I like the sense of security that rules and traditions provide. Lately, however, I have found myself in situations where that kind of certainty is murky, at best. So much is changing in my little world, and I have no tried-and-true course of action to ensure that everything turns out as I would prefer
This week’s scripture reveals how easily we can confuse faithfulness with habits and rituals we have turned into prescriptions for success.* Faithfulness is about letting go. Ritual can become a way of keeping us in control. Jesus challenges us to be aware of when we have become so focused on our traditions that we lose sight of what those traditions were meant to serve. What matters, he says, is what comes from the heart.
I have a lot to learn from the Canaanite woman. She comes to Jesus without certainty about what will happen, but with faith that coming to Jesus is the right thing to do. She is initially met with silence and even rejection. Yet she stays. She listens. She responds. She keeps asking.
Her persistence isn’t about forcing a particular outcome. It is about refusing to walk away from the possibility of grace. She remains present long enough for something unexpected to happen. She inspires me to stay present when I would rather move toward some sort of closure, resisting the temptation to decide too quickly what God is or is not doing, and loosening my grip on what I think the best outcome looks like.
Taken together, this week’s stories help me see that faith is less about having the right answers at my fingertips than having a heart open enough to recognize grace when it comes—and trusting that even what looks like crumbs can be abundance.
