These are the provincial leaders who settled in Jerusalem (now some Israelites, priests, Levites, temple servants and descendants of Solomon's servants lived in the towns of Judah, each on their own property in the various towns, while other people from both Judah and Benjamin lived in Jerusalem) … Nehemiah 11:3-4a

Today's Scripture Reading (October 9, 2020): Nehemiah 11

Novelist Marty Rubin argued that "Appreciation, not possession, makes a thing ours." There are many things that we possess that, in reality, we do not understand. Appreciating something means that we will do whatever we can to understand it, and in the process, we make it ours. And yet, Rubin's comment remains idealistic. The reality is that we can appreciate something from afar without it ever becoming ours. Maybe the real tragedy of life is in possessing something without ever really understanding it, or learning to appreciate what it is that we have. We are like the owner of a home built on a beautiful vista, who lives in the house without ever looking at the beautiful scenery that exists just beyond the window.

In exile, at least some of those who had been stolen from the land of Israel learned to appreciate what it was that they had lost. They longed for this place nostalgically known as home. The appreciated what they could not possess. Maybe the land, in some strange way, was still theirs. They belonged to the land they remembered in the stories told by their parents and grandparents, the territory that had been given to their ancestors, but a land that they no longer possessed. In a very real way, Palestine used to be theirs, but it was theirs no more. At times, it must have seemed that the very thing that they appreciated, they could never possess.

And over time, the dream began to die. Fewer and fewer believed that they would ever go home or have the land their parents and grandparents had been given and appreciated. The people began to enjoy other things, things that were closer to them and part of their current reality. Something that they were able to possess in the now.

But a few, about two percent of the ones who were taken from Judah, did return. They still held a thankfulness for the home of their ancestors, and as they arrived, they began to take possession of the land that they appreciated. And they spread out throughout the land. Those in rural areas probably had an easier task. But some set a good example and returned to the more difficult task of living in Jerusalem. The city was essential to the ultimate goal of repossessing the land. But the defenseless city was also a critical target of those who opposed the returning exiles from re-establishing themselves in the land they once called home. Because it is one thing to appreciate the land, but sometimes possession is necessary if you really want to make something yours.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Nehemiah 12