Scripture Reading: Genesis 26 (NRSV)
This chapter seems to have a lot of repetition from previous chapters.
The most obvious is that we have Isaac passing off his wife as his sister which Abraham did in Egypt as well as in Gerar with King Abimelech. Although the author doesn't indicate any clues to this effect, it would seem that Isaac's encounter with Abimelech would have been with a descendent of the king that Abraham met.
In this chapter, we don't have any risky situations such as an actual marriage as before. Isaac seems to come out on top just as Abraham did. This positive outcome seems to bring solidity to the promises made by God to Isaac and we see Isaac continue to prosper just as his father did.
This seems to give Isaac an ability to trust and shrug off conflict. As he has difficulty with the Philistines over water rights in the digging and usage of wells, he doesn't seem anxious but names them for what they are: contention and enmity. His response is to continue to dig wells. The final well he names Broad or Room indicating that he continued to spread out until he found a place where he could graze his flocks and herds in peace.
Some might feel that it is easier to avoid conflict if you are wealthy. You have the means to try different paths to make a way for yourself. However, I think that wealth and possessions often bring an opposite mindset. How many times do we dig in to fight for what is ours? We may see an affront to our dignity. After all, we were the ones who dug that well!
Jesus tells a man to sell what he has so that he would be unencumbered enough to follow Jesus. He couldn't do it. Jesus then tells the disciples in Mark 10:25, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God."
Maybe he is referring to the fact that the more we have, the more we have to defend what we have. And this brings more opportunities for us to become cynical about those who want to get what we have! I'm impressed with how Isaac seems to handle it.
May God give us all the courage that we need to go the way he shepherds us.
That when he calls we may go unfrightened.
If he bids us come to him across the waters, that unfrightened we may go.
And if he bids us climb a hill, may we not notice that it is a hill,
mindful only of the happiness of his company.
God made us for himself,
that we should travel with him and see him at the last in his unveiled beauty
in the abiding city where he is light
and happiness
and endless home.
Amen.
Prayer by Bede Jarrett, English Dominican priest, early 20th Century
Photo by Hoffnungsschimmer via Flickr.com. Used under the Creative Commons license.
The most obvious is that we have Isaac passing off his wife as his sister which Abraham did in Egypt as well as in Gerar with King Abimelech. Although the author doesn't indicate any clues to this effect, it would seem that Isaac's encounter with Abimelech would have been with a descendent of the king that Abraham met.
In this chapter, we don't have any risky situations such as an actual marriage as before. Isaac seems to come out on top just as Abraham did. This positive outcome seems to bring solidity to the promises made by God to Isaac and we see Isaac continue to prosper just as his father did.
This seems to give Isaac an ability to trust and shrug off conflict. As he has difficulty with the Philistines over water rights in the digging and usage of wells, he doesn't seem anxious but names them for what they are: contention and enmity. His response is to continue to dig wells. The final well he names Broad or Room indicating that he continued to spread out until he found a place where he could graze his flocks and herds in peace.
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So many of the biblical stories are reminding
us of doing the right thing. I often need the reminder.
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Jesus tells a man to sell what he has so that he would be unencumbered enough to follow Jesus. He couldn't do it. Jesus then tells the disciples in Mark 10:25, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God."
Maybe he is referring to the fact that the more we have, the more we have to defend what we have. And this brings more opportunities for us to become cynical about those who want to get what we have! I'm impressed with how Isaac seems to handle it.
May God give us all the courage that we need to go the way he shepherds us.
That when he calls we may go unfrightened.
If he bids us come to him across the waters, that unfrightened we may go.
And if he bids us climb a hill, may we not notice that it is a hill,
mindful only of the happiness of his company.
God made us for himself,
that we should travel with him and see him at the last in his unveiled beauty
in the abiding city where he is light
and happiness
and endless home.
Amen.
Prayer by Bede Jarrett, English Dominican priest, early 20th Century
Photo by Hoffnungsschimmer via Flickr.com. Used under the Creative Commons license.
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