Dear Friends,

This Sunday's gospel parable which tells the story of two brothers who "changed their mind" is redeeming of the cliché that "it's a woman's prerogative to change her mind". I've always rubbed against this cliché, which is seemingly intended to diminish the way women 'work', so I'm intrigued as my reflections on this parable, highlight first of all, that males too 'change their minds'; and secondly that 'changing one's mind' is often a very wise thing to do. (I also thought that the title would grab your attention!)

In this story, a man asks his two sons to "work in the vineyard"... the first says "No!"... but changes his mind and gets to work. The second says "Yes, sir", but never shows up at work. We probably all know of situations in which we've been "Yes'd to death", and we learn to discount what those 'Yes sir's' have to say. Often people who function in this way have the best of intentions... they really do mean to do it... somehow it just doesn't happen. Or, there are those who lack the inner strength to say 'no' outright, and decide to finesse it by offering a "yes" knowing full well that they'll never 'get to it'. Perhaps all of us can recognize ourselves on both sides of this behavior at various regrettable moments in our lives.

Each of these responses speaks of change of heart. Saying "No" and then doing it anyway... saying "Yes" and not following through. Interestingly, the parable doesn't delve into what caused the change of heart on the part of either of these sons. This is a challenge to our 21st century mindset. Inquiring minds want to know "why"... "how"... "what was going on in their head", etc. Jesus is apparently unconcerned with the psychology at work here. Rather, Jesus is saying that the most important thing is that you 'show up'. Our resistance, our interior struggles, our selfishness, our lackadaisical attitudes, our brokenness or sinfulness do not keep us from God's heart. God's heart is always open to receive us... we just have to 'show up'.

How do we "show up" today? I think in little ways. We 'show up' by overriding our self-centeredness and reaching out to another in need. We do it by taking time to stop and appreciate God in God's creation... and creatures. We do it when we remind ourselves that we "are in the vineyard" and have a choice whether we 'show up' or not. We decide to 'show up' by extending forgiveness to someone who's hurt us or requesting forgiveness of the one we have hurt. We do it by giving a smile to the person without a home that we meet on the street and by offering assistance to those in need when circumstances present themselves. We do it when we decide which of the zillion charity requests that come in the mail we will support. We do it when we disagree with one another while in a respectful and compassionate way. We do it when we realize anew... hopefully each day... that we are our Beloved's beloved; and just like the two in the gospel... we are 'kin' to one another.

At the Spirit of Life Community, we truly believe that we are "kin" and we try wholehearted to "be Christ" to one another, to celebrate that we are being transformed by God's grace as we pray together. We warmly invite you to come, and gather with us at our Table and join in our experience of the "kin-dom" of God! We are an inclusive, open, affirming and interactive community, deeply committed to being a people of 'justice and joy.'

With prayers for you as you contemplate God's Word alive in your life,

Find more about past weekly reflections and podcasts in our ARCHIVE PAGE.