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Lenten Daily Reflection 2020-03-04

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Lenten Reflection for Wednesday, March 4 
Ellie Berlyn 

1 Corinthians 2:1-13

2When I came to you, brothers and sisters,* I did not come proclaiming the mystery* of God to you in lofty words or wisdom. 2For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. 3And I came to you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. 4My speech and my proclamation were not with plausible words of wisdom,* but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God.

6 Yet among the mature we do speak wisdom, though it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to perish. 7But we speak God’s wisdom, secret and hidden, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. 8None of the rulers of this age understood this; for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9But, as it is written,

‘What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
   nor the human heart conceived,
what God has prepared for those who love him’— 

10these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. 11For what human being knows what is truly human except the human spirit that is within? So also no one comprehends what is truly God’s except the Spirit of God. 12Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is from God, so that we may understand the gifts bestowed on us by God. 13And we speak of these things in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual things to those who are spiritual.*
 

So often I find myself impressed by people's words - their knowledge, their artful phrasing, their passion. I find myself in awe, and somehow slightly ashamed in myself, of how they know so much stuff or can phrase a sentence so prettily.
 
I believe in the saying you don't remember what a person says, but how they make you feel. However, I think I might sometimes choose to remember certain feelings more than others. Often when I think someone is smarter than me, more accomplished, prettier, or in some way has something that I find lacking, I am left with a feeling of inadequacy and disdain toward them. This leaves me resenting them and becoming defensive.
 
There are so many interactions I have that make me feel joyous and more than. Usually, they have little to do with the level of someone's knowledge or vocabulary. Things like agreeing with someone on the struggles of everyday life, sharing a song that you love, or simply sharing a laugh. I think there is room for me to place more focus on these feelings that bring me closer to others than comparing myself in some sort of smarts contest.
Posted by Ellie Berlyn 
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