Have you ever cooked a meal that looked fantastic, but tasted terrible? Or designed something that looked beautiful but didn't work? I've certainly done both -- it's so frustrating to get a big piece of the project right, but then to completely miss the mark on the really important part. Sometimes, our focus is wrong.
When Nehemiah finished re-building the wall, the project was partially done, but restoring Jerusalem was about more than just building a physical wall. It's important to have a wall, because that granted physical safety, but we know that life requires more than physical safety. To be physically safe but not mentally safe can be imprisoning in its own way. In this instance, the city had been physically restored, but the spiritual practices of the people needed repair as well, so Ezra, the priest, comes along to restore the spiritual life of the people. There was rebuilding work still to be done, and no one wanted to leave the project half-done. So the people perked up and paid attention as Ezra read the Law.
May we make sure that we hit both sides as well. May we spend our time and energy in our relationship with God, and may we invest in our relationships with one another, too. It's about personal religion and communal religion. May we also recognize that people with material wealth may be lacking in areas, and may we realize that we are called to share spiritual and material gifts to care for all parts of all people.
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