Thursday – 3rd Week of Easter

Reading – Acts 8:26-40

Distractions!

On the Road to Gaza

I decided to water my garden. As I turn on the hose, I look over at my car and decide my car needs washing.  As I start toward the garage, I notice that there is mail on the porch table that I brought up from the mailbox earlier. I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car.  I lay my car keys down on the table, put the junk mail in the garbage can under the table, and notice that the can is full. So, I decide to put the bills back on the table and take out the garbage first.

But then I think, since I'm going to be near the mailbox when I take out the garbage anyway, I may as well pay the bills first. I take my checkbook off the table and see that there is only one check left.  My extra checks are in my desk in the study, so I go inside the study to my desk where I find the can of Coke that I had been drinking. I'm going to look for my checks, but first I need to push the Coke aside so that I don't accidentally knock it over. I see that the Coke is getting warm and I decide I should put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold.

As I head toward the kitchen with the Coke, a vase of flowers on the counter catches my eye; they need to be watered. I set the Coke down on the counter and I discover my reading glasses I've been searching for all morning.  I decide I better put them back on my desk, but first I'm going to water the flowers. I set the glasses back down on the counter, fill a container with water and suddenly I spot the TV remote. Someone left it on the kitchen table.  I realize that tonight when we go to watch TV, I will be looking for the remote, but I won't remember that it's on the kitchen table, so I decide to put it back in the den where it belongs. But first I'll water the flowers.

I pour some water in the flowers, but quite a bit of it spills on the floor. So I set the remote back down on the table, get some towels and wipe up the spill. Then, I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do.

At the end of the day:

the car isn't washed

the bills aren't paid

there is a warm can of Coke sitting on the counter

the flowers don't have enough water

there is still only one check in my checkbook

I can't find the remote

I can't find my glasses

and I still don't remember what I did with the car keys!!!!!

Life is full of distractions!  We all know that feeling!  We have a simple job in mind and too often we get sidetracked, waylaid, from the task at hand!  What to do?   What to do?

So a little background as we reflect on today’s reading from the Acts of the Apostles!  The followers of Jesus are already experiencing persecution and suffering.  They have been banned from the synagogues and the Temple, no longer able to worship as Jews.  The Apostles have appointed 7 men to assist in the mission; they lay hands on them and commission them as deacons.  One of them, Stephen, has just been stoned to death.  Many are fleeing Jerusalem, scattering to other locations.  And Saul, yet to be knocked off his horse, is going house to house, dragging out Christians to be tortured, arrested and even killed.  And Philip, another deacon, is led by an angel to leave the city and travel to Gaza.  With all that is going on it stands to reason that Philip could be a bit distracted!  You think?

But not so fast……………when he crosses paths with an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Queen, Philip takes the time to instruct the man in the meaning of the Scripture and to proclaim Jesus’ message.  And then at the request of the Ethiopian, he baptizes him into the Faith! 

In spite of all the hardships he has faced, in spite of his grief over the death of Stephen and all the worries and concerns about his fellow Christians, Philip does not let himself be distracted from the mission.

What about us?  Are we continuing on the path (to the Kingdom)?  Are we proclaiming the message of Christ in our words and actions?  Or are we easily distracted by the temptations and anxieties of the world around us?  What are the distractions in our life that divert us from our mission?

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