Repentance - May 20
Today’s Reading: Matt. 8:28-34
I’ve been reading The Barn: The Secret History of a Murder in Mississippi by Wright Thompson. It’s a fascinating and painful history of the Mississippi Delta, the cotton industry, and the forces that shaped the culture of the American South. I grew up in Memphis, a city deeply connected to the cotton trade, so the story feels personal as well.
At the center of the book is the lynching of Emmett Till, but Thompson widens the lens far beyond a single event. He explores how economics, race, power, violence, and memory all became intertwined over generations. The book exposes the ways systems and stories can shape human behavior, almost creating a sort of destiny, sometimes in deeply destructive ways.
I believe it is important to remember our history honestly, both the beauty and the brokenness, instead of hiding the painful parts to make ourselves more comfortable. Scripture does this too. One of the very first stories in the Bible is a brother killing another brother. The Bible rarely sanitizes humanity. Instead, it tells the truth about us and our capacity to do both good and bad. That honesty matters because healing cannot begin until what is hidden is brought into the light.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus encounters a man overwhelmed by forces he cannot control. The man is isolated, tormented, and cut off from community. However we understand the demons in this story, the deeper truth is clear: Christ confronts whatever distorts the image of God in a human life. This is why we call the Gospel transformational.
There are things within us and around us that wound, divide, and diminish human dignity: fear, resentment, shame, addiction, hatred, violence, pride, and what the Barn so beautifully names, greed. Some are deeply personal, and some are woven into families, communities, and histories much larger than ourselves. Yet Jesus moves toward the suffering man, to call out what corrupts and destroys his inner self to make him whole. Restoration begins when truth is faced honestly in the presence of God.
Repentance is not about humiliation. It is about freedom. It is the courageous act of trusting that God can heal what we are unable to heal ourselves. The love of Christ allows us to name what is broken so that the image of God within us might shine more clearly again.
John+
Reflection Question:
What truth about yourself, your relationships, or even your community might God be inviting you to face honestly so that healing and restoration can begin?