Richard Mallory

Dearly Beloved,

Today’s gospel is Luke’s delightful story of the lepers.

Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem, walking along the border between Israel and Samaria.   Anytime the word “Samaria” pops up in the gospels, think “outsiders”—”those kind of people.” Other signifiers: rejects, losers, impure.

Jesus is a border crosser. He shows again and again that no one is to be excluded. He rewrites the law. He blows it out of the water. Grace matters more than rules.

The ten lepers have grouped together in their misery. Only they accept one another. They are like the outliers who live on the medians of roadways hoping for a handout. A leper might be anyone labeled as undeserving or undesirable.

The group cries out to Jesus. Implicit is the deep hurt that begs and pleads for mercy. “See us, Jesus. Do something, Jesus.” Jesus declares they are healed and they need to follow the prescription of showing themselves to the priests in their new condition.

One returns to thank Jesus. He is doubly excluded. Not only has he been leprous but is also a Samaritan. Doubly repulsive. Jesus recognizes  his Samaritan identity and holds him up as an exemplar from the group for the way he expressed his gratitude.

This story is a text for Thanksgiving Day. Every day needs to be thanksgiving day. Let no day go by without tapping into your gratitude. Find something for which you are grateful. Let gratitude reside in your personal life and grow in our collective life. Keep it front and center.

Gratitude is an inoculation against selfing and  ego. It offers resistance to tendencies to isolate and hide out in one’s own concocted little ivory tower. It connects us back to our divine rootedness as children of God.

In such uncertain and disturbing times, gratitude serves to ground, remind, and orient us back to Source. I heartily recommend a book by Diana Butler Bass, Grateful: The Transformative Power of Giving Thanks. May we individually and collectively plumb the depths of this power.

—Richard