Saying yes and saying no

For more commentary on this week's readings, see the Reflections on the Lectionary page, which includes Haverkamp's current Living by the Word column as well as past magazine and blog content. For full-text access to all articles, subscribe to the Century.

One way to approach the epistle text for this week is to talk about the spiritual discipline of saying yes and saying no, an idea I was first introduced to by M. Shawn Copeland. (I find The Message translation of this passage helpful here.) God created us with the freedom to say yes and say no. But as Paul reminds us, we don’t always know how to use this freedom very well. We often say yes when what we really wish we could say is no, or we say no when we really wish we could say yes. Not being able to say no sometimes makes saying a true yes even harder. 

Elizabeth Gilbert posted this on Facebook in April: