revenge

Rupture and Reconciliation: Walking the Way of Love

It is also a story of a clash of two different world views or mindsets, imaginations of how this world should operate. One mindset is the one of the brothers, who are afraid. It is a mindset of punishment, revenge, vengeance, an eye for an eye justice. They know they did wrong, they know they should be punished for it, and are afraid of what that punishment is going to look like. That is their view of how things are probably going to go.

The other mindset is the one that Joseph has, which is the imagination of forgiveness, of mercy, of grace, of reconciliation. I think the brothers’ mindset is probably where most of the world is. A lot of the time, most of us feel that same way, too.

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Face of God

Abraham and Sarah had a son, Isaac. Isaac and Rebekah had twins, Esau and Jacob. Esau was the oldest, he came out first and Jacob right after, hanging onto his brother’s heel. They fought in the womb and they kept on fighting throughout their lives. But Jacob took things a bit too far. He stole his brother’s inheritance and his father’s blessing. Esau vowed to kill him. And so, Jacob had to flee.