MARK 5:21-43
ON MY MOTHER'S SIDE OF MY
FAMILY, THERE WERE THIRTY-THREE COUSINS. I THINK IF WE HAD TO TAKE A
VOTE ON OUR FAVORITE UNCLE, IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN MY UNCLE PAUL. HIS
SEVEN KIDS WOULD HAVE TO BE BARRED FROM VOTING, OF COURSE, AND
SERIOUSLY, I MAY BE COMPLETELY WRONG ABOUT HOW THE VOTE WOULD TURN
OUT. I WAS FOND OF ALL MY RELATIVES BUT EVEN WHEN I WAS SMALL, I
LOVED TO VISIT UNCLE PAUL, WHO OPERATED A FARM ABOUT SEVEN MILES FROM
WHERE I GREW UP. AND WHEN I TRY TO PUT REASONS FOR THIS, I COME UP
WITH ONE; HE NEVER SEEMED TOO BUSY TO STOP AND TALK TO ME, GIVING ME
HIS FULL AND SERIOUS ATTENTION. THOSE MOMENTS CAME NOW AND THEN WITH
MY PARENTS. BUT USUALLY EACH WAS PREOCCUPIED WITH SOME ADULT
CONCERN, OR THEY WERE EXHAUSTED AT THE END OF A BUSY DAY. BUT UNCLE
PAUL WOULD PUT DOWN WHAT HE WAS DOING, OR PERHAPS INVOLVE ME IN
WHATEVER TASK HE WAS CARRYING OUT. HE'D SHOW ME HOW TO MILK A COW,
OR TIGHTEN A BARBED WIRE FENCE, OR EVEN DRIVE AN OLD MODEL A FORD
THAT HE KEPT ON THE FARM. AND I WASN'T UNIQUE. I SAW HIM DO THIS
OVER AND OVER AGAIN WITH PEOPLE WHO WOULD STOP BY. SO IT WAS NO
WONDER THAT ALL THROUGH MY GROWING UP VISITING UNCLE PAUL WAS A HIGH
POINT.
DO YOU KNOW WHERE TO FIND
GOD? SURE, GOD IS PRESENT IN THE EUCHARIST AND IN THE WORD, AND IN
THE COMMUNITY OF BELIEVERS. BUT GOD IS PRESENT ONLY IN THE PRESENT,
IN THE NOW, IN THE MOMENT. FOR GOD THERE IS NO PAST, NO FUTURE;
THAT'S WHY IN ANSWER TO MOSES' QUESTION, HE REPLIED, “I AM”, NOT
“I WAS AND I WILL BE. YOU AND I ARE MADE IN GOD'S IMAGE AND
LIKENESS, AND THE PAST DOESN'T EXIST, AND THE FUTURE DOESN'T EXIST;
THEY ARE ONLY MEMORIES AND EXPECTATIONS. BUT FOR SOME REASON, WE
HUMAN BEINGS LIVE MOST OF OUR LIVES IN THE PAST AND THE FUTURE, IN
PLACES THAT DON'T EXIST. WE CARRY AROUND MEMORIES THAT DRAG US DOWN;
RESENTMENTS, REGRETS, SOMETIMES MOMENTS WE LIVE OVER AND OVER AGAIN
IN OUR MINDS, GOOD TIMES, BAD TIMES; AND WE ALL HAVE LISTS OF ALL
THE THINGS WE ARE GOING TO DO WHEN THE FUTURE COMES, WHEN WE FINISH
THIS PROJECT, WHEN WE RETIRE, WHEN WE GET THE MORTGAGE PAID OFF. AND
BECAUSE OF THIS WE MISS THE PRESENT, WE MISS WHERE GOD IS, AND WHERE
WE REALLY LIVE.
IN THE PARABLE OF THE
GOOD SAMARITAN, JESUS DESCRIBES A PRIEST AND A LEVITE WHO PASS A
STRANGER LYING IN THE ROAD, BEATEN NEARLY TO DEATH. THERE ARE MANY
EXPLANATIONS FOR THIS; PERHAPS THEY WORRIED ABOUT THIS MAN BEING A
DECOY, AND IF THEY STOPPED TO HELP, THEY WOULD BE ROBBED; PERHAPS
THEY WERE HYPOCRITES, WHO PREACHED CHARITY BUT DIDN'T PRACTICE IT.
BUT I THINK JESUS USED A PRIEST AND LEVITE IN THIS STORY
DELIBERATELY; BECAUSE A PRIEST WOULD BE HURRYING TO JERUSALEM TO TAKE
HIS PLACE IN WORSHIP, AND THAT WAS SUPREMELY IMPORTANT, AND HE HAD TO
BE RITUALLY CLEAN, AND HE WOULD BECOME UNCLEAN IF HE STOPPED TO HELP
THIS MAN. THE LEVITE WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR DISTRIBUTING SOME OF THE
TREASURY OF THE TEMPLE TO THE POOR; AND HE WAS ON A MISSION AS WELL.
THEY WERE LIVING IN THE FUTURE AND THEY MISSED THE MOMENT IN THE
PRESENT WHEN THEY MIGHT ENCOUNTER GOD, THEY MIGHT MINISTER TO GOD, IN
THE PERSON OF THE MAN BEATEN BY ROBBERS.
