“How can you believe what I say?”

John 5:47

Leo Buscaglia claims that “you can’t learn anything without having to readjust everything that you are around the new things that you’ve learned.” The Jews to whom Jesus speaks in today’s gospel are unwilling to readjust. They accepted the testimony of Moses, but not that of Jesus and his Father. They could have searched the scriptures to determine Jesus’ authenticity, but their minds were closed. They accepted someone who comes in his own name but did not accept someone who came in his Father’s name. They relished praise from one another, “yet [did] not seek the glory that comes from the One God.”

 How willing are we to learn new things and readjust the old? Do we allow people to change? When we hear good things about someone we dislike, do we rearrange our resentments to let in the good news, or do we say “it can’t be true”? When we receive affirmation, do we accept it or deny our gifts? When new people or circumstances come into our lives, do we make room? Are we willing to change when change deepens our life of faith? If we’re unwilling to change, will we have the capacity to believe the new things God wishes to tell us?

Lord, help me to readjust.