blessed differences?

Thursday October 18th, Luke 17: 11-13 It happened that as he made his way toward Jerusalem, he crossed over the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten men, all lepers, met him. They kept their distance but raised their voices, calling out, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" 14-16 Taking a good look at them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." What! Show ourselves to the priest!?! They have never done anything, we’ve tried that before, I don’t believe in the priests’ authority, I believe in God and all that but……….. I don’t put much stock in organized religion, and on and on and on………………… Humans have a tendency to feel that God should intervene in their lives in a special and personal way. Then they have something to compare, “my personal intervention is better than your personal intervention” sort of childishness. God has given us the gift of religion, and many different religions and faiths, so we all have an opportunity to connect with God in a way that is culturally relevant to us. It is the human condition that turns these blessed differences into things like intifada’s, jihad’s, and born again rapture theology, or perhaps it is our human condition with a little nudge from Screwtape or Satan or some such.