Hometown Blues

Yesterday I was praising my hometown and its new transportation center, and today in church Jesus was having the hometown blues. “People who tell the truth are honored, except when they’re in their hometown," he said, according to the pastor and the Scarlet Letter Bible.

The Scarlet translation continues, saying he was "exasperated" with his hometown residents, "couldn't do anything significant with them," and sent his apostles off in pairs to do good works for those who were open to them. “'Whenever you go somewhere,' he told them, 'stay in one house until you leave. If you and your message are unwelcome somewhere, just shake it off.'”

I love that advice: "just shake it off." If only it were that easy. But, as Pastor Susan reminded us, the contemporary "shake it off" advice captures the image of "shaking the dust off your feet" when you are out healing the sick in your sandals.

Yep, Jesus sent them off with "[No] food, no bags, no money in their pockets. He had them wear sandals, and let them take only one shirt." This reminded me of how I travel, and the reflection was titled "Traveling Light" and was about the burden of possessions in addition to the hometown blues.

I do travel light. I take my purse--which, it's true, has a brush and comb in it, a toothbrush, and a tube of toothpaste (yes, a whole tube...until it's less than a whole tube...which takes a while)--and a cloth bag that usually has my rolled-up jammies and a change of underwear and socks and, yes, one (extra) shirt.

And, a natural Blanche DuBois, I often depend on the kindness of strangers. Or old friends.

(I'm sure, by the way, that you can find a picture online of Stanley Kowalski in a ripped t-shirt.) Anyhoo...

I reflected on a lot of stuff today: how we can be appreciated by strangers and unappreciated in our hometowns, how we can shake it off, and how we can travel light. And now I wish you well on your own journey. (And if you need a shirt to wear and a shirt to roll up and carry with you, the Escape Into Life shirt is here, and the Ginger Ninja = Ginja shirt is here! But don't let these new possessions be a burden.)