XV Sunday in Ordinary Time
The readings teach that:
1) We have freedom from slavery to corruption and we are brought to the glorious freedom of the children of God.
2) The god of the dry is the god of the harvest...He Who Waters the barren, sere land, is also the Reaper of the Grain.
3) The Word of God...which will (in Greek) become the LOGOS OF GOD, the "logic," the "plan" the "pattern" "the process" from dryness to watering to growth to harvest, never returns empty, for the plot of the Planner is far longer than the scope of the eyes of the measurer.
4) God is giving seed to the one who sows..............all sowers...........and bread to the
one who eats..........all diners are included!.....and always achieving EXACTLY the "end"
for which it was sent by the Sender of the LOGOI...the Speaker of Words....The creation
words...the words of recreation...The shriveling words, and the watering words, the words
of hardening, and the words of softening, the growing words, and the harvesting
words........the words of birthing, and of dying and of being born anew....Words that
Grace the Tilled Soil, and Words that Grace the Untilled Land......
Untilled land in all its forms: rocks and weeds and trampled hard footpaths!
So we ask ourselves: What is my "tilled soil?"...at least what "I" see as "good soil?" The stuff I've worked on day in and day out, forming of myself? What are its harvests? Do I pay attention to them? Do I even know them?
And where is my "untilled land?"....the beauty I haven't seen and haven't begun to spade? And there it shines! In the reading, at least....Ah, so Graced!....flowring meadows like in the gospel, the lilies of the field that toil not nor weave, yet are Graced Beauty!
And what is it deep within me "groaning" toward its own fulfillment? Its own deep, self-expression? What within me awaits a benediction? My blessing....saying, "lad, you're lovely! Come out into the sun?"
A friend of mine–a fraternity brother from college was enrolled in the pre-dentistry program, or some such thing–he graduated "Magna cum laude," I graduated, "Thank you, Lawdy!" But he came from a family of dentists. The grandfather, the father, the two uncles, and, now, the profession was to claim his life, too, as it had that of his older brother. They formed a family practice. Each a specialist in some aspect of dentistry........it was "all in one" shopping: you got your general dental torture and fillings from one team, your endodontal work with another, your periodontal work with another, oral surgery with another...and he had always known that this would be his lot...sort of like one of my Catholic neighbors, growing up, "knew" that he had to be a priest, even though he was deeply in love with girl on our block....I saw both these "vocational" choices as more of a "life sentence" than a life calling! Anyway, my friend's "true" passion in his life centered on two things: lyric poetry and the violin, but both had been jettisoned, at least as I saw it, for the sake of the "family's dental office dream." I pitied him, in a way. And I gloried in the courage, no the down-right bravery of my high school chum who forsook his mother's dream of the seminary for him, and chose to marry the love of his life...... Yet...who knows? Who has wisdom to see the broader swath of God? The marriage failed, largely over his "longing" to have been a priest......"a frustrated vocation" that should have been pursued, and the dentist is happy as a clam! In both cases the "eyes" of the measurer (my own, you see) had not the scope....and, so a tragedy..........................but, NO!.........for the divorcees both found "second" mates they truly loved, and are delightfully happy. The eyes of the measurer are never farsighted enough to see the "ends" of God. And, the dentist? Will he, in his dotage, publish his "supressed ouvre," scribbled on prescription pads between surgeries? Who knows? For who is it who knows the "LOGOS" of God? That was last Sunday's question! Who knows the Logos, the Word, the Son? ONLY the Father.....and who knows the Father (the Dreamer, the Planner, the Author of destinies) but the Son, the LOGOS, the Word....the plan the process............and those to whom he reveals it? And how does he reveal it? In life's long classroom! We have to look at ourselves! We have to know ourselves! If we do not know ourselves, we shall never appreciate the God who made us, as we are, and who loved us into being, as we are. The Bible's first page tells us that we are "the image" the ICON of God.........and if we can't know ourselves, whom we can see, How In Heaven's Name, shall we ever know the unseen Model of who we are? Socrates was a wise man, a pagan, you know, but paganism is merely a part of the "untilled soil" of the earth, shining with its own beauty, don't you think? Anyway, he had over the door of his phrontesterion (as it was called then,) we'd, today, call it a "think tank," but it was his "school," his "gymnasium," the words: KNOW THYSELF!
