reflections on the daily reading

Today's reading is the Mark account of the Golden Rule.  What is significant in this account is that we have the scribe's reply to Jesus' interpretation of Hillel.

The scribe said to him, “Well said, teacher.
You are right in saying,
He is One and there is no other than he.
And to love him with all your heart,
with all your understanding,
with all your strength,
and to love your neighbor as yourself
is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

So, we're back to the Hosea 6 quote about how the Divine wants mercy, not sacrifice, acknowledgment instead of burnt offerings.  This is repeated in Micah and Isaiah (amoung other places) where the concept is transmitted in a bit more classic OT-Elizabethan english style (lightning bolts and fire from heaven sold separately).

All of these are talking about inward religion vs. outward religion.  The outward trappings are unimportant to the Divine.  It is that recognition of the Divine, within and without ourselves, the understanding that we are all connected and that to love God is to love one another that is vital.  If you have that, then the external signs will manifest as they should without effort or worry.

"It's not the rosary that you wear or that comb up in your hair;
It's not the direction that you pray or the number of times per day;
It's not what kind of food you nom, or where your parents are from.
What matters is what lies within, the love of God which resides therein." -T.Shead