Dependency, when it represents true need, can be a grace.
In this Sunday’s reading from 1 Kings, the widow of
Zarephath offers Elijah a cake made of the last of her flour, her final sustenance
in a time of drought. She is not a
member of Elijah’s faith community, yet Elijah’s exhortation, Do not be afraid, allows her to make an
extraordinary leap of faith and embrace God’s action in her life. Any wall she may have had between the God of
Israel and herself crumbles when she allows God to act through her to feed
Elijah; her generosity in spite of extreme vulnerability is life-giving,
creating justice in a way nothing else can. And she herself will find astonishing
sustenance in grace.
Likewise, the widow in Mark’s Gospel gives from her need,
contributing two small coins, all she had,
to the temple treasury, an offering that would have been audibly insignificant
as it fell into the metal receptacle of the collection box. The proportion of the widow’s offering in terms
of her own wealth suggests that her life will be diminished because of her
sacrifice. But in fact, Jesus suggests, because of her great generosity, her
own life will be enhanced, graced by Jesus’ blessing.
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