Wednesday August 5th: The annoying other

“Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us.”

Matthew 15:21-28

A few hours after I had thanked God for the opportunity to serve Him, this desire and all empathy disappeared behind annoyance and inconvenience.

I did not follow the example of Jesus in not saying a word.

Like the disciples, I wished to send away this annoying other.

Today, everyone is carrying a burden, including those in ministry. It is easy to understand wanting to dismiss inconvenience.

One of the many things we can learn from Jesus’s silence, this mother who “keeps calling out after” them and the response of the disciples, is that in these times, ministry requires us to be more inclusive, more engaging; to listen with respect and reverence and to interact with messy, traumatized and inconvenient people, rather than send them away.

May we, who sometimes can be annoying to others, as others are annoying to us, be transformed through such interactions. Some of these annoying others can teach us a thing or two as they humbly demonstrate persistent and obstinate faith, which brings healing.