Friday, January 15, 2021

Today’s reflection is written by Deacon Karen Katamay.

“The woman took of the fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate.” —Genesis 3:6

“Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit?” —Luke 6:39

I find the passages today to be a really interesting pairing. The first passage is from the story of Adam and Eve and their fall from God’s grace into sin. Yet I can’t help but wonder—if God would have already given them the knowledge of good and evil, might Eve have recognized the serpent was evil and not have listened to him? Don’t parents try to teach their children right vs. wrong, good vs. bad? True, Adam and Eve disobeyed God by eating the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil when they were told not to, and God was right to punish them. But might they have been better able to resist if they had recognized the serpent as evil?

Yet evil is not always as clear as it is in the story of Adam and Eve. And indeed, many times we are tempted to put what we want to do ahead of what God wants us to do. Many times we are also tempted to follow others who are doing wrong. In cases like this, we are the blind following the blind, falling into the pit of trouble, instead of following the guide who sees and guides us on the right path—Jesus Christ.

Evil will always be tempting us to follow it blindly, so we need to follow Christ instead. Christ will give us the strength to resist evil and lead us in better ways. As we pray in the Lord’s prayer, we should be asking every day for God to lead us away from temptation and deliver us from evil. And if we do that, our true guide, Jesus, will be there to lead us in the ways that are good! Amen.