This Sunday’s gospel brings us the story of Jesus teaching in the synagogue of his hometown. At first the people gathered that day are impressed and astounded by his wisdom. But quite quickly they turn on him, cutting him down and saying that he’s just a carpenter who’ve they’ve known forever – since he was a child. For a brief moment, they are open and present to who Jesus is. For a brief moment, they are able to see him and hear him in a new way, to see him as he could be. But they couldn’t sustain this new way of seeing. Perhaps they started to feel the discomfort of change, and couldn’t help but revert back to their old ways of seeing, to their old ways of knowing.
As we emerge from these past 15 months – where we’ve had plenty of practice with change and adaptation – may we do so with intention, opening our eyes to each other and leaning into the work God is doing in our world, leaning into the discomfort of change, and moving closer to who we are created to be, to Beloved Community.