In the quiet pre-dawn while my family slept, I took out the peanut butter. The jar felt light in my hand, and I made a mental note to add it to the grocery list so we wouldn’t run out. Unscrewing the lid, I anticipated the creamy, salty goodness I would spread on my cinnamon raisin toast.
There was nothing in the jar.
Someone had eaten all the peanut butter and put the empty jar back in the refrigerator. My eyes narrowed as I fought the urge to yell at Someone, whoever it was, for messing up my morning, for denying me what I felt I was entitled to have. I wanted to punish Someone by waking Someone up, so Someone could feel as irritated as I did.
Sometimes our humanity trips us up (especially when food is involved).
The Church was born of ordinary people, right in the middle of their humanity. Following Jesus’ death and Resurrection, they had to figure out what it meant to be the Church. How would they navigate their relationships? Who was in charge? How would they worship? How would they deal with civil authorities who were willing to kill them to extinguish their message?
It makes me wonder what Jesus was thinking, leaving His Church in the hands of regular people just like us.
The thing is, though, that’s not all Jesus left.
He also left His peace, a peace unlike anything the world can give.
He also left instructions—don’t be afraid.
He also sent the Holy Spirit.
Jesus never said it would be easy. His Church was too important to fail. But Jesus knew it wouldn’t fail. It became manifest in His followers, in their daily interactions with each other. Our humanity as the Church is what allows us to relate to the world. But the way we as the Church are in the world has to be different, because that’s what draws people to us.
What Jesus gives us makes us different from the world . . . and that’s exactly how we need to be to share Him with them.
Sometimes our humanity trips us up. // @dere_abbey Click To TweetCome, Holy Spirit.
Abbey Dupuy is the Assistant Theological Editor for Blessed is She and writes her life as a homeschooling mama of four frequently barefoot children. She is a graduate student in liturgical theology at Saint John’s University. In her spare time, she enjoys running, gardening, coffee, and cookbooks, not usually at at the same time. She is a contributing author to our children’s devotional prayer book called Rise Up and author of our Blessed Conversations: The Virtues study found here.
Thank you for such a beautiful site!!! Would love to see a sale on those beautiful 5 by 5 saint pics as I missed it by one day last time. Blessings ❣️
<3 <3 <3
Peanut butter, Peace, and the Holy Spirit pulls a thread out of Scripture where I surely can identify with getting stuck on peanut butter emotions with thoughts momentarily stuck in my mouth as the words push themselves out of into a whispered muffled reproach meant for my ears only!
As I reflect on this Scripture, I am reminded of His Peace that passes all understanding. In other words, the struggles are still there for me, churning in the background but His Peace in the midst of my struggles is a much welcomed Presence in my soul. Tomorrow, there may be jam all over the outside of the jar but I’m not going to put myself in a jam over who did it? I’ll just stick to the lesson learned from the ‘rooftop’ peanut butter experience and know that Jesus is there teaching me through my struggles about His Peace.
Love this☺️💐🙏
Yay! <3 <3
Thank you. Jesus did not leave us alone! He is with us still, nurturing us through the sacraments and leading us with the Holy Spirit.
Your last sentence really spoke to me: “What Jesus gives us makes us different from the world . . . and that’s exactly how we need to be to share Him with them.” It reminds me that each of us is unique and made in God’s image. We are called to love and serve Him as ourselves, not as anyone else.
Yes and amen!