"YOU JUST CAN'T MAKE THIS STUFF UP" #29

 

IT DOESN'T SEEM TO FIT

On one of my European backpacking trips, I remember camping in Vondel Park, a major park in the city of Amsterdam. They allowed young people to do that. It was a relief from the last time I was in Amsterdam and had decided to camp outside the city in a campground. That time it had rained all day which restricted us to our tents or the car. It was a miserable day for sure. In Vondel Park, on the other hand, we had a warm evening and did not have to set up our tents. We simply slept in our sleeping bags. 

I remember entering into the park and thought I heard a familiar sound. Thinking it was a radio coming from another circle of young people, we went to check it out. I was simply amazed to realize that it was a Bluegrass music concert coming from a pavilion in the center of the park. It didn't seem to fit the setting, but it made us feel "at home" for sure! 

At that time, Amsterdam was world-famous for it's drug culture and legal prostitution. There was a famous street with prostitutes sitting in windows so you could make your choice from the street. "Pot" smoking was so legal that varieties of it were available on menus in coffee shops. As you entered Vondel Park, you were approached by several drug dealers trying to sell you anything from marijuana and hashish to whatever you desired. With drugs everywhere and so many youth no-doubt short-of-cash, we were a little worried about being robbed during the night. To protect ourselves, we stuffed everything we owned into our sleeping bags with us. One of the group even put a guitar into his sleeping bag with him. 

I will never forget the contrast of that experience of being in between a Bluegrass Music concert and young "hash" smokers on one side and two of the most famous art museums in the world (the Rijks Museum  and the Van Gogh Museum) on the other, with a couple of Kentucky boys in between!  

Amsterdam is also famous for it's flowers everywhere, it's many canals winding through the city and rows of quaint houses right up against each other. The contrasts of that city never seemed to end! So we Kentucky boys did not stand out all that much!  

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Sister Clare was one of the Sisters I met when I was working down in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. I always liked her because of her straightforwardness and dedication. In those days, before American Airlines flew directly from Miami into St. Vincent, I would always have to fly into Barbados and take a short flight on Liat Airlines into St. Vincent. 

On one of those trips, I saw a woman in the Barbados airport that I thought was Sister Clare. She looked exactly like Sister Clare. I saw this woman from a distance so I started waving to get her attention as I headed in her direction. When I got right up to her,  gave her a big hug and asked how she was doing and told her how happy I was to run into her! She smiled and tried to figure out how to respond. I did not know Sister Clare was from Trinidad, so I just assumed she was from Barbados and was visiting some friends there. I went on and on about what I had done to prepare for this trip and how much I loved volunteering.

The woman, suspecting that she knew me, asked me, "Will you be dropping by the house for a visit while you are here? She sounded like she was thinking about what she could cook for me when I "visited." I answered that I could not  stop by "this time" because my plane would be leaving for St. Vincent in about 90 minutes. She told me that I should let her know "next time!" I hugged her and as I left her standing there, I looked back and waved, She waved back with a puzzled look on her face.

When I ran into Sister Clare not too long after I landed in St. Vincent, I said to her, "You sure got here quickly, but it was great running into you in Barbados!' She looked at me like I was crazy and said, "I wasn't in Barbados. I have been here all month!" Shocked, I responded, "Well, who was that woman I hugged at the airport in Barbados and invited me to drop by her house?"  I realized that I had just been involved in a "mistaken identity" situation and had left a poor woman confused - maybe for weeks? I hope she didn't go home and clean her house and cook a big meal waiting for my return trip through Barbados! 

MY FAVORITE STORIES AND QUOTES ABOUT LEAVING A LEGACY

One of the many new things about being almost 82 years old is the realization that there is more time behind me than there will be, even in the most optimistic scenarios, in front of me. Thankfully, I realized quite some time ago that if I am going to "leave a legacy" it is getting pretty late to start thinking about it! Since I am not leaving any children, I have been "thinking about it" and "working on it" for some time now. Today, I want to share some of that thinking in hopes some of my aging readers will join me in at least thinking about how they want to be remembered. This is not a complete list, but a partial list, of some of my favorite stories, quotes and thoughts on this issue of "leaving a legacy" at this point in my life. 

