There are times when our emotions blind us. Whether the emotion we feel is love, and it blinds us from certain truths; or the emotion is sadness, and it blinds us from hope; or the emotion is anxiety, and it blinds us from progression.
One of the main emotions portrayed in today’s reading is an emotion I know very well. It is the emotion of anger, an emotion that blinds us from goodness and peace. I only recently learned the strength of this emotion, and the power it has to overpower everything about yourself, your choices, and the people that surround you. This feeling of relentless instability caused by an inability to see reason can destroy someone. It has, on several occasions, nearly destroyed me. My testimony has less to do with anger, but more to do with how I saw myself in Joseph. It has to do with the vivid perspective the reading gave us of his brothers, who portrayed the emotion of fear and genuine concern.
I remember being in Joseph’s shoes, I can imagine the feelings of betrayal and hurt he must have been feeling. As this reading brings me back into a state I wish I didn’t know all so well, I remember how difficult it was for me to see things from anyone else’s perspective, much less my own. The reading gives those of us with a history where anger has affected us, reason to believe that forgiveness, if not already given, is not only a possibility, but it is what God intends for us. Joseph’s brothers, so fearful of their brother’s wrath after their father’s death, swallowed their pride and begged for Joseph’s forgiveness. And Joseph, willing and courageous, tearfully obliged.
In our lives, those who have angered us, betrayed us, or hurt us, may never ask for forgiveness. They may never fall to their knees before us in tearful recognition of our pain. God intends for us to forgive anyways. He asks us not to hold ill feelings, or grudges against any one of our brothers and sisters within him. He reminds us that such a burden could kill us. As Joseph not only forgave his brothers, but took care of them and their families, he lived to be one hundred and ten. A ripe age, reached in dignity and without the burden of anger to hold him back.
Joseph, and the disciples in Christ that surround us everyday, serve as fruitful reminders that faithful leaders and teachers surround us everyday. These reminders, portrayed in the gospel proclamation, tell us that we must not become boastful of our ability to forgive, but rather humble in our unburdened existence.
no disciple is above his teacher, no slave is above his master
God places these gifts of knowledge, a wealth of information, in places to find throughout our lives, to reconcile with him that we intend to become like our teachers, and not surpass them. Not divinely, nor physically. These small gifts, we are so blessed with in our lives, give us strength everyday to become preachers of his word. To take on the qualities of that small gift in a loud voice, spanning the lives of others.
To want to take away pain of those that suffer, is to have compassion. To teach those who know little, is to have humility.
To forgive those who have caused us pain, is what God wants us to remind the world, is our greatest gift if we have the courage to accept it.
