MARK 14:66-72 While Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant-girls of the high priest came by. When she saw Peter warming himself, she stared at him and said, “You also were with Jesus, the man from Nazareth.” But he denied it, saying, “I do not know or understand what you are talking about.” And he went out into the forecourt. Then the cock crowed. And the servant-girl, on seeing him, began again to say to the bystanders, “This man is one of them.” But again he denied it. Then after a little while the bystanders again said to Peter, “Certainly you are one of them; for you are a Galilean.” But he began to curse, and he swore an oath, “I do not know this man you are talking about.” At that moment the cock crowed for the second time. Then Peter remembered that Jesus had said to him, “Before the cock crows twice, you will deny me three times.” And he broke down and wept.
Have I dismissed cries for racial justice, arguing about bootstraps and the sweat of my own forebears?
Have I yielded to the commercialization of life and the desecration of creation, sighing "That's just the way it is"?
Have I hesitated to act because I was tired, frustrated, annoyed, or distracted?
Have I acted, but without complete honesty, thereby painting a veneer of falsehood on the structure of a relationship, major or minor?
Have I leaned hard on my own understanding and turned away from those whose life experience led them to different choices than my own?
Have I been prideful about my finances, my abilities, my time, my physicality, my ideas, my belongings, or my religiosity?
Have I closed myself to the stories of LGBTQ+ folk and the families, believing that marshes, dusk, and platypuses might not also have representation in the sexuality and identity spectrum?
Have I taken in the news of the world and allowed myself to sink into despair, rather than praying for the strength to be God's witness in the place where I am?
Have I gone through the motions, but called it living?
Have I gone through the motions, but called it believing?
Have I gone through the motions and stopped trusting that God is really present, active, and still speaking?
When have I denied Jesus today? This hour?
Oh, Peter, my brother!
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