The Martyrdom of Eleazar

2 Maccabees 6:18-31

Elea′zar, one of the scribes in high position, a man now advanced in age and of noble presence, was being forced to open his mouth to eat swine’s flesh. But he, welcoming death with honor rather than life with pollution, went up to the the rack of his own accord, spitting out the flesh, as men ought to go who have the courage to refuse things that it is not right to taste, even for the natural love of life.

Those who were in charge of that unlawful sacrifice took the man aside, because of their long acquaintance with him, and privately urged him to bring meat of his own providing, proper for him to use, and pretend that he was eating the flesh of the sacrificial meal which had been commanded by the king, so that by doing this he might be saved from death, and be treated kindly on account of his old friendship with them. But making a high resolve, worthy of his years and the dignity of his old age and the gray hairs which he had reached with distinction and his excellent life even from childhood, and moreover according to the holy God-given law, he declared himself quickly, telling them to send him to Hades.

“Such pretense is not worthy of our time of life,” he said, “lest many of the young should suppose that Elea′zar in his ninetieth year has gone over to an alien religion, and through my pretense, for the sake of living a brief moment longer, they should be led astray because of me, while I defile and disgrace my old age. For even if for the present I should avoid the punishment of men, yet whether I live or die I shall not escape the hands of the Almighty. Therefore, by manfully giving up my life now, I will show myself worthy of my old age and leave to the young a noble example of how to die a good death willingly and nobly for the revered and holy laws.”

When he had said this, he went at once to the rack. And those who a little before had acted toward him with good will now changed to ill will, because the words he had uttered were in their opinion sheer madness. When he was about to die under the blows, he groaned aloud and said: “It is clear to the Lord in his holy knowledge that, though I might have been saved from death, I am enduring terrible sufferings in my body under this beating, but in my soul I am glad to suffer these things because I fear him.”

So in this way he died, leaving in his death an example of nobility and a memorial of courage, not only to the young but to the great body of his nation.

The Fidelity of Father Pierre Teilhard de Chardin 

One of my heroes is Father Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, a French Jesuit and a scientist. Because of his new ideas, he was silenced by Rome in 1926. He was urged by many to leave, not only the Jesuits, but also the Church. He decided rather to "go on to the end and with a smile if possible." Why? He said, "When I took my vows I committed myself. To break them would be an offense against honor." "One must work from within," he said. "Those who leave no longer have any influence. The ideas now considered revolutionary will be generally accepted...The day will come; there can be no possible doubt about it."

                                 

WHAT WORDS WOULD YOU MOST LIKE TO HEAR AT THE END OF YOUR LIFE? 

A book I am reading, The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins, begins Chapter 18 with these extremely challenging words, "At the end of your life, what are the very last words you want someone to say to you?" 

She answers her own question, "I love you!" Even though that sounds good, and I would like to hear those words, but they are not the last words I want someone to say to me. I most want someone to say, "Thank you!" Love, if is is really love, is unconditional. I don't want the last words I hear is for someone to say they love me no matter what I did with my life and what mistakes I made! When they do that, they get all the credit for being so loving, while what I did or did not do was not that important to them! 

No, I want the last person to say, "Thank you!" When they say that, they validate all the hard work I did in trying to train my focus on making other people happy! Hearing "thank you" at that hour would validate the fact that what I gave my life to was important to somebody. I could then leave this life knowing what I already know - that what I did was worth the effort - but it would sure be nice to hear it validated on my way out! 

 

ONCE YOU COMMIT TO GIVING, GOD MOVES TO HELP YOU GIVE IT

A LESSON LEARNED YET AGAIN 

“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way."

William Hutchison Murray

The very first homily I gave at St. Meinrad Seminary in homiletics class was based on the following text from the Gospel of Matthew 6:38. "Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap.” I can't remember what I said, but I remember the point of the passage - the message about God's extravagant generosity to those who give generously to others. 

My church project in Kenya, for that reason, has been good for me and those who helped me, not just those who will use it. Our involvement was a blessing in itself. Doing this has indeed been good for us! As the book, The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins puts it, "When you help someone else, do it without expectation. Do it because it makes you feel good to reach out" (to people who could use a little support). Just helping them build this church has made all of us who helped feel better about ourselves! 

