Today’s find: Patterns

It was my Sweetie, the artist, who pointed it out – how the smooth blanket of snow on our deck had morphed into something new, something a bit more interesting.

In the melting, a beautiful pattern had emerged: Peaks. Slopes. Dark crevasses.

It’s all gone today – the once-wintry blanket powerless to resist the warmth of a southwesterly wind. But my memory of the pattern remains.

How many peaks? How many valleys? How do you even count them – the patterns that tend to emerge over time in your life? 

And the crevasses: Don’t get me started on the crevasses. Dark voids, sinful habits, thoughtless choices. ‘Go along, get along’ … and step by step, it seems, the whole bloomin’ world continues to go blind. We mindlessly (or perhaps willfully) follow each other into the pit.

All too often, that’s the accepted way – the human way. We are slaves to our patterns, bound to them by chains of self-centeredness, self-righteousness.

Then into this unreflective machine wanders Jesus. He’s the Pattern-Breaker, the Grace-Giver … as we are reminded in this week’s gospel passage, an extended riff on the Beatitudes. Jesus has an entirely different set of patterns in mind for us: “Love your enemies.” “Lend without expecting repayment.” “Be merciful.” “Stop judging.” “Stop condemning.” “Forgive.”

So many peaks to climb. And so easy for us to lose our footing on the slippery slopes of everyday life. That’s when it’s good to remember that Jesus offers us forgiveness, too. Christ’s mercy will seep into the dark places of our days, if only we invite Him in. His grace can transform the moments that might otherwise drag us down.

He does it, and He’ll do it again and again. That’s the remarkable pattern Christ promises us: “a good measure, packed together, shaken down and overflowing … poured into you lap.”

Let us pause now…to recall that we are in the presence of the Holy & Merciful One.

IHS