For a while I volunteered at an assisted living facility in Boston and I had the privilege of taking one of the residents, Jack, for a walk. Now, Jack was blind, so I had a big responsibility. He would wait for me, and I would meet him in the lobby and guide him out the door to the sidewalk. Then, we would begin our walk around the block.
One of the things I learned early on was that he sometimes just wouldn’t listen. What do I mean? Well, for example, he would slide his stick back and forth sideways on the ground to make contact with whatever was on the edge of the sidewalk, to get his bearings and guide him as he went. Well, it happens that there isn’t always something on the edge of the sidewalk. Sometimes it opens out into someone’s front yard or walkway. And then sometimes, a little further up the path there is an edge on the sidewalk: like a thick bush or a wall, neither of which are a pleasure to walk into. Well, as he would veer off the sidewalk, I would tell him, “a little more to the left Jack … turn a little more to the left, Jack … Jack, to the left!” I would grab a hold of him and gently but firmly steer him out of trouble. You can image what happened at street corners.
Now one stretch of sidewalk was Beacon Street in the Back Bay. That’s easy street. Nice, smooth, wide sidewalks. The other stretch is Marlborough Street. This street is primo real estate in Boston: unless you’re a blind man walking down the sidewalk. The street is lined with enormous trees with giant roots. The sidewalk is paved with red bricks. Put the two together and what do you get? You get an Olympic-class obstacle course for your average walker. For a blind man? Forget it.
Since Jack was slow to respond to my promptings, I had to look ahead at which obstacle was coming, and apply pressure early on. I had to maneuver him through the safest path, and call out the unavoidable as it approached, so there’d be no surprises.
There was one spot in the center of the path that was like a mini Rocky Mountain range with a narrow pass through it. Each time, though, we navigated through the pass without a glitch, and after several times, it became no problem. You know what? I was a good guide.
I thought one day: Jack never sets out for the walk without his guide. He’s completely dependent on his guide. He knows he’d never make it without his guide. He puts his trust in a good guide.
The Lord doesn’t expect us to see clearly. He doesn’t expect us to be great achievers on the way of life. He doesn’t expect us to stay put, either. No, He wants us to wait for Him, to let Him be our guide on the road of life. He wants us to be ready to hear the words, “Follow Me.” “And I will lead the blind in a way that they know not, in paths that they have not known I will guide them. I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. These are the things I will do, and I will not forsake them.” (Is 42:16)
It’s then that even the toughest obstacles on the way become no problem. Why? Because He’s the best guide.
8 responses so far ↓
1 Gabrielle // Jul 7, 2008 at 9:22 pm
Jerome, your post reminded me of something I was thinking about, maybe a year or so ago. I was thinking alot about Jesus having said, “My yoke is easy and my burden is light…” I’ve always had alot of trouble with that one, because so many of us think, well, it just isn’t easy or light…
But then I looked up “yoke” and saw that it was actually the wooden harness-type thing put on animals, like oxen, to guide them, to steer them in the right direction… I hadn’t thought about the guidance or “directing” aspect of what Jesus was saying, so that helped to put things in better perspective for me.
2 livingmonstrance // Jul 10, 2008 at 9:20 am
Yes, the yoke is a beautful thought. It is for guiding, and also for load-sharing. The yoke binds two animals together to share the load, but not equally: according to strength. The stronger one bears the load more, proportionally as he is stronger than the weaker one.
I think our problem is we want our liberty, to be outside the yoke, and so life is hard. Our struggle to surrender to the permanent commitment of the yoke makes life unnecessarily hard. The only way that I accept the yoke is when it becomes all about not the work, nor the constraints of the yoke, but about being with my Yokemate. It is like marriage (though you are better to speak of that than I)…
A good example is in Mel Gibson’s Passion, in the Lord’s relationship with Simon of Cyrene. The Lord is happy to be with Simon, He looks at him as though he’s the only one on the planet. At one point, after the Lord falls and Simon picks Him up, they both gather themselves together and look together toward Calvary. In the next scene, their arms are crossed over the back of the cross, as yokemates. At Calvary, Simon is freed to go, but he cries because it is time to leave Him - it has become all about being with Him. In all this, the Lord is guiding and transforming Simon.
The Lord wants to bind Himself and ourselves together, His life and ours together, so that the only thing that matter is to be with Him. I find that it’s only then that things are “easy”.
3 livingmonstrance // Jul 10, 2008 at 9:20 am
And of course, it is Our Lady who brings one into the yoke with the Lord!
4 Gabrielle // Jul 14, 2008 at 11:03 pm
I had no idea that the yoke was for loadsharing, and in proportion to one’s strength, Jerome; this gives me even more food for thought…
I understand what you mean about accepting the yoke because of the desire for union with the “Yokemate”, and I have also found that the yoke is seen in a very different light once one understands the true freedom within obedience.
Re Simon of Cyrene, I know Gibson’s portrayal (maybe not of this particular event but the movie in general) was based on the mystic Anne Catherine Emmerich’s visions, but I suppose we will never really know if those visions were accurate or not. For instance, a mystic that is very close to my heart, Sr. Josefa Menendez (The Way of Divine Love) wrote that one year, during Lent, Jesus told her that Simon of Cyrene was paid to help carry the Cross, and that he did not bear his share of the weight, but allowed most of it to continue to fall on the Lord’s wounded shoulder. So here we are back at loadsharing again…
5 livingmonstrance // Jul 19, 2008 at 2:29 pm
Garielle,
I think this is a good image of the yokemates:
http://www.teamhoyt.com/index.html
I think Our Lady wanted me to write a post on them around April when the Boston Marathon took place, but I didn’t get around to it. Team Christ. I think it will happen someday anyway. Maybe today. Maybe right now.
There is a great spiritual truth of discipleship in their relationship. Who carries the whole load? What is asked of the son? I hope I don’t overload you with too much to contemplate.
The revelations to Sr. Josefa have been important in my life as well. What a great gift.
6 livingmonstrance // Jul 19, 2008 at 4:34 pm
Also, Gabrielle, I put up a new post that is related, that you might like.
7 Gabrielle // Jul 22, 2008 at 10:12 pm
Thanks, Jerome. I will be reading with pleasure! (Yes, I’ve seen the Team Hoyt video…tremendously moving and inspiring).
I’m so glad you know Sr. Josefa!
8 livingmonstrance // Jul 23, 2008 at 9:56 am
Our Lady put a book in my path called Words of Love. It includes many of the Lord’s quotes to Sr. Josefa. It was just what I needed in the dark time I was in.
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