Honestly. there were times when I got scared, especially when I began to realize that the church I had committed to build was actually going to be three times bigger and three times more expensive than I had originally committed to at the beginning. I plowed ahead, not knowing how far we could get before maybe having to give-up and quit. I was not always confident by any stretch. Sometimes, I simply got overwhelmed with worry and concern.  However, even my waning confidence was rewarded by Providence. As the quote above says so clearly, once I committed, "Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way."  People's response to my commitment was inspiring enough to keep me going. For this project, I never "raised money" in the traditional sense of asking for it. I just told people as clearly as I could what I was doing and why I was doing it and invited them to contact me if they were interested in helping. Help came from an amazing cross-section of people and some of it came from very surprising sources.   

One of the first things I learned in spades is that there is a basic goodness in a lot of people in this world - both the people over there who keep calling their new church a "miracle" and the people here who generously stepped forward to help people they will never meet - people who have a hard life and who are forced so often to make-do with very little. From my perspective, almost everything for them is a struggle, including walking miles to church, but most do it with patience, faith, hope and a strong sense of community. 

The story of Veronica Katili, poor in resources but rich in faith, inspired a lot of people here who read about her walking miles to church until she got older and could not walk and how she went into action to secure a church in her village, how she helped build it from sticks and old metal until her dream of permanent church could come through.  Unable to read or write, her faith was in her heart. From memory, she instructed people in the Catholic faith, taught them their prayers and helped bring them into the church as new members.

Because this project turned out to be three times bigger and three times more expensive than I bargained for, financially I had to personally "cough up" a little more than I had intended to give. Even that was good for me because I have already learned that the more I am involved in "the missions" the more I realize how good we have it here in the United States compared to many others in the world. My involvement in this project reinforced my belief that I already have "enough!" That realization has taken away my appetite for a a newer car, a bigger house, nicer clothes or another vacation. This experience has reinforced my belief that sharing, not hording and wasting, is actually much more fun, fascinating and freeing! Helping make others happy makes me happy! (I think I learned this from my mother.) 

It seems to me that once you really commit to anything hard to do, God can't wait to help you do it - whether it is as difficult as marriage and parenting or as hard as building a huge church on the other side of the world in eight months! The people over there have declared this church a "miracle!" I, for one, believe they are right! 

"Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap.”

Matthew 6:38

 

 

KNOW THE BASICS! LIVE THE BASICS! ALL ELSE IS COMMENTARY!

 

This command that I give you today is not mysterious

and remote. You do not have to search the heavens or

cross the sea looking for it. No, it is very near to you.

It is in your mouth and in your heart. You only need

to carry it out. 

Deuteronomy 30

 

Religion! Can’t live with it and can’t live without it! Religion! Wears you out and gives you life! Religion! So complicated and yet so simple! I have always loved the words of Celie in the movie The Color Purple when she said, “It ain't easy trying to do without God! Even if you know he ain't there, trying to do without him is a strain”

Some of us, who bother with religion these days, often feel like the great prophet, Jeremiah. Jeremiah tried his best to be faithful, tried to do what God had called him to do, but he ended up so frustrated with all this “God-stuff” that he screams at God in frustration, “You suckered me into this stupid mess and I fell for it!” If he had been a country music writer, he would have surely written the famous Johnny Paycheck song that goes, “Take This job and Shove It. I Ain’t Workin’ Here No More!” Like many other saints, before and after him, Jeremiah was close enough to God to get up in his face and vent his frustration. St. Theresa of Avila, patron saint of liberated women, is said to have let God have it in her convent chapel one day after returning from a disastrous trip! She screamed at the tabernacle, “Listen, God, if this is the way you treat your friends, no wonder you don’t have many!”  She was feisty, and her trials were many, so I believe she probably did that pretty often, but she still ended up being a beloved saint!

 

Over the years, many believers have worked through their frustrations with religion and remained faithful, in spite of their deep disappointment. Many have gone on to become great reformers in the church. Others have been God’s “fair weather friends,” dropping out and moving on when the going got tough.  Sadly, many, among us, don’t even give God the time of day!

