LUKE 18:9-14
Two stood in prayer:
one proud
of who he was
and, all the more,
of who he was not;
marking himself up
by marking others down.
The other
ashamed
(perhaps of who he was,
or the circumstance
in which his life was trapped)
and seeking mercy.
Easy and common:
improving one’s self-identity
by disparaging the other –
alien,
conservative,
liberal,
unemployed,
alcoholic,
addict,
asylum seeker …
forgetting that they also,
perhaps even more so,
are recipients
of God’s scandalous grace
and forgiveness.
© Jeff Shrowder, 2013.
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