Wednesday of the Sixth Week of Easter

When you meet someone new, if you find that you have a common interest, or a common friend, all of a sudden that person seems less like a stranger to you than a friend you just haven’t met. We all feel comfortable with things that we know and are familiar with, and it’s universal to feel a little put off, or not quite at ease with things we don’t have any experience with.

What struck me in today’s reading was how Paul makes a connection with the Athenians by identifying common ground he saw in their piety. The Areopagus was near several temples built to honor a plethora or gods and goddesses. Paul being a devote Jew, would appear not to have anything in common with these people. Paul however looks beyond the surface, and focuses on their desire to connect with the creator, telling them he can identify the “unknown God” they have built a shrine to. He then introduces the idea of the one God who has created everything, the “Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in sanctuaries made by human hands, nor is he served by human hands because he needs anything. Rather it is he who gives to everyone life and breath and everything”. Paul goes on to discuss resurrection, and while not everyone buys it, some do, and become followers and converts who spread the Good News.

I’d like to think that even those who didn’t convert right away let the seed that Paul planted grow and eventually flower. The bottom line is that we are all connected, to each other and to God, we just have to look past our differences, find that common thread like Paul did, and build on it.

Carol Dellatore