Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“All the presidents of the kingdom, the prefects and the satraps, the counsellors and the governors, are agreed that the king should establish an ordinance and enforce an interdict, that whoever prays to anyone, divine or human, for thirty days, except to you, O king, shall be thrown into a den of lions.”
NL Daily Devotion for Wednesday, August 21, 2024
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
There are so many egos in play in this story. The whole thing seems a bit of a cautionary tale about just that. Daniel, who appears to be completely secure in himself, becomes the victim of not only the fragile egos of the presidents and satraps, counsellors and governors, but also the surprisingly fragile ego of King Darius himself. What person so much needs to be actually worshipped that he would pass a law decreeing death to anyone who refuses to do so?
Unfortunately, I see these huge and fragile egos in play all over our (U.S.) national political scene. Not just among the politicians themselves, some of whom are trying to completely change the system in order to allow them to break laws and do reprehensible things without consequence in order to get their own way. But individual people in their daily discourse about politics can so easily get pulled into nastiness when their worldview is challenged. Before you know it, church councils or school boards or local community groups of any kind are backstabbing and scheming against one another.
God calls us into radical welcome, acceptance, openness. God calls us into radical service to others, across boundaries and differences. God loves us so ridiculously much in spite of ourselves and welcomes us to do the work of strengthening our own fragile egos through lives of love and service and the knowledge of that unconditional love. Daniel hears about the new ego-driven law of King Darius and he goes and does what is right in spite of the consequences. Can we be so bold in our own lives?
How, with God’s help, can I lovingly engage in disagreement with others in my life?
