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Reflection from our Co-Pastors - Tuesday January 12, 2023
What a Difference a Day Makes
Borrowing a line from a song that Dinah Washington made popular in 1960, “What a difference a day makes”…
Our opportunities to experience the Gospel arise at the most unexpected and in opportune times, any day, and any time! The Thursday morning before Christmas, December 19, the Larimer County Office of Emergency Management called Mary of Magdala. They were cooperating with Denver help shelter asylum seekers from the southern border. They reached out to certain churches to ask for help. They said everything was provided by the Red Cross and the Food Bank except a roof and heat.
What a difference a day makes…serendipitously, the 301-Co Op met that night and said ‘yes.’ It so sounds like Mary’s affirmation. Trinity’ Leadership co-chairs then called an emergency meeting the very next day to review the request. They said ‘Yes.’ Sounds like Mary’s affirmation again. Certainly, the Mother of the World was watching out for her children, both those in need and those who said ‘Yes.’ She loves all her children.
What a difference a day makes… one of the pastors called for volunteers at his church and a couple of us volunteered. And what a difference. It is so hard to convey how misleading the media is, spreading fear about other humans who are just like us only in crises. How can we experience this sameness, see the same spark of life we talk about and profess, realize we all have the same needs for safety and security, food and shelter, and acceptance. The greatest of these is Love, says St. Paul (1Corinthians 13:13) and here in Fort Collins in Peak Community Church, the greatest of these is love, acceptance.
What a difference a day makes… we all find peace the same way, through acceptance. Peace is seeing the spark of life in someone’s eye who doesn’t speak your language, who is a different color, whose music is different, whose food is different. Even in their crises, our friends offer their food; sharing is everywhere. Despite walking for three months, with only a sister or brother, or alone, sharing whatever is available is the order of the day. So I share too…a vest, a rosary.
What a difference a day makes…eating together at the table of Jesus; eating food made by the hands of a woman from Venezuela; enjoying the Mulberry St. pool together. All this helps us dismantle our false understanding of ‘All.’ To experience each other as humans, as siblings in Christ, is God’s Way.
What a difference a day makes…may you be blessed with the opportunity to share time with the spark of Christ in each one of us, similar and dissimilar. May you be blessed with Mary’s ‘Yes’ when asked to help.
“Blessed are those who work for peace: they will be called children of God. “ (Matt 5: 9)
O Holy One, we lift our hearts to you in praise and wonder. We ask that your Spirit bring forth fruit from us as we answer ‘Yes’ when the call comes to help. May our hearts, as the heart of Christ, be open to hearing your call. Guide us to see you in all and each. Amen
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"What a Diff'rence a Day Made", also recorded as "What a Difference a Day Makes", is a popular song originally written in Spanish by María Grever, a Mexican songwriter, in 1934 with the title "Cuando vuelva a tu lado" ("When I Return to Your Side") and first recorded by Orquesta Pedro Vía that same year. It became popular in the US in 1960 by Dinah Washington.
Biblical translations from The Inclusive Bible by Priests for Equality, 2007.
Repeated references to Mary’s ‘yes’ refer to the Annunciation, and all Mary’s ‘yes’ the rest of her life as the Mother of Jesus.
Image by Víctor Mendoza from Pixabay
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