AND IN TODAY'S GOSPEL, WE
SEE JESUS BEING PULLED ALONG FRANTICALLY BY ONE JARIUS, AN OFFICIAL
OF THE LOCAL SYNAGOGUE. HIS DAUGHTER WAS DYING, AND JESUS WAS HIS
ONLY HOPE. BUT JESUS STOPS, AND SAYS, “WHO TOUCHED ME?” AND
PROCEEDS TO HAVE A CONVERSATION WITH A WOMAN WHO WAS NOT ONLY IN
POVERTY BECAUSE SHE HAD SPENT ALL HER MONEY ON DOCTORS, BUT WAS
UNCLEAN BECAUSE OF CHRONIC BLEEDING, AND THEREFORE AN OUTCAST. AND
EVERYONE ELSE IS LIVING IN THE FUTURE, TRYING TO GET JESUS TO MOVE
ALONG, TO GET TO THE DAUGHTER OF JARIUS BEFORE SHE DIES. BUT JESUS
IS WHERE GOD IS, IN THE NOW, IN THE PRESENT. AND IN GOD'S OWN TIME,
JESUS MOVES ON TO BRING THE YOUNG GIRL BACK TO LIFE. AND EVEN HERE
JESUS LIVES IN THE PRESENT, AND ONLY HE NOTICES THAT THE PARENTS ARE
DUMFOUNDED, AND THE LITTLE GIRL IS HUNGRY, AND HE TELLS THE PARENTS,
GIVE HER SOMETHING TO EAT; PUT ASIDE WHAT JUST HAPPENED; BE A PARENT
IN THE PRESENT.
AND THIS IS ONLY ONE OF
THE MIRACLES OF JESUS. NO MATTER WHAT HE IS DOING, NO MATTER WHO HE
IS TALKING TO, IF SOMEONE COMES TO HIM WITH A NEED, HE PUTS THINGS ON
HOLD AND ATTENDS TO THAT NEED. HE NEVER TELLS ANYONE TO GET IN LINE,
OR CHECK WITH HIM LATER, OR COME BACK IN THE MORNING.
SUMMER IS UPON US, AND WE
HAVE GOOD WEATHER AND MOST OF US HAVE A LITTLE LESS PRESSURE THAN WE
DO IN THE REST OF THE YEAR. THE ACTIVITIES OF OUR KIDS HAVE BEEN CUT
BACK; OUR COLLEAGUES TAKE VACATIONS AS DO WE, SO THE WORKPLACE ISN'T
SO FRENETIC; AND SOMETIMES WE CAN'T HELP BUT BE KNOCKED OVER BY A
GLORIOUS, BEAUTIFUL DAY, OR A BACK YARD FULL OF FLOWERS, OR OLD
FRIENDS PASSING THROUGH; SUMMER IS A TIME FOR US TO RE-FOCUS ON THE
PRESENT, ON WHERE GOD IS. WE HAVE THIS WONDERFUL SEASON WHEN GOD
TELLS US TO GO OUT FOR A WALK, TO SIT AND ENJOY EACH OTHER'S COMPANY,
TO TAKE THE KIDS TO THE BEACH; TO LIVE MORE COMPLETELY IN THE
PRESENT, THE PRESENT WHERE GOD IS. AND LIKEWISE, IT'S A TIME WHEN WE
NEED TO LOOK AROUND AT THE OPPORTUNITIES GOD GIVES US FOR WORKING
MIRACLES FOR EACH OTHER; A KIND WORD, AN ACT OF CHARITY, A REACHING
OUT; BECAUSE WE ARE MADE IN GOD'S IMAGE, AND THE PRESENT IS REALLY
THE ONLY PLACE WE CAN ACTUALLY ALL DO GOD'S WORK.
MY UNCLE PAUL WAS A
SUCCESSFUL FARMER. HE INVESTED IN REAL ESTATE AND WAS A PARTNER IN A
COUPLE OF BUSINESSES, BESIDES. AFTER HIS KIDS WERE RAISED, HE AND MY
AUNT DID A LOT OF TRAVELING, AND AFTER SHE PASSED AWAY AND HE STARTED
TO FEEL HIS AGE, HE HAD ENOUGH MONEY PUT ASIDE TO AFFORD AN ASSISTED
LIVING FACILITY. HE WAS A GOOD BUSINESSMAN AND A VERY PRUDENT
FARMER, WHO ALWAYS SEEMED TO KNOW WHAT CROPS OR LIVESTOCK WOULD BRING
THE MOST RETURN. BUT HE HAD THE GIFT OF LIVING IN THE PRESENT, AND
THAT MEANT THAT HE COULD PUT DOWN WHAT HE WAS DOING, AND GIVE HIS
FULL AND UNDIVIDED ATTENTION TO A NINE YEAR OLD NEPHEW. IN A WORLD
WHERE YOU ARE JUST A KID, AND ALL THE ADULTS WERE PREOCCUPIED WITH
BEING ADULTS AND DOING ADULT THINGS, HE OFFERED ME THE MIRACLE OF
TAKING ME SERIOUSLY, OF LISTENING TO WHAT I HAD TO SAY. SOMETHING
LIKE JESUS DID FOR THE WOMAN IN TODAY'S GOSPEL, I SUPPOSE.
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