 

Jesus, himself, was known for his frustration with the organized religion of his day. The ancient Jewish religion, that he knew and loved, had become so tedious, so complicated, so twisted and so burdensome that he actually went on a rampage outside the temple in Jerusalem, whip in hand, kicking over the tables of the money-changers and screaming in frustration.  

 

In another place, looking at how worn-down the average God-loving person of his day was, Jesus cried out, “Come to me, all you who are weary and find life burdensome and I will refresh you. For my yoke is easy and my burden light.” The “yoke and burden” he was talking about was the “yoke and burden” of an overly complicated religion that was crushing the people that it was supposed to lift up. “The ease and lightness” that Jesus offered, in contrast, was the “ease and lightness” of a heart given completely to God and the simple service offered to one’s neighbor.  Just what had happened to the religion that Jesus knew and loved? Where did it take such a wrong turn?  Let’s see if I can explain it a little!

 

Let’s start with the fact that the Ten Commandments were the heart of the Jewish faith. Jesus’s spiritual ancestors, the Jewish people of old, had struggled to live by them for centuries. However, over time, living them in community had led to an immensely complicated set of rule books, guidelines and ethical codes.  When Jesus was asked which of all those rules and regulations was the most important, he cut through all those layers of complication and said, “love your God and your neighbor as yourself with your whole heart! If you do that, you will fulfill the whole law.” In other words, if you live those basics, you don’t need so many detailed laws.

 

Sadly, the Scribes and Pharisees are back in our lifetime! Today’s self-styled “reformers” are not calling us to heart-felt conversion and they are not calling us back to the basics, they are simply pulling out old religious costumes and furniture out of the closet. dusting off the old rule books and straining gnats while swallowing camels! They don’t even seem to know what the real basics are!

 

Jesus was right! Pope Francis was right! What the Church needs right now is not more gnat-straining legalism! We need inspiration and that inspiration will only come from a church focused on living the essentials of our faith. I cannot stress the need for living the essentials enough. Personally, I am more interested in inspiring people to live the ten commandments than defending a marble replica of two stone tablets on a courthouse lawn by people who do not always themselves live them! The problem is not that we have too few copies of the Ten Commandments around. The problem is that building shrines to the Ten Commandments will never substitute for living them. If we as a church were living them, they would be enshrined in us – “in our hearts” as the first reading today puts it!

 

In our first reading today, God tells Moses, the People of God and us, “My commands are written on your hearts. All you have to do is carry them out.” We keep forgetting that - over and over and over again!

 

There is an old story, a favorite of mine, one I have told many times. It is similar to the Adam and Eve story about losing the Garden of Eden. In my story, the first man and woman lose the secret of happiness. As punishment, three angels meet to decide what to do with the secret of happiness so that human beings would never find it again. One angel suggested that they hide it among the stars. The idea was rejected out of fear that someday humans would go to the stars and find it. A second angel suggested that they hide it deep in the earth. That idea was rejected, as well, out of fear that someday human would dig down and find it. The third angel suggested that they hide the secret to happiness deep within human beings themselves. The idea was agreed on because the angels knew that human beings would never think to look there! And so, even to this day, the secret to human happiness remains undiscovered within human beings themselves.  

 

Jesus did not come to destroy organized religion, but to reform it, one heart at a time. The “church,” no matter how defective it is sometimes, can never become an enemy for Christians because it is the Body of Christ in the world. Christianity will always be messy because it is a communal religion. Those who choose the “just me and Jesus” brand of religion do not actually know Jesus all that well. Jesus told the assembled church when he left this world, “I will be with you always and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it!” The church is one, holy, catholic and apostolic, and yes, because it is made up of human beings, it is “always in need of reform.”  The reform of people is always about calling them back to religious basics. The reform of church structures begins with the hearts of people changing first! – not the other way around!  Changed people, change things! Changed people, change things! Changed people, change things!        

This command that I give you today is not mysterious

and remote. You do not have to search the heavens or

cross the sea looking for it. No, it is very near to you.

It is in your mouth and in your heart. You only need

to carry it out.

Deuteronomy 30