Coracle Trust E-Reflections
Lent: David, receptivity with penance
Monday 21 March 2011
I don't take your words merely as words. Far from it. I listen to whatever makes you talk - whatever that is - and me listen. Shikichi Takahashi
The penitence of David with David and Nathan, Anonymous
“Then David confessed to Nathan, “I’ve sinned against God’”. 2 Samuel 12: 13
A high-octane encounter
In the midst of what was surely a rather high-octane encounter between Nathan and David (I imagine the servants trying to creep unnoticed from the room) David opens his hands and, in accepting his guilt, accepts the present moment as it. No bluster, no defence, no pretence or excuses. In the arc of the extraordinary story of David’s super-charged, dramatic life, this comes as a still point, a turning point, and David, in all of his power and prestige, his passionate nature, doesn’t miss it. His humble receptivity not just to the words of Nathan but to life as it is in the moment is exemplary.
Being real
I love how real David is in his greatness and his flawedness. I love that he at one moment acts with such monumental lack of judgement and then has the presence and awareness to be with the consequences. I read this passage again and pray to learn from that. I need to. Gus MacLeod Continuing the readings through John, 4:39-42