The Curious Pilgrim

What Am I Spreading?

Daily Office Reflection — Friday, September 18, 2026
Psalm 88, 91, 92; Esther 8:1–8, 15–17; Acts 19:21–41; Luke 4:31–37
Source: The Book of Common Prayer, Proper 20, Year 2

I have been thinking about how quickly our reactions can spread.

Not simply news. Not simply facts.

Our reactions.

And I have lived long enough to know that I have been part of that process myself.

I see something. I hear something. I react to it. I form an opinion about it. Then I go tell somebody else what happened.

But by the time I tell the story, I may not simply be telling what happened. I may also be telling them what I think happened. My anger, excitement, fear, disappointment, assumptions, or past experiences can become part of the story.

Then the person listening to me reacts to what I have told them.

And so it spreads.

The readings from today’s Daily Office have caused this Curious Pilgrim to think about what we sow and what we spread.

Psalm 88 begins in darkness. It is one of those psalms that refuses to give us an easy ending. The psalmist suffers and tells God exactly how he feels.

I am grateful that such a prayer is in our Sacred Writings. It reminds me that faith does not require pretending everything is fine. We can bring our sorrow, confusion, anger, and questions to God.

Then comes Psalm 91:

“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High…”

And I especially love the image in verse 4 of God covering us with his wings.

Psalm 91 does not mean that people of faith never experience suffering. Psalm 88 has already made that impossible to believe. Rather, God is our refuge in the midst of life.

Then Psalm 92 begins:

“It is a good thing to give thanks to the Lord…”

I love that.

Music has always been one of the ways I experience praise. I think of hymns such as How Great Thou Art, Amazing Grace, and Majesty. I think of voices joining together until praise seems to move through an entire congregation.

And then there is the Eucharist—the Great Thanksgiving.

We come to the table carrying all of it: our Psalm 88 darkness, our need for the shelter of Psalm 91, and the thanksgiving of Psalm 92.

God meets us there.

Then Esther 8 reminds me of Paul’s words that we reap what we sow.

Haman had sown hatred and destruction, and his choices affected far more people than himself. Esther sowed courage. Mordecai sowed faithfulness. Their choices also affected other people.

That does not mean life operates according to a simple formula in which good people always receive good things and bad people always receive bad things.

Psalm 88 should keep us from saying that.

But it does remind me that the choices I make can affect people besides me.

God’s mysterious grace can take something terrible and bring something new from it. That doesn’t make the terrible thing good. And it doesn’t mean we will always be able to see what God is doing.

It also doesn’t mean we sit back and do nothing.

Esther had to act.

Mordecai had to act.

Grace was at work, but human beings were invited to participate.

Then I arrive in Ephesus in Acts 19.

Demetrius is concerned that Paul’s teaching is threatening the business of the craftsmen who make silver shrines of Artemis. He gathers the craftsmen and tells them what is happening.

They react.

Their reaction spreads.

Soon the city is in an uproar.

And Luke gives us one remarkable detail: some people in the crowd did not even know why they were there.

Think about that.

They had caught the reaction without fully understanding what they were reacting to.

I have seen that happen during my lifetime.

And if I am going to be truthful, I have seen it happen in me.

Then Luke takes us to Capernaum.

Jesus teaches with authority and casts an unclean spirit out of a man. The people are amazed. They begin talking about what they have witnessed, and the report about Jesus spreads throughout the surrounding country.

Again, a reaction spreads.

In Ephesus, fear and anger spread.

In Capernaum, amazement spreads.

Haman’s hatred spread.

Esther’s courage affected others.

Mordecai’s faithfulness affected others.

Even praise spreads. One voice begins singing, another joins it, and soon a congregation is singing:

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound…

Perhaps that is what today’s readings are asking this Curious Pilgrim to consider.

What am I spreading?

When I hear something, do I immediately react and pass my reaction along?

Do I know what actually happened?

Have I listened?

Have I allowed my assumptions to become part of the story?

Am I spreading fear?

Anger?

Suspicion?

Or am I spreading courage?

Hope?

Peace?

Love?

Grace?

I cannot answer those questions by pointing toward the crowd in Ephesus.

I have to answer them by looking at myself.

So perhaps today my Jesus Prayer needs a few more words:

Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.

Teach me to see.
Teach me to hear.
Teach me to understand before I react.
Teach me to recognize what my reaction may awaken in someone else.

Because my choices do not affect only me.

My words do not affect only me.

Even my reactions can become seeds planted in someone else’s life.

God’s mysterious grace is always at work, even when I cannot see it.

And today I hear grace asking me a very simple question:

Curious Pilgrim, what are you spreading?