In a scene in the film Jesse Stone: Lost in Paradise, Police Chief Stone (Tom Selleck) wants to mend a relationship with a woman he previously upset. But she’s frosty. She’s “kissed a few frogs” in her day and wonders aloud if he is one. When he offers to make it up to her “over a cup of coffee,” she quotes Mark Twain: “There's nothing to be learned from the second kick of a mule.”
You’ll need to watch the movie for the full effect, and for the resolution. In romance, it is our hope people will finally find what they’ve been looking for. We always want conflicts to resolve. But experience can be a cruel teacher, and some of us are slow to learn.
That seems to be a running theme in this week’s Exodus and Jeremiah passages. God’s people were supposed to be in a committed relationship with God. But they just kept being drawn away to false gods, over and over. Still, you have to wonder: It’s not like they did these things in a vacuum. God kept giving them reasons to know that He was the real deal. He kept showing them that those false gods never delivered—that, at best, they were just frogs claiming kisses would make them princes.
God’s people spent a lot of years “kissing frogs.” In fact, they kissed frogs for so long, they came to believe that was how things were supposed to be.
Hopefully, we can read the Exodus and Jeremiah passages and learn their lessons. There’s no need to subject ourselves to a bunch of lies and liars trying to take God’s place in our lives. We should also be able to lean into what Jesus teaches in the Luke passage and the example of the Apostle Paul in the 1 Timothy passage.
Because, after all, there really is nothing new to learn in the second kick of a mule.
_________________________
PHOTO: Adobe Express and Photoshop Express
“Stop Kissing Frogs!” (a short how-to article by Stephen White about focusing on what really matters):
_________________________
DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast meets Friday morning on Zoom** and in person at Our Breakfast Place. The hour starts at 8:00. Join us for food, fellowship, scripture, and a robust exchange of ideas. Plus, there’s always a high chance of some possibly inappropriate laughter..
Blessings,
Steve
**Zoom link (Zoom allows you to mute the camera and the microphone if you don’t wish to be seen or heard.)
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89947678414
SCRIPTURES FOR SUNDAY AND THE COMING WEEK
Find them here:
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/texts/?y=384&z=p&d=75
Print them here:
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu/wp-content/uploads/pdfs/Cx_Proper19.pdf
Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28
Psalm 14
Exodus 32:7-14
Psalm 51:1-10
1 Timothy 1:12-17
Luke 15:1-10
Proper 19 (24) (September 14, 2025)
No comments:
Post a Comment