Beginning, Middle, and End

Ez 2: 2-5
2 Cor 12: 7-10
Mark 6: 1-6
Psalm 123

I noticed for the first time today that in the three stories from the Bible that comprise the July 8th readings, we have three stories of suffering for the gift of prophecy.

Ezekiel begins with the Spirit entering the prophet to "set me on my feet", implying that he's coming off a fall.

Paul is most explicit about the angel of Satan tormenting him.

Jesus, after preaching and doing wonders, finds rejection amongst those who mattered most to his early life.

The psalm is about turning to God to end our suffering or in fear of his rage.

And I think how pain, suffering, even falling down are inevitable in the human condition.

I think about it because I wonder how often we mistake misfortune for a sign that something just "wasn't meant to be".  Pop culture is full of the romantic version, but I know my spiritual life is full of me looking upward and saying, "Okay, I get it, you want me to stay home!" when I'm feeling poorly or taking a clumsy moment as a rebuke to slow down or a series of unlucky breaks as a sign that I'm on the wrong path.

But suffering, setbacks, even ill omens litter the paths of the prophets.  Beginning, middle, and end of the story.  Ever present in their prayers.

I think it's the easy way out to say that things going wrong are a sign that things need to change.  Not because we shouldn't fight the good fight, not because a lot about our lives and our world isn't broken, but because we shouldn't let the minutia decide which battles we fight.

We all have thorns in the flesh.  It doesn't mean we're on the wrong path.