Nichols Chapel Devotion #6

Then turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair.”  Luke 7: 44

 

Jesus of Nazareth,

Strangers came to you

because, with you,

they hoped that they’d be seen

for who they were

not for who the seers saw.

May we who are strangers see each other,

because we, like you,

need to be seen to be believed.

Amen.

This prayer seems so relevant today.  How can we separate who people are from a stereotype? One way is to sit down and share stories.  Rev. Bridgette Black was the pastor at Bethel AME church in Des Moines.  We worked together on several social justice issues, but it wasn’t until we had lunch together that we really got to know each other. Pastor Black and I shared stories of our families, growing up in the 1960’s, and her fishing stories.  I never imagined her fishing.      We never really “know” people until we take time to listen.

O God, forgive us when we let stereotypes dominate and help us to “see” each other.

*Daily Prayers with the Corrymeela Community, Canterbury Press (2017)  by Padraig O’Tuama