Daily Reading 9/28

Today's reading is from the Gospel of Matthew. Some of you may know of this as the "lilies of the field" passage. In this, Jesus tells us not to worry-if God puts so much care into the flowers, think of how much more care God will take with us! Reading through this in the NRSV and The Message provides two very different experiences, I think. I would recommend reading each one to get a better sense of what I mean.

In the NRSV reading I sense a call to place complete trust in God and not worry-not even about what particularly I'm going to eat, but even that I will be able to eat at all! This is a tall order, too. I mean, I have to work to make money to feed myself. And for young people, there is worry sometimes when parents may be ill or out of a job-how will the parents earn money to feed their children? These are very real concerns that many of us face, and sometimes being told not to worry because God will take care of it isn't the most comforting thing in the world. We constantly want to know how? when? what can I do to make this happen? I can't live if I don't eat! However, for many of us this may not be a basic worry. We have clothes on our backs, food on our tables, and roofs over our head (although there are people in our community who lack these things!!!).

The Message presents the call not to worry in a different way-a way that speaks to me when I have my basic needs met. The Message seems to shift the emphasis of the passage from not worrying about basic needs to not worrying about being the most fashionable or having the best of everything. An interesting take on this passage is, for me, when, instead of pointing out that we will be clothed because even the flowers are clothes, the translator of The Message presents us with this: "If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you?" Imagine that-God taking pride in me! I find that a pretty powerful statement.

The passage is also summed up differently. The NRSV notes that we shouldn't worry about tomorrow, for the troubles of today are enough for today. The Message reads: "Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don't get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes." Good words by which to live.