I was musing on this morning's Gospel lesson. I'll admit this particular passage has always been a bit of a boggler for me. I can assent to the information, but as far as really "getting it" - no go. I have always left this one thinking that I could open up my arms and touch it - but the actual truth was like a giant balloon filling up a house, and I could only touch a small portion, but never get my arms around it. It was just filling up more and more - ready to burst the seams.
Gospel Luke 5:33-39
The scribes and Pharisees said to Jesus,
“The disciples of John the Baptist fast often and offer prayers,
and the disciples of the Pharisees do the same;
but yours eat and drink.”
Jesus answered them, “Can you make the wedding guests fast
while the bridegroom is with them?
But the days will come, and when the bridegroom is taken away from them,
then they will fast in those days.”
And he also told them a parable.
“No one tears a piece from a new cloak to patch an old one.
Otherwise, he will tear the new
and the piece from it will not match the old cloak.
Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins.
Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins,
and it will be spilled, and the skins will be ruined.
Rather, new wine must be poured into fresh wineskins.
And no one who has been drinking old wine desires new,
for he says, ‘The old is good.’”
“The disciples of John the Baptist fast often and offer prayers,
and the disciples of the Pharisees do the same;
but yours eat and drink.”
Jesus answered them, “Can you make the wedding guests fast
while the bridegroom is with them?
But the days will come, and when the bridegroom is taken away from them,
then they will fast in those days.”
And he also told them a parable.
“No one tears a piece from a new cloak to patch an old one.
Otherwise, he will tear the new
and the piece from it will not match the old cloak.
Likewise, no one pours new wine into old wineskins.
Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins,
and it will be spilled, and the skins will be ruined.
Rather, new wine must be poured into fresh wineskins.
And no one who has been drinking old wine desires new,
for he says, ‘The old is good.’”
As the lesson was read, and re-read...my thoughts drifted to my life - and the lives of my friends. The lesson, for me, centered on the desires of my heart - of my life. This week, it seems there were some babies born, and there were a lot friends' babes starting new adventures at school, many for the first time. And, I have longed for that season to start in my life. (just like I longed for the season of marriage to start in my life, a few moons ago)
I really struggle with covetous comparisons. I want a different life; I want to be a mom. But, to take my friends' lives or struggles and try to put that onto my own - would mirror exactly what Jesus talks about here. It would be Ludacris. (Blogger keeps changing the spelling to be the rapper's name.)
It does not match. To take on theirs would cause the wine to spill - or completely ruin the garment. I cannot take on my friends' experiences or lives; I can only take on mine. Our lives are seasons, and some are longer than others; some changes are subtle - like moving from Arizona summer to Arizona fall. Some are sudden and dramatic - like a Halloween ice storm ushering in an early winter. But, they all come in due time for each of us. When it is time to embrace the new skin, the old will fade - and the new will come.
I am reminded of these to verses: "God makes everything beautiful in its time;" and "Behold, I am making all things new."
Amen. Let it be so.
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God made you beautiful, inside, outside, and upside down - Family/Friend
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