Psalm 133 How pleasant it is when God’s people are together.
Matthew 15:10-28 A Canaanite mother challenges Jesus.
Progressive Christianity often talks about widening the circle of inclusion, pushing the boundaries between “us” and “them” until the boundaries disappear, and reaching out with compassion beyond the lines so often drawn around our faith. But what do we do when the new normal requires boundaries? When the physical act of reaching out can harm others or ourselves? And when the appropriate physical distance between people is determined by science and the new moral distance between “us” and “them” is easily discerned by facial coverings? The story of Jesus’ encounter with the Canaanite woman was a hard enough one to wrestle with in the time before Covid-19. It’s even harder amidst the pandemic when pharisaic law just seems like good health advice.