Reflection
The people of Nazareth heard the message Jesus was preaching and rejected it because they thought they knew everything there was to know about him. He had grown up among them, they knew his family. To them, Jesus was just another boy from Nazareth. He did not deserve any special respect. They called him “the carpenter ”. They thought “You are no better than we are! Why should we listen to you?” The gospel says they were “offended at Him”. These people did what all people do when they cannot understand someone. They resorted to ridicule! They could not explain Jesus, so they reacted to his words, his wisdom and his works with contempt and unvarnished ridicule. This state of mind is still with us today. We tend to dismiss the insights of those who are close to us and continue our search for enlightenment elsewhere.
Prayer
May I respect the wisdom of others.
Action
Do I find myself rejecting the insights of those I know well? Can I see the wisdom of experience and of living in my family members and friends? Am I duped by propaganda and advertising?
Suggested Reading
When the Sabbath came he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished. They said, “Where did this man get all this? What kind of wisdom has been given him? What mighty deeds are wrought by his hands! Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?”And they took offense at him. Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and among his own kin and in his own house.” He was amazed at their lack of faith.
Mark 6:1-6
The next thing to having wisdom ourselves, is to profit by that of others.
Charles Caleb Colton
Wisdom is the daughter of experience.
Leonardo Da Vinci
The wisdom of our parents, grandparents, ancestors. In each individual life, it seems, we must first reject that wisdom, then later come to appreciate it.
Tad Williams
Wisdom is not wisdom when it is derived from books alone.
Horace
I prefer to be true to myself, even at the hazard of incurring the ridicule of others, rather than to be false, and to incur my own abhorrence.
Frederick Douglass
Let my name stand among those who are willing to bear ridicule and reproach for the truths sake, and so earn some right to rejoice when the victory is won.
Louisa May Alcott
Resort is had to ridicule only when reason is against us.
Thomas Jefferson
Ridicule is the tribute paid to the genius by the mediocrities.
Oscar Wilde