Do you remember The Patty Duke Show? The theme song runs through my head occasionally. Here are
some of the lyrics to remind you:
Meet Cathy, who's
lived most everywhere,
From Zanzibar to
Barclay Square.
But Patty's only seen
the sights
A girl can see from
Brooklyn Heights --
What a crazy pair!
But they're cousins,
Identical cousins all
the way.
One pair of matching
bookends,
Different as night and
day.
Why mention them this
week? Because Mary and Elizabeth (John the Baptist’s mother) were relatives –
making Jesus and John the Baptist relatives who may have even been second
cousins.
I don’t think they
looked identical to each other – but this week’s Bible reading from Matthew
11:16-19, 25-30 shows that though they were related and integral parts of our
faith story, they were different as night and day.
John stayed away from,
well, just about anything that might be considered fun. Jesus on the other
hand, spent time eating and drinking and having fun.
There’s a whole lot
more to talk about in this week’s Bible reading, but I like this little part
that reinforces the idea that there is room in God’s neighborhood for very
different kinds of people with very different ways of doing things.
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