Who Are We?

A Reflection on the First Reading for July 5th, 2020:
Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

---

Zechariah
9.9-10

Thus says the Lord:
Rejoice greatly, O daughter Zion!
Shout aloud, O daughter Jerusalem!
Lo, your king comes to you;
triumphant and victorious is he,
humble and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

He will cut off the chariot from Ephraim
and the war horse from Jerusalem;
and the warrior’s bow shall be cut off,
and he shall command peace to the nations;
his dominion shall be from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
​

Pause. Pray.

And then read more...

We’re all wired a little differently. 


In an outside-me-serious crisis, I’m calm. Oddly so. Things look like they’re going to fall apart — someone nearby is hurt, or a car I’m in is literally spinning out of control — and there’s this stillness inside me. It’s like everything slows down and I can puzzle through the possible ways to help shape a good outcome. 


In an all-around-me-chaotic crisis, I’m exhilarated! The status quo is shaken — an unexpected hail storm at a campsite, or an eleventh hour change in a long planned event — and there’s this energy that rises up in me and I feel like I’m soaring as I help gather people together to solve the problem. 


I seem to walk through life thinking there’s always a way through.
Until there isn’t. 
I can’t help someone get better. An opportunity is lost. A relationship ends. I break something, or someone, or myself.  My chariot is cut off from my war horse. My battle bow is broken. 


In an inside-me-cavernous crisis there’s two ways to go. Rejoice in song or shout. I shout softly in the attic, or ferociously in the car. I sing everywhere else. Truthfully, there’s a third thing I do. I ignore it. Then the internal crisis intensifies until I eventually cave into shouting, or remember to sing. Remember Who I’m singing to. Remember where my help comes from. 
I Lift My Eyes Up






Who are You?  Who do You show Yourself to be?
King
triumphant 
victorious
humble


What do You do?
come close
ride gently
cut our defences
defend us
command peace


What do You have?
a donkey
a double-edged sword
peace
dominion


Who are we?  Who do You reveal us to be?
daughters


What do we do?
rejoice
shout
receive
rely
submit


What do we have?
a Father
a King
a Saviour
a common bond


We may be wired differently, but we are daughters of the same Father. There is no us and them. He speaks peace into existence in all of us, wherever we are on this blue marble, or whatever step we are on in our journey Home toward our Dad. His reach is from sea to sea. The effluent of His influence is like one River eventually flowing over all lands. There is one Source of life, and we all drink from it whether we know it or not.






Women are women, wherever I go. Even when communicating without a common language with women in another country, I have found this to be true. Even when meeting women from centuries ago through reading their writings, I have found this to be true. Wherever and whenever we exist, the Three-in-One expresses something feminine of Himself in us — in His own image, male and female, He created them (Genesis 1:27). We are all His daughters. The diversity is deep and beautiful, and it does not divide us. It shows us He made us.



​
​Noreen Smith

---