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Morning Devotion for the Season of Epiphany
January 29, 2025
Feast Day of Lili’uokalani of Hawaii
Reading: Colossians 3:12-15
As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful.
Meditation - Peter Vanderveen
“Bear with one another.”
I’m not a fan of bumper stickers, but this statement might make a good one. It’s not preachy or demanding. It wouldn’t prod those who see it with an imperative: to “bear with me.” And unlike so many bumper stickers, it wouldn’t provoke the viewer with an opinion that immediately forces either in agreement or opposition – without providing an opportunity to respond. Paul’s statement applies mutually and universally. It’s a simple plea that reminds us all of the unknown complexities of our shared context, which, if we are aware of them, ask for a generous empathy.
In his famous 2005 commencement speech at Kenyon College, David Foster Wallace took up this theme by asking his listeners to imagine approaching the mundane irritations of daily living with this kind of forbearance in mind. “Most days,” he said, “if you’re aware enough to give yourself a choice, you can choose to look differently at the fat, dead-eyed, over-made-up lady who just screamed at her kid in the checkout line. Maybe she’s not usually like this. Maybe she’s been up three straight nights holding the hand of a husband who is dying of bone cancer. Or maybe this very lady is the low-wage clerk at the motor vehicle department, who just yesterday helped your spouse resolve a horrific, infuriating, red-tape problem through some small act of bureaucratic kindness. Of course,” he noted, “none of this is likely, but it’s also not impossible. It just depends [on] what you want to consider. If you’re automatically sure that you know what reality is… then you, like me, probably won’t consider possibilities that aren’t annoying and miserable. But if you really learn how to pay attention, then you will know there are other options. It will actually be within your power to experience a crowded, hot, slow, consumer-hell type situation as not only meaningful, but sacred, on fire with the same force that made the stars: love, fellowship, the mystical oneness of all things deep down.”
Is there something inherently offensive about the shift that Wallace suggests? In our hyper-competitive culture, I’m sure that many would fashion scathing responses: that this is a stupid and dangerous form of dreaming that gets in the way of real progress and the resolution of real problems. For there are, indeed, those who don’t deserve such compassion, kindness, and patience. Maybe many. True enough. But “bearing with one another” isn’t meant to be a blanket statement that covers over distinctions we must keep in mind or decisions that must be made, however harsh. It asks only that we never forget the deep and abiding imperfections that we all suffer as persons, some more than others. And if you’d appreciate being approached in the spirit of compassion, kindness, and patience, then shouldn’t we extend the same approach to others – whether in mundane matters or in much more substantial and serious considerations.
Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name,
thy kingdom come, thy will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power,
and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen
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