Where We Bury Our Umbilical Cord

In some indigenous traditions, mothers will bury each child’s umbilical cord to symbolize the child’s connection to the roots of their community and tradition. The passages this week ask us to consider our faith roots and connections. Ruth leaves what she knows to build community and connection in a new land, eventually being adopted into a new family of faith. The psalmist’s praise for God’s care for the poor, the oppressed, and the foreigner calls us to live out our inherited faith by doing God’s work in the world. The scribe’s encounter with Jesus in Mark invites us to consider what we have inherited as the most important law guiding our lives. And the writer of Hebrews reminds us that Christ’s work was greater than any we could ever do on our own. Ruth, the scribe, the psalmist, and Jesus the Christ are examples of those, named and anonymous, who have come before us in the faith.

Read Ruth 1:1-18. When have you left the familiar behind to set out into the unknown? Where did you experience God’s presence and help in that situation?
Read Psalm 146. When have you witnessed God at work in the world in a way that gave you hope about an otherwise seemingly hopeless situation?
Read Hebrews 9:11-14. How does the redemption offered in Christ’s death free you to worship the living God? What form does your worship take?
Read Mark 12:28-34. What does it mean to you to love your neighbor as you love yourself? How do you act on that commandment in your everyday life?