Are you an outlander?
Do you ever feel like you've been exiled from all that brings you comfort? Do you sometimes find yourself surrounded by folks who seem to all know each other, to have established relationships? It’s like they’re a tribe, but not one to which you can belong.
That's so uncomfortable, and so filled with rejection it can become unbearable. I think all of us have had this kind of experience to some degree: at school or on the playground, at work, in the neighborhood, in our towns...even, sadly, at church. We don't seem to know the lingo and, even if we want to assimilate, no one seems interested in helping us. We feel different—and truly, we are different. Every aspect of our daily interactions and environment underscores just how different we are.
What are we supposed to do? Keep a stiff upper lip? Remain calm and carry on?
Consider Claire Randall of the Outlander books fame. Claire has fallen through time to 18th Century Scotland. Surrounded by Highlanders, and stuck with her clearly British accent, she finds she is branded a Sassenach. It’s a term used by locals to label outlanders: that is, anyone who is “from away." She’s exiled among people nothing like her...an exile from which she might never return.
She's not one of them…and they remind her of it every single day.
Claire’s long-game is to return to the modern world. But, she doesn't know if she will ever be able to do that. Until that's possible, she works at finding a way to fit in. To be useful, Claire brings to bear her intelligence and her nursing experience (a "healer" in the parlance of that time). She doesn't ever truly fit in, but she finds ways to actively benefit those who surround her.
Similarly, God’s guidance to the exiled Israelites in this week's scriptures can benefit us, as well. The Israelites were outlanders in every sense: language, culture, societal position. God’s message through Jeremiah told them how to act while they remained in exile. What a treasure! At last, they knew what God expected of them while they were being outlanders—true strangers in a strange land.
Get married and have children. Encourage your children to marry and have children. Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat the produce. In other words, settle in. Of most importance, though: “Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare."
When circumstance or other people make us sassenachs and outlanders, we must not let that immobilize us. We must keep living as best we can. We must grow, flourish...settle in and bloom where we’re planted.
Most importantly, we must seek the best for those among whom we are the sassenachs and outlanders. Even going so far as to pray to God for their well-being. Their welfare is our welfare.
That's loving your neighbor as yourself.
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PHOTO: Steve Orr
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon:
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This Friday morning would be a great time for you to join us at Dayspring’s Lectionary Breakfast. We start at 8:00, sharing our mealtime at Our Breakfast Place (and on Zoom**). We continue with scripture, discussion, and some of the best fellowship anywhere. We're supposed to leave at 9:00, and some do, but some stay longer.
It's that good.
Blessings,
Steve
**Contact me for the Zoom link
NOTE: Zoom allows you to mute the camera and the microphone if you don’t wish to be seen or heard.
SCRIPTURES FOR SUNDAY AND THE COMING WEEK
Find them here:
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts.php?id=283
Print them here:
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/pdf//Cx_Proper23.pdf
Jeremiah 29:1, 4-7
Psalm 66:1-12
2 Kings 5:1-3, 7-15c
Psalm 111
2 Timothy 2:8-15
Luke 17:11-19
Proper 23 (28) (October 9, 2022)
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