We live with the continuing tension between holier impulses that encourage us to see the image of God in all human beings and the reality that some of us choose not to see that glimpse of the divine, and instead use other people as means to an end. We\u2019re seeing something similar right now in the changing attitudes and laws about same-sex relationships, as many people come to recognize that different is not the same thing as wrong. For many people, it can be difficult to see God at work in the world around us, particularly if God is doing something unexpected.<\/p>\n
There are some remarkable examples of that kind of blindness in the readings we heard this morning, and slavery is wrapped up in a lot of it. Paul is annoyed at the slave girl who keeps pursuing him, telling the world that he and his companions are slaves of God. She is quite right. She\u2019s telling the same truth Paul and others claim for themselves.[1] But Paul is annoyed, perhaps for being put in his place, and he responds by depriving her of her gift of spiritual awareness. Paul can\u2019t abide something he won\u2019t see as beautiful or holy, so he tries to destroy it. It gets him thrown in prison. That\u2019s pretty much where he\u2019s put himself by his own refusal to recognize that she, too, shares in God\u2019s nature, just as much as he does \u201d\u201c maybe more so! The amazing thing is that during that long night in jail he remembers that he might find God there \u201d\u201c so he and his cellmates spend the night praying and singing hymns.<\/p>\n