Satisfaction

Matthew 11:18-19 - For John came not eating or drinking and you say, "He has a demon." And the Son of Man came eating and drinking and you say, "Look, a glutton and a drunkard and friend of tax collectors and sinners." Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.

We are never satisfied. It is difficult to express the mindset of one such depicted here. We look to others to make our lives complete or to feel okay. And they have their own agenda! So we are never satisfied because we refuse to look at our center. What in our life gives us stability? It cannot come from another - it must come from within. And the people arguing about Starbucks cups are missing the point: that Jesus came to teach us to love others and to show us how hard that truly is to do. Yet it is the only way of peace.

I think about DJ and France and Beirut this week. France has already retaliated against ISIS. I'm certain there will be retaliation for DJ and Beirut as well. Because we are not satisfied. We step on others to get what we want and when they cry foul we ignore them. When they use violence to get our attention, we fight back. We fight even when violence was not used. And so we miss Jesus' point: Only love can conquer hate. Only forgiveness can get us past violence. Only peace within ourselves can lead to peace with others.

Lord, forgive us. We truly do not know what we do.
Amen