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Disruption


Sometimes we experience life as being full of disruptions. They can be small, like when our plans for the day are changed because of some random occurrence out of our control. Disruptions can also be large, like when wemove from one place to another.

Recently there have been significant disruptions for many people right here in Alberta. Thousands have been evacuated from their homes on short notice because of the wildfires. Some returned home only to find themselves once again being evacuated because of flooding. Disruptions like these can happen at a moment’s notice and not only change our physical lives, but also our perspective on things, possibly altering our priorities.


Even though disturbances to our organized lives can be chaotic and sometimes devastating, a disruption can also lead to the creation of something new and unexpected. The formation of a pearl can only happen when an irritant, or disruptor slips into an oyster shell. The destruction from a wildfire can actually become beneficial to the regeneration of a forest.

This week’s reading from the Gospel of Matthew is one of those stories that paints a picture of Jesus as a disruptor of the status quo. “Don’t think I’ve come to bring peace to the earth! I’ve come not to bring peace but a sword!” What? The message Jesus broughtinto the world was not always the message people were expecting to hear, nor the message they wanted to hear. That’s because it may have caused them to change their thinking, or change how they lived their lives. Jesus the disruptor, has a difficult message for us to hear, one that may require us to give up our own agenda, in order to create an
otherwise hidden gem.

Peace and joy,
Nancy