Today’s Scripture Reading (January
18, 2013): 2 Samuel 13
We want to
see the world the way that we think it should be. We want it to work as we
would have it work. And we want people’s reactions to be what we think they
should be. And one of the most disconcerting things is when people react in a
way that we are not expecting. Right now I am dealing with an action of a
friend that I do not understand. And my problem is that, as I see the world,
the response of my friend makes no sense. The reaction of my friend just does
not conform with my vision of the world – and sometimes I just do not
understand why.
The two sons
of David are not getting along. There is a very real reason why the two sons do
not get along. What Amnon did to their sister was unforgivable. But Amnon and
Absalom were not only the sons of David, they were also, obviously, brothers.
And family is important. Part of the rose colored glasses that we all wear is
the idea that blood is thicker than water – and that when all the world has
turned against us – family, and brothers, stand together.
David evidently
finds Absalom’s request strange – he knows of the water that has already flowed
under the bridge between the two brothers. But he also holds out a hope that
the world can conform to the way that he believes it should be. And, just maybe,
this could be the first move of reconciliation between his sons. But the rose
colored glasses of the king stopped him from considering the reverse, that
maybe this was a move toward the final battle between Absalom and Amnon.
Objectivity
is impossible. We need our rose colored glasses and worldviews to make sense of
the world in which we live; we literally cannot see the world without them. But
we need to understand that the very glasses that allow us to see the world also
creates blind spots. And in David’s case, it was a blind spot that would change
his family – forever.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2
Samuel 14
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