"But they remained silent. For they had been discussing among themselves on the way who was the greatest."
Mark 9:34
How human of the disciples! How very human of us when we do the exact same thing! It's human nature to jockey for position, isn't it? It feels like there's a hierarchy--an order of people, and we humans like that order. We appreciate having everyone in a predictable, logical order. But Jesus turned all that upside down when he put a small child on his lap and said, "Whoever welcomes this child welcomes me..." (v. 37) Children, at that time, we not highly valued in society, so Jesus' action was surprising. What if we turned the world upside down in our time and put those who seem to be de-valued on top? Pope Francis does that all the time when he speaks of the plight of immigrants and refugees. Jesus is reaching through 2000 years of human hierarchy and telling us our "order" of people is all wrong. Welcoming those who struggle the most in this life and putting their welfare before the powerful, before kings and queens and presidents, is the true order of the Kingdom of God. And what does that look like on our Feels-Like-a-Monday Tuesday? Love, heidi
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