The first reading of this past Sunday gives us insight into the experience of the
prophet Jeremiah. He is speaking God’s word and finding that the people around him don’t want to hear it. They are living through one major disaster after another. They don’t want to hear prophesies of more bad news.
He finds himself alienated from friends and family. Right from the beginning, when he first heard God calling, he pushed back, saying, “I do not know how to speak. I am only a child.” Now, as he meets resistance, he wants to retreat, but he finds there is “a fire in my belly, a burning in my bones” that compels him to keep speaking the words God is giving him.
Perhaps we have felt that tension. We feel called to continue to put an unpopular issue on the agenda, speak out about an injustice, or warn those around us of a problem that we can see is worsening. And
yet, when we do speak, we experience push-back from others. We may be criticised or even marginalised and excluded.
We may feel tempted to back down or withdraw. To take the easier
path of saying nothing. But we know that we can’t. Like Jeremiah, something within us compels us to continue to speak out. It is part of God’s call to us in the world, even though it costs us.
What is
it that God has put on your heart as something you have a sense of conviction about?
What will you stand for even when it makes you unpopular with those around you?
Reflections by Annemarie Paulin-Campbell
