Lent #4: Dreamers and Jealousy

Once upon a time, there was a teenager named Joseph. Joseph had lots of brothers, and as it turned out, the father loved Joseph best. This happens in families...a parent has a favorite child, and the siblings always know.

In the story of Joseph, as told in the biblical book of Genesis, we also find out that Joseph had a pretty good idea that Dad loved him best, and was a very confident young man. A dreamer...maybe even cocky.

One day the dad sent Joseph out into the fields to check on his brothers and report back. At the time, Joseph was just 17 years old...barely old enough to grow a good beard. As Joseph walked along, his brothers saw him from a distance, and here's what they said amongst themselves:

"Here comes that dreamer! Come now, let's kill him and throw into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we'll see what comes of his dreams."

Nice, huh?

In the end, one of Joseph's oldest brothers talks the sibling mob out of murder, and they agree to only throw him into a cistern...an ancient day version of a well. And so they did...throw him into the cistern...one with no water in it. Later on, a band of gypsies was traveling by the area, and the brothers decided to sell him into slavery, keep the money, and tell their father that Joseph had been killed by a wild animal.

Scriptures go on to tell us the story of Joseph, as it unfolds through his experience of slavery and his eventual rise to power...but for today, I'd like to simply sit for a moment with the idea of jealousy, and where it can lead us.

You might read this and think to yourself, "I would never do anything like that. I couldn't do anything like that!" And perhaps you are correct. But it's Lent...and we are called to look at ourselves more deeply during Lent...

Could we do something like that...? Because of jealousy? Because sometimes, when we are sad, or struggling, people who are happy dreamers can become very frustrating...infuriating even. Can't they?

Joseph's brothers behaved treacherously...which is to say, they violated the most basic trust that should always be present between humans...especially siblings.

Even though we might not throw someone in a dry well, or sell them into slavery...I think we need to look at other ways that we might behave treacherously. We might defraud someone by being dishonest...we might become dream killers by virtue of the things we say and do.

We might. I might. You might. It happens everyday...in our own relationships, and in the relationships of those who are all around us.

If you're participating in Lent this year, take the story of Joseph and his brothers as a spiritual exercise...put yourself in the story of Joseph and his brothers, and ask God to show you if jealousy might be poisoning your spiritual life.