Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“Then the Lord said to Cain, ‘Where is your brother Abel?’ He said, ‘I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?’ ”
NL Daily Devotion for Wednesday, September 11, 2019
by Daniel D. Maurer, Clergy Stuff
I find it ironic that we have this text assigned to the Narrative Lectionary daily readings falling on September 11th.
September 11th, for many, is one date when Americans can say exactly what they were doing and where they were when they heard the news that the planes had smashed into the twin towers and the Pentagon one that clear blue day in 2001. Can you? I know I can.
What I remember about that date from that time is the shock I felt. I imagined what it must have been like for those stuck up in that skyscraper, knowing that my death would come at any instant.
Today, it’s more complex. Of course I would never defend the terrorist’s actions on that fated day, but as I look into the past twenty years, I must consider the ways our country seems to behave to the rest of the world.
How is it that we, every year, tend to think of ourselves first before our brothers and sisters? My goodness, there’s even a campaign slogan to make us better, to make us “great” again. It’s ironic, too, because so often when people look back into our history (I’m speaking for America now, not Canada or other countries), the United States has many good people . . . but governments and those “good people” often forget the suffering of our brothers and sisters abroad.
Cain had a brother. Abel’s existence was all too short. The story teaches us that we seek to bury our lives in things that benefit us.
How might we change that reality?
Italics prayer or question to finish.
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