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Morning Meditation
June 18, 2026
Feast Day of Bernard Mizeki, Martyr, 1896
Luke 12:1-7
When the crowd gathered by the thousands, so that they trampled on one another, Jesus began to speak first to his disciples, “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees, that is, their hypocrisy. Nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. Therefore whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed from the housetops.
Meditation by Peter Vanderveen
In a journal entry written shortly before he died, Ludwig Wittgenstein noted: “God may say to me: ‘I am judging you out of your own mouth. Your own actions have made you shudder with disgust when you have seen other people do them.’”
Being close to death allows one a certain clarity of both reflection and expression. One’s imminent end can reframe one’s memories and recollections in the light of a greater wisdom. For so often in the mix of life we carry on without ever really stepping back to take stock of our own ways of interacting with others. And the default setting for most of us is that we feel that we are firmly situated within the right and, correspondingly, we look on those who differ as being seriously lacking (this is, of course a civil way of saying what, more crudely, is the idiocy we might so like to attribute to them). Wittgenstein was aware of how quickly and easily the conviction of one’s own rightness can lead to awful ways of being wrong. Jesus too. As he said in another part of the gospel, a little yeast affects the entire loaf.
Consider our increasingly rancorous and uncivil cultural and political declarations. We ceased believing in conversation years ago. We’re driven, instead, by pointing in disgust at others, while, at the same time, we’re incredulous that they might point at us with no less loathing.
In a memoir just published, James K.A. Smith echoed Wittgenstein. His words, too, deserve quoting: “When you’re young, it’s easy to confuse strength with dominance; when you’re older, if you’re lucky, you realize the feat of character it takes to be meek. I used to imagine that my calling was to defend The Truth. Now I’m trying to figure out how to love.”
There is no more timely task.
Prayer
O God of love, we ask that you give us love; love in our thinking, love in our speaking, love in our doing, and love in the hidden places of our souls; love of our neighbors, near and far; love of our friends, old and new; love of those with whom we work, and love of those with whom we take our ease; love in joy, love in sorrow, love in life, and love in death; that so at length we may be worthy to dwell with you, who are eternal love. Amen.
William Temple: Archbishop of Canterbury
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