Friday of the Second Week of Lent

Today's Readings

It seems now almost another lifetime ago, some other country or civilization. My sister and I were taking our very first airplane flight on Delta Airlines, “Delta is ready when you are!” well, it was the 1970’s, last century. Unlike these days, we made sure we looked the part for someone travelling by air. Dressed ton our kiddie nines, we were off to Atlanta, Georgia.

I can still recall my astonishment at seeing things from above. I had seen photos but it was nothing like seeing for oneself the vast difference between how things looked up in the air from those on the ground. We were fortunate to have an ample backyard to play in. I loved to learn about the various plants and animals that I found there. From way up in the sky, vast stretches of trees, forests even, looked like so much green moss tightly clinging to the earth. My magnifying glass had showed me moss like trees, now trees like moss!

A bird’s eye view certainly gives us another perspective. We all can get so bogged down in the details of life that we completely forget the big picture. Our reading for today recounts the terrible story of how Joseph’s envious brothers finally plotted to have him taken into slavery and brought to Egypt against his will. They had wanted to kill him, throw him in a pit and blame it on some wild animal but Reuben prevailed against them.

Joseph had had a number of dreams in which his family members bowed down and honored him. Although he seemed thrilled about it, they were less than pleased. As audacious as Joseph was, his dreams turned out to be true. Although he was sold into slavery, in time, by the hand of God, Joseph became the second in command in Egypt and was able to save his family and then Israel from famine and hardship. No one could have seen this – without the big picture.

The religious leaders of Jesus’ day were not, from their limited point of view, able to see who Jesus was and the ramifications his life would have for all of humanity, whether he was believed to be the Messiah or not. When we are facing hard decisions and difficult circumstances, we tend to see only what is before us and use whatever reasoning powers we have to guide us.

The Lenten season is a apt time to access our prayer life and spiritual practices to see just how in tune we are with God and the Big Picture. Without divine guidance, we are prone to misjudge situations, places and people and miss out on God’s perfect plan, crafted in love that has been laid out for us. Today’s apparent humiliation may very well spell tomorrow's glory.

Fr. Bryan Patterson
Rector, St. James Cathedral Basilica, Brooklyn