Daily Devotional for June 22

 

June 22                                                       Luke 20:41-21:4

The other day I saw an Indigo Bunting on the stop sign off
Blunt Road where the new townhouses have been developed.
Even as I delighted in spotting the bird, my heart was heavy,
for I knew that this bird had been dispossessed. The trees that
had provided both shelter and food had been cut down by
the hundreds to make way for the "Winchester Homes" that
are now for sale in a neighborhood that has been transformed
from wildlife habitat into suburban community. I think of all
the other creatures similarly removed from this small area of
the county alone: the bobcats, the foxes, even the frogs and
water creatures have lost their homes and their lives as the
land was leveled for shopping centers and suburban living.

Land development, we call it euphemistically, as we convert
more and more of the wild places to human use without
stopping to consider how much of them is really our fair share
as humans. As we destroy the most vulnerable of God's
creatures - the birds and animals and insects, the trees and
grasses and wetlands - we are truly "devouring widows,
houses," to use the phrase that Jesus coined.

Today's Scripture calls us to recognize within ourselves not
only the "giver," but also the "taker" - the one who, while
enjoying a flowing robe and an important seat, also devours
widows' houses.

As you meditate on your own "takings" and the impact they
have on all of creation, bring to consciousness a specific way
in which you, being only one of God's creatures, are taking
more than your share. Invite Jesus to teach you the balance
between giving and taking, the balance that represents
reverence for God's most precious gift of life.

​

From The Road to Emmaus - An inclusive devotional Edited by Joseph W. Houle

Emmaus House of Prayer - Washington D.C.