest examination of our attempts to follow in Christ’s Way. We see the beauty of God’s great love that bridges all chasms, masters all obstacles, and heals all wounds. And we discover the gift of listening . . . God’s patient listening to us, our earnest listening to God, and the shared listening of family, friends and colleagues.
When division separates us from God or others, we must follow in The Way and learn to listen with the heart, the mind and the soul. And so it is that we discover the importance of the human and divine voice in ourselves and others, and how these shared voices bring to fullness the beauty of God’s merciful, healing kingdom.
The two books of Chronicles have four major portions: a genealogy of our leaders beginning with Abraham (1 Chronicles 1-9), a description of the monarchy under David and Solomon (1 Chronicles 9 – 2 Chronicles 9), the divided kingdom (2 Chronicles 10-18), and the period from Hezekiah to the Babylonian exile (2 Chronicles 19-36). This story of divine promise interwoven with human commitment and infidelity tell a story that we might see reflected in our own personal sacred history. This story is worthy of our time.
Listen to David Isay’s interview with Krista Tippett, Listening as an Act of Love, at: https://onbeing.org/programs/david-isay-listening-as-an-act-of-love/
Watch David Isay’s Ted Talk on Everyone Around you has a story the world needs to hear, and consider the importance of our individual and collected sacred history. Isay is the creator and President of StoryCorps, an ongoing oral history project.
To learn more about StoryCorps, click on the image above or visit: https://storycorps.org/
Images from: https://www.janethurnellread.com/the-importance-of-curiosity/ and https://storycorps.org/
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