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Morning Meditation
September 22, 2026
Reading: Luke 8:19-21
Then his mother and his brothers came to him, but they could not reach him because of the crowd. And he was told, ‘Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.’ But he said to them, ‘My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.’.
Meditation: Jo Ann B. Jones
At some point in my high school years I read and fell in love with this poem by e. e. cummings.
if everything happens that can't be done
(and anything's righter
than books
could plan)
the stupidest teacher will almost guess
(with a run
skip
around we go yes)
there's nothing as something as one
For some reason I remembered that last line as - there’s nothing as something as we. It seemed to celebrate the value of community, lifting up its integrity and persistence. Or at least that was what I hoped for, that there would be continuity and permanence, in whatever “we” meant. As an only child I desperately wanted to belong to a larger group. Perhaps I was naive. Yet, I wasn’t too far off the mark in terms of what cummings meant. His was an expression of scrappy optimism offered up in an era of disillusionment. Compared to other work from the same time that was doom-laden, this one fights cynicism with pure, defiant joy. The poem argues that living, reciprocal experience generates truth and novelty that formal knowledge cannot predict. This “ nothing as something as we” seems to offer some solace to the difficulty of today’s passage from Luke.
It’s a tough passage - haunting and dark, discouraging and lonely. There is no nothing as something as we here. There is a truth here that is very difficult to face and accept. It is very tough to see Jesus’ family as not sympathetic to him. He is speaking out of his hard and bitter experience. There is, however, a great and practical truth here. It does happen that someone finds himself closer to people unrelated to him than his own family. The deepest relationships in life may not be based upon blood - some are of mind and heart. These support common purposes, principles, interests, life goals. These common purposes give rise to kinship. What does this mean for the Kingdom of God? One might think of it as a society on earth where God’s will is fulfilled perfectly as in heaven. Jesus consistently succeeded in fully acting in accordance with God’s will. For humankind this is indeed a struggle. When a person subjects his/her will to God’s will a kinship does arise. When one looks to God and says, “Do with me as you will,” then there is an opening to joy. But we must remember that the loyalty that Jesus gave to God is one that only Jesus has to give. It renders him a demanding master. HIs love of God is exclusive. Human beings offer love to one person at a time. That love is exclusive is true for us. Yet we believe that those who seek God’s will through Jesus Christ become part of a family that includes all the saints in earth and in heaven. Yet we cannot resolve all our relationships on earth so tidily.
Prayer for the Future of the Human Race
O God our heavenly Father, you have blessed us and given us dominion over all the earth. Increase our reverence before the mystery of life, and give us new insight into your purposes for the human race, and new wisdom and determination in making for its future in accordance with your will, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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