Note: On Tuesdays, you can find me at Your Daily Tripod, owned by my friend TonyD. A longer version of the post below appears there.
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God. (Ephesians 2:19-22, NRSVCE)
News flash: It’s not all about us.
Oh, we can help and hurt people while we’re here. But few of us will be remembered by name in three 
generations from now.
That is not necessarily a bad thing. It is a humbling thing.
The writer of Ephesians reminds us of this, that through Christ, “the whole structure is held together and grows into a temple sacred in the Lord.” We individually are not responsible for holding the world, let alone the kingdom, together. What we are responsible for is opening ourselves for being built into the household of God.
This is a good thing. It is not necessarily an easy thing.
Being built into the household of God involves making ourselves pleasing to him. The corporal and spiritual works of mercy are a good place to start. The most challenging place to start is those two greatest commandments.
Yes, few people will remember most of us by name or image three generations from now. But if we are obedient and faithful, they may find it easier to be built into the household of God… because maybe, just maybe, each of us has the opportunity to leave the world just a bit better than we found it, to make the household of God just a bit stronger for having conformed ourselves to the Lord’s desire.
Make that your news flash for today, not who’s ahead or behind in the upcoming elections.
