The Gospel for this Sunday has some strong words from Jesus – they’re provocative and, truly, a little gross. It’s hard for me to know how to respond, but I do want to understand what God is saying, so let’s work through this.

I still remember my first encounter with this passage. It didn’t happen in church but in front of the TV when I was a kid watching Little House on the Prairie. In this episode, Ma suffers from a cut on her leg that turns into a festering wound. In her delirium, she reads this line, “And if your foot causes you to sin, cut if off.” She takes a knife, presumably to cut off her leg, but only makes a small incision before she faints dead away. In true happy ending fashion, the cut she makes is just enough to open the wound for cleansing and healing, and Ma survives, leg intact. I don’t know if I’m even remembering that scene accurately or if that’s actually any way to heal a wound, but my memory of that scene, and it’s accompanying Bible passage, is vivid. I remember wondering with horror why anyone would do that and if that’s what God asks of us when we sin.

As an adult, I can say with certainty that God does not call us to inflict violence upon our own legs or any other body parts. However, I wonder if my horrified reaction is exactly the kind Jesus is trying to elicit. He’s doesn’t literally want people to cut off their hands or pluck out their eyes, but he does want people to respond to what he says. He implies that our limbs and eyes act of their own accord and that our intentions, actions, thoughts, words, and behaviors are not at play when we sin. Of course, we know differently. Maybe it’s those things – thoughts, intentions, behaviors, etcetera – that’s he’s really calling us to cut off.

This gives me pause to reflect on what is Jesus inviting me to remove from my life. One of the things I’ve been working on is to be more intentionally responsive and less emotionally reactive. Sometimes I snap and react before a more rational response can emerge. It’s not my mouth that causes me to say a hurtful thing but whatever’s happening inside me. The challenge is to work on the things in me that make me react. I’ve come to see that a lot of my knee-jerk responses come from anxiety. I need to work to heal that, and then I hope my mouth will say kinder things (or nothing at all).

Besides internal reactions, there might be actions that are causing harm, or at least not doing me or others any good. Sometimes when I feel like I’m just done with the day, I lose myself in a Netflix show rather than taking a pause to reflect. Jesus isn’t telling me to gouge out my eyes as I look at the screen, but maybe there’s an invitation to turn to prayer rather than mindless entertainment. I don’t think it’s just me – lots of us have behaviors or even addictions or compulsions that keep us from living freely and fully as ourselves. What do you have that you need to cut out of your life to be more present, to grow, to be freer?

Once I work to cut out some of the things that just aren’t serving me, it seems like it would be helpful to replace them with something. So, before I escape into Netflix, I could take a little time for journaling or even an examen prayer. There are many other prayer practices that our faith tradition offers too. Some are more helpful for some people than others are, and some practices are effective at one point in life but as we change, our prayer needs to change with us. It’s good to pay attention to what works and what doesn’t.

In addition to the more traditional spiritual practices, there are countless self-help/spiritual books and podcasts out there, as well as meditation apps and self-care articles. Some of them are helpful and some, well, not so much. Some challenge me to grow and move me toward God, and some are gimmicky sales pitches that only scratch the surface. I practice discernment as I navigate these – keeping what’s helpful and discarding the rest. I’m not advocating that we replace grounded spiritual practices with self-help apps, but I also hear Jesus’s advice in the Gospel: “For whoever is not against us is for us.” Just because something isn’t overtly religious doesn’t mean it can’t be beneficial. We just have to be discerning – is this of God or not?

In the part of the world where I live, we’re moving out of the heat of summer and into the chill and change of autumn. While I pumpkin-spiced the God Space House with fall décor this week, I also took the opportunity to reflect on my life – how it’s going and what needs to change. Times of transition often call me to this kind of reflection – a gentler approach than a slash and burn eradication, thank God! As I sift through all of this, I invite you to consider with me:

• What are the helpful practices that move us toward God?

• What brings freedom, growth, and life?

• And what moves us away from God?

• What do we need to cut out of our lives in order to move toward God?

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by Sister Leslie Keener, CDP

Sister Leslie Keener, CDP is the director of God Space, a community-building spirituality ministry in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. She’s a Sister of Divine Providence with a Masters in Ministry and a Certificate in Spiritual Direction and Retreats from Creighton University. She directs retreats, meets with people for spiritual direction, and serves as the vocation director for her community. She also serves on the Coordinating Council of Spiritual Directors International. She enjoys music, dancing, meaningful conversations, and pumpkin spice.