December 10, 2010
Friday of the Second Week of Advent
By Melanie Rigney
I, the Lord, your God, teach you what is for your good, and lead you on the way you should go. (Isaiah 48:17)
Blessed the man who follows not the counsel of the wicked nor walks in the way of sinners, nor sits in the company of the insolent, but delights in the law of the LORD and meditates on his law day and night. (Psalms 1:1-2)
Jesus said to the crowds: “To what shall I compare this generation? It is like children who sit in marketplaces and call to one another, ‘We played the flute for you, but you did not dance,we sang a dirge but you did not mourn.’” (Matthew 11:16-17)
Piety
Jesus, the crooked path looks so inviting at times. I ask for your forgiveness. I ask for your mercy. I ask for your hand, so that I may follow your lead on the right way.
Study
I’ve got this theory about the devil.
He doesn’t have horns or a tail. He doesn’t carry a pitchfork. He doesn’t try to scare us or terrorize us.
No, the devil’s pleasant. He’s just fine with letting us think we’re in charge of the universe—for a while, anyway. We play that flute, he dances. We sing that dirge, and he weeps.
With the devil, it’s all about us, 24/7/365. He’s there to console us and listen to us when we want to complain about how mistreated we are by our friends, our families, the universe in general. He’s there to congratulate us and whisper in our ear just how marvelous we are when we get prideful. He’s there to tell us it’s perfectly all right to eat that extra piece of chocolate, to have “just one more” beer or glass of wine.
It’s all very nice, you see, the world where we’re in charge, or the world where we can blame others for all our misfortunes and the wrongs we perceive have been done against us.
But the roads in that world go only in circles. And those kinds of circles go nowhere good.
God’s way is harder. It’s lonely sometimes. And it can sometimes seem impossibly steep and full of landmines. But with the Master Guide, each and every one of those obstacles can be overcome. Because that road doesn’t go in circles. It goes one way.
Action
Where is the devil supporting you in your little snits and petty behavior? Spend some time meditating about the places where God would like to help you.