Today's readings ask the same of us. Where are you driest? Where is your deepest sinfulness? Where is your shame? For the God of the harvest is also the lord of the sere! The Dry places! For the dry places are merely the places He hasn't, yet, got 'round to watering! What would those areas of your life look like, now, were they freed from their slavery to corruption, and graced with the freedom of the Children of God? What is that secret shame? Is it lust? What is lust but love unbounded? And what if your life were "Unlocked" to love more freely and deeply and broadly? (Oh, now, get your minds out of the gutters! God isn't going to lead you to sin!) So, I'm thinking of "truly loving," not superficial silliness! Think what your life might be like if you were just not so darn guarded! What would your world contain if your heart could even contain the folk you despise?
What is your secret sinfulness? Is it gambling? For what is gambling but a freedom to let go of wealth, and share it....hoping that in doing so, you'll be richer in the end? And, think how your life might be lived if you were less stingy, and tight-fisted? The earth is best enjoyed with open hands and arms. Now, don't worry, I'm not suggesting we move the 10 o'clock service to the casino! I'm saying, the lord of your tight-fistedness is also the God of your sharing. And, when the time comes, and the Word is Spoken, you'll surprise yourself with your own generosity!
Or, is your secret shame not loving yourself at all.........we all have this malady to some degree. There's not a saint whose words we have nor a Pope whose machinations we don't, has been able to escape some self-loathing. We can't see our own beauty and goodness for the life of us. We place the worst judgments on ourselves. It may be that YOU don't love yourself enough to stand for yourself and save your money! You may be forever on the ragged edge of poverty due to what appears to be a bounteous charity–ALWAYS helping those less fortunate....blah, blah, blah.... when it's not "charity"/love at all, but a deep down disgust with yourself, feeling you aren't good enough for the blessings sent you, so you squander them..........loaning to people who'll do ill with the unearned gain! Well, the lord of your darkness, your shame, is also the Lord of your self esteem, and pride. Imagine what your life could look like, lived with proper boundaries!!! The God who said to the sea, as Job put it: "Thus far shall you come and no farther; here shall your proud waves be stayed!" is the God of your Sacred Boundaries Who shall lead you into health and self-esteem, dragging you kicking and screaming all the way, no doubt!
All of this is the background for these powerful, yet understated readings from this week's liturgy. POWERFUL metaphors, revealing us to ourselves.
So what do we do with them? You know, honestly, you can't do much! God does what God does in God's time. You can't turn a sinner into a saint-----that's HIS job! What can a sinner do? Luther said, "Sin boldly!" And there may be some truth to that! I would say, "live as fully as you can...with as much consciousness as you can." So much of our lives are lost to us, for we aren't paying attention! Thornton Wilder wrote a play about it; it's called "Our Town," and it's all about a girl, dead in her teens, who is given a chance to relive one day of her life–as an observer, though. And so she goes to her home for her 16th birthday, and she senses all that wasn't lived, all that wasn't given it's proper weight...the weight simple "being" deserves.
What we can do is "live with consciousness," and "boldly seek to see God" in it all. For we all know: God is invisible. He is the Unseen partner, but even the "unseen" must leave some sort of "imprint," some notice of His passing. Seek to see it. Try to grab hold of it. As we live with consciousness, our lives do NOT become narcissistic, rather, the opposite. As we truly "pay attention" to those who cross our path, we discover beauty—rare beauty—where we hadn't seen beauty at all before! The "water" that softens the clods of your life is coming at you daily in the people and events The Planner places in your path. Pay attention to them....for that's the highest compliment we can pay to Him Who sent them! For as sure as life itself, they are sent you, as the Word is sent, and will not leave you until they've fulfilled their mission.
Well, we've spent a good 10 minutes, listening to an old man ramble on about the inner life, and the power of being, of living, of its SACREDNESS. ALL is sacred, for all is of God...and 10 minutes is about all anyone should ever be forced to listen to this sort of thing.
So what do I hope for you, for us? Let me tell you, I've said all this for myself, as much as for you. "I" need to be reminded to pay attention, to live with depth and purpose, to seek out the sacred peering out at me through the brambles. So, I pray we live with more responsibility, not less.....with more freedom and less compulsion....with more Grace and less guilt...though I DO believe that guilt has its sacred purpose. And I pray that we see life's oddities, and OUR OWN oddities as Divine Giftedness...holy and expressive of the Holiness of God. For the only antidote I know to the trashing of humanity and the planet and Truth, itself, is to honor that which faces us. And may our lives bring a gentle holiness and a deeper peacefulness to ourselves and to our world. And may God bless you all. +
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