Clever Words: A Lenten Devotional

A Clever Word for the Season of Lent
οἶκος (oikos)
house, household
A clever Verse for Context
See, your house (oikos)  is left to you. And I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, "Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.'  (Luke 13:35)

Clever Reflections
Spiritual
Households can be small: a lady and her two cats, for instance, or large: a whole clan of assorted parents, grandparents, cousins and in-laws.  It can even be larger referring to a people, nation, or church.  But what a household comes down to is interdependence.  The members of the household need one another, relate to one another, cannot help but be involved with one another.  Even if the health of that involvement is debatable.  Somehow as God’s people we are called to be a household together, to be involved with one another’s lives.  It is through our household management as church, our economics (oikonomicos), that we encounter and put on Christ for one another.  

Literary
The English word “economics” comes from the Greek οἰκονομικός (oikonomikos), an adjective meaning “well-managed with respect to the household (oikos),” and from there, simply “thrifty” or “well-ordered.” The Oikonomikos is also the name of a philosophical treatise by Xenophon (4th cent. BCE), which is written as a dialogue on the proper management of a household and the arrangement of domestic affairs.

Clever Questions for Further Reflection
What does your household look like?  What is challenging about your household and what is lifegiving?
When has household management (oikonomikos) been life giving?

A Clever Prayer to Close
Holy One,
Strengthen us in the bearing of one another’s burdens.
Encourage us in our involvement in each other’s lives.
Empower us to hear, feed, and love one another.
Bless us in the management of our household and your Body.
Amen