Monday, October 25, 2021
Joy and Conspiracy
Today we continue to visit with scripture to look for stories about joy that will surprise us in a variety of ways. If you want to explore other stories in which joy astounds us, click on the word Joy in the categories cloud in the blog’s right hand sidebar and choose a reflection, or enter the word Joy in the blog search bar. You may also want to visit the Joy for the Journey blog at www.joyforthee.blogspot.com to see how joy surprises you there. Today our story is from the Book of Judges.
In today’s story we have a cast of characters, most of them vicious and all of them passionate. Jotham, Abimelech and Jerubbaal are prominent as we visit Shechem, Beth-millo and Mount Gerizim; yet, despite the unusual names and distant locations, this is a story that in many ways takes place in our own neighborhood. Today we read about fear, violence and conspiracy, and the unexpected hope that always accompanies us, even in the most dire of circumstances.
Jotham escapes assassination and summits mount Gerizim to pronounce the tale of the trees that speaks truth in a way that even the hardest of hearts can understand. We may have heard this fable of the trees as children but if not, today we take the time to sit with it. We listen to the words from the olive, the fig, the vine and the bramble to see if we might hear them from the lips of friends, family or colleagues. Or perhaps we have uttered – or thought – these words ourselves. Perhaps we have experienced the violence we read about today in a very real, physical way; or perhaps we have suffered emotional trauma that has left its marks of damage on our hearts and minds. Whatever the case, we have something to learn. Joy is always present in the darkest of hours. Joy is always possible in the most evil of conspiracies. Joy is constantly with us in the presence of God.
For information on Mount Gerizim, visit: https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/gerizim-mount
Image from: https://virtualreligion.net/iho/gerizim.html
For more about anxiety and joy, click on the joy image above or visit: http://riselikeair.wordpress.com/2014/01/09/anxiety-joy-a-journey/
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