When we look at the world around us, many of us see a divided world.  Unfortunately, in our corner of the globe it appears to be mainly over partisan politics that has crept into every crevice of our lives.  Activists of all sorts are using tactics that many of us never imagined and may even consider to be beyond decency and decorum.  And yet in the age where everyone has a camera and social media account in their hands, we’ve all become reporters and shapers of events and public opinion.  In spite of our common vision to be more united, my sense is that we as polarized as we’ve ever been, if not even more so.

The writer of Ecclesiastes penned these words of reminder: “There is nothing new under the sun.” (Ecc. 1:9) We act like this is the only time in history when we’ve been this divided which means that we’re not paying attention to human history.  History is replete with stories of division over everything under the sun – race, religion, gender, class, education, and more.  Even for us in the Christian community, we are reminded that we are divided – externally and internally.

The synoptic gospels link two stories together – the first one is of Jesus blessing the lowest and most vulnerable of people in his day; the little children.  In his blessing he says that to be a part of the kingdom of heaven you have to have the faith of a little child.  Their faith isn’t dependent upon power, possessions, and status.  It is built on trust in those who provide for them.  Conversely, the rich man could not get past his reliance upon himself, his power, his possessions, and his status.  This would be his downfall because he could not imagine his life without these things – he could not imagine himself having the faith of a small child.  Maybe what we should wrestle with in this edition of Going Deeper is the search for a middle ground, if there is such a thing. 

I invite you to take time and read each of the scriptures above as you move to reflect on the questions below.  Take a moment and contemplate your reliance upon yourself verses your reliance upon God.  Lastly, I pray that God bless the reading of God’s Word and the meditations of your heart.