Blogs are like breakfast
Something that should be apparent in the world these days is the difference between blogging and other mediums.
This is not a newspaper. I am not a reported. This is not an entry in a peer-reviewed journal or an encyclopedia. This blog is not a sermon. Because it publishes with great regularity (although not so far this month!) it is a direct reflection of the continuing ongoing thoughts in my life.
Trying to find a metaphor that best expresses the etiquette of a blog, I fell short. Luckily this metaphor came across my reader from swissmiss:
“There’s something sacred about reading a blog post on someone else’s site. It’s like visiting a friend’s house for a quick meal ’round the breakfast table. It’s personal — you’re in their space, and the environment is uniquely suited for idea exchange and uninterrupted conversation. In many ways, we should be treating our blogs like our breakfast tables. Be welcoming & gracious when you host, and kind & respectful when visiting.” – Trent Walton
As such, I have always tried to be respectful of those who take time to sit at this table. You are not required to sign in or even have a name associated with your comments. You are free to share as much as you like under a very open Creative Commons License.
Just a reminder to everyone that blogs are personal things. It required vulnerability. It requires time. It requires patience and commitment. It does not require readers or subscribers. Blogs are written for those who write them and we the readers are not mandated to read.
I am thankful for those who write (see "Change Agents" to the right) and allow me the opportunity to set up to their table and share in a meal. See how they are doing. Hear what they are thinking and walk away without a sense of reciprocity.
Where are the other nine?
Perhaps one person ran and told all the people she could.
Perhaps one person just plain forgot.
Perhaps one person could not find Jesus who was traveling across the land.
Perhaps one person one ran home to connect with his family.
Perhaps one person discovered a way to make money off the miracle.
Perhaps one person became a priest who felt a call after their mountain top experience.
Perhaps one person was just shocked and immobilized.
Perhaps one person just did not know how to thank Jesus.
Perhaps one person was so self-involved that he believed that he deserved to be healed and did not see a need to thank Jesus.
This text is often used to discuss that we ought to have an "attitude of gratitude" or how we ought to give thanks for our blessings.
And this is not a bad or wrong interpretation.
What I was considering the other day about this text is how the ones who did not return were all still convinced of the purity codes of their day. That is to say, they go to their priests who are symbols of the religious authorities and ones who could declare people "clean" or not. As such when those who went to the priests were ones who still affirmed the religious order of their day.
They still believed that there could be unclean people who ought to be separated from the clean people. While they were now clean, they themselves still bought into the idea that society could declare some people inferior. Perhaps they would even encounter another "unclean" person and stay away from them.
However, the one who returned to Jesus was the one who did may not have said thank you (the text says he only prostrated himself before Jesus). We can be certain though, that the one who returned rejected the system of declaring people clean and unclean. This one, did show himself to the Great Priest, and in doing so made a statement that he understands what Jesus understands - no one can declare another person subhuman. No one is unclean in the sight of God. No one is allowed to lord himself over others in such a way to perpetuate a discriminatory system.
Perhaps this is why Jesus asks where the other nine are? Perhaps Jesus is disappointed to see that only one in ten got his message and rejected the powers that be.
All ten were healed, but only one was set free. Only one broke away from the system that creates more unclean people.
Only one.
Quotes on Thankfulness
--Anonymous

Be the change by Jason Valendy is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.