1 Corinthians 10.1-17
<!– 10 –><!– Warnings from Israels History –>
<!– 10 –>I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters,<!– +fGk brothers+e –> that our ancestors were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea,<!– 2 –>and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea,<!– 3 –>and all ate the same spiritual food,<!– 4 –>and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ.<!– 5 –>Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them, and they were struck down in the wilderness.
<!– 6 –>Now these things occurred as examples for us, so that we might not desire evil as they did.<!– 7 –>Do not become idolaters as some of them did; as it is written, ‘The people sat down to eat and drink, and they rose up to play.’<!– 8 –>We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day.<!– 9 –>We must not put Christ<!– +fOther ancient authorities read the Lord+e –> to the test, as some of them did, and were destroyed by serpents.<!– 10 –>And do not complain as some of them did, and were destroyed by the destroyer.<!– 11 –>These things happened to them to serve as an example, and they were written down to instruct us, on whom the ends of the ages have come.<!– 12 –>So if you think you are standing, watch out that you do not fall.<!– 13 –>No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.
<!– 14 –>Therefore, my dear friends,<!– +fGk my beloved+e –> flee from the worship of idols.<!– 15 –>I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say.<!– 16 –>The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a sharing in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a sharing in the body of Christ?<!– 17 –>Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.
slight change of grey sky
plum blossom beyond the fence
sandals not quite dry
Being pushed to the limit but being given the resources to meet the challenge may seem too neat. Any honest observation of real suffering suggests this is not how it is. but maybe beign honest about that tension is part of the deal. And maybe that tension of being pushed and having what we need speaks as much to how we take part in the mystery that there is anything at all as it describes particular social and political situations. Attentiveness to that mystery can start to shift things. It is awareness of taking part in what gives the possibility of being at all.
Morning Prayer today brings us the reading