Archive for the ‘Family & Friends’ Category

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

Definitive

Tuesday, July 14th, 2009

A few months ago, a new friend of mine Clare invited me to her graduating cello recital at the New England Conservatory of Music. I got the invite at the last minute on the day of the recital. That day I had a lot of other things going on, and I was meeting someone earlier that evening. But I decided, “I’m going to accept the invitation. I’m going to go.”

So, I eventually drove my car to the T and took the train to the school. After a few questions along the way, and sifting through a few hallways, I finally found the room. But I was late.

I stopped at the door to the recital room, and I could hear beautiful music. I looked through the door, and I couldn’t believe what I saw. There was a guy playing the piano, and there was Clare, who always seemed quiet and reserved, pouring her whole heart into her cello music. I had never seen her like that before – I was amazed.

So, after the first intermission, I made it in and found a seat near another friend of mine that I saw. We sat there and listened, and I tell you, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing and hearing. There were times when she was playing the instrument with the bow, and then with just her fingers, all with such an energetic and fast pace. And the piano player! He was going a mile a minute, too, with his hands all over the place. I was just in awe. To me, what they were doing was impossible.

At the end of the recital, while everyone was giving the fourth curtain call, I turned to my friend and said, “I don’t think I’ll ever see anything like this for the rest of my life.”

So, a lot of people got in line to congratulate her, and one of her classmates and I got to chatting and I asked him, “Is she the best in the school? Or do all you guys play like that?” He looked at me funny. “You don’t know ‘The Clare’? Tonight, you’re seeing ‘The Clare’. Definitive.”

I was seeing one of the best cellists in the world in all her glory, in the event that defines who she is. What a privilege! But when I accepted the invitation, I had no idea what was in store. There was no bragging, no air about her that made me think that she was a world-class artist. That greatness was completely hidden.

Remember when Jesus was transfigured before Peter, James, and John on top of the mountain? There was Moses and Elijah speaking with Him about His coming Passion. Now, Moses represents the Law, and Elijah represents the prophets, so that the apostles would understand that Jesus was in agreement with the law and the prophets. This defines who Jesus is, a fulfillment of the law and prophets. The Passion? That was the event that would also define for the world who Jesus is, the sacrificial Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. And, as if that weren’t enough, after the conversation, Moses and Elijah disappeared, and Jesus was left alone as the Father Himself defined who He is in the most clear words: “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” (Mt 17:5)

These apostles were getting to see Him in all His glory. That day, they knew Him truly as “The Lord”. Definitive.

See, Jesus kept His glory and greatness hidden. There was no air about Him that He was divine. They got to see His glory because of one reason:

They accepted His invitation.

Jesus’ glory and greatness are completely hidden from us. He wants to reveal them to each of us, because it’s only then that we can truly know Him. He offers us a free invitation, and even if it comes at the last minute, even if you have other things going on, let me offer you a piece of advice:

Accept it. Go.

Then, you’ll know Him as “The Lord.”

Definitive.

Posted in Family & Friends, Luminous, Work & Career | 2 Comments »

Get Behind Him

Tuesday, July 7th, 2009

A friend of mine Jim is a runner who runs a lot of road races. He came by recently and talked about the marathons he’s run in Boston. Well, during one marathon he was running along and one of those motorcycles with a TV camera on the back of it slowly pulled up in front of him and began filming him. He waves into the camera a little bit, and after he finishes up with his “Hi Mom!”, he puts his head back down and keeps on running. He’s expecting that that’s enough, that the motorcycle will move on.

But it didn’t, it kept on him.

So Jim gives another wave or two, another “Hi Mom!”, and well, this keeps going on. He was wondering why they were so fixed on him. Well, at some point he happened to look over his shoulder to see how far ahead he was of the next guy.

He found out he was only about 5 feet in front of the next guy. And that next guy was Bill Rodgers, the 22-time marathon champion who is probably the greatest American marathoner ever.

Jim told me, “Here I am thinking the camera is on me, and Bill Rodgers is right behind me the whole time. I’m smiling and waving and all that, taking up all the attention. He’s probably thinking, ‘Get out of the way! Get behind me!’”

When the Lord gave Peter his new name and designated him the Rock on which He would build His Church, it was when Peter recognized who He was. “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Mt 16:16)

Now what happened right after that, not 3 minutes later? Peter takes the Lord aside and starts telling Him what to do. There’s going to be no going to Jerusalem, no suffering, no death, no resurrection.

What’s going on?

Peter thinks the camera is on him. He’s just got the jackpot, the limelight, the attention. He’s the Rock, the foundation of the Church, he has the keys to the Kingdom. He thinks he’s the leader now. But he missed a very important thing that the Lord said: “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.” (Mt 16:17)

So what was the Lord thinking? “Get out of the way! Get behind me!” “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me; for you do not savor the things of God but the things of men.” (Mt 16:23)

Peter went from Rock to devil in 3 minutes because he forgot God. He put himself in front of Jesus.

Our gift of faith is given from God when we get behind Jesus and follow Him. If you’re ever tempted to go out in front of the Lord, if you ever think the good attention you get for being a person of faith is your own doing, remember Peter. And remember the Lord’s words to him.

Get behind Him.

Posted in Family & Friends, Luminous, Sports & Recreation | No Comments »

Our Real Name

Monday, May 18th, 2009

At my brother’s wedding rehearsal last June, we all met in the church parking lot beforehand, talking. I had the chance to meet a lot of new people who were friends of my sister in law, so we were all making some new introductions.

In the midst of it, I went up to one woman and said, “Hi I’m Jerome, I’m the groom’s brother.” She gave me one of those looks, you know, where she can tell I had no idea who she was. She pointed over to her left and said, “I belong to him.” Standing there with a big smile was her husband, who I had just met.

So, anyway, they seemed like best of friends and a great couple. We all enjoyed the wedding. But you know, to this very day, I still don’t know her name. But I do remember what she called herself. I thought, that’s her real name.

In writing his Gospel, John never uses his own name. Instead, He calls himself “the disciple whom Jesus loved” a total of five times in his Gospel. What is he doing? He is telling us that he belongs to Him. He is telling us his real name.

Jesus comes to us as a bridegroom to a bride. “Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.” (Mt 25:6) He seeks to enter into a personal covenant of the deepest union of love with each of us, a covenant that is like marriage, but even deeper. Just like in marriage, He wants to give each of us a new name: and you shall be called by a new name which the mouth of the LORD will give. (Is 62:2)

He wants to give us our real name:

“I belong to Him.”

Posted in Family & Friends, Luminous | 5 Comments »

The Way Out Of The Way

Sunday, May 10th, 2009

A friend of the family, Jake, came by a few months ago to watch a movie with my father, and we all got to talking about my father’s trip back down to Virginia. Jake loves to travel, and he especially loves to drive – he used to be a truck driver. So, he offered to drive my father down to Virginia when the time came. What a gift of a friend he is!

Well, when we started talking about the trip down, we talked about route 95, and how it’s pretty much a direct trip from Boston to DC. Jake started describing the routes he takes. “I don’t take 95, even though it pretty much goes direct all the way down. I’ll take the Mass pike to 84, all the way through New York and into Pennsylvania. Then I’ll take 81 to 83 into Maryland.”

Wow, I’m thinking, that’s way out of the way. I have done lot of traveling from Boston to Pennsylvania, to New Jersey, even some to Maryland and Virgina. I’ve gone 95, 84, 684, 287, 80, Garden State Parkway, New Jersey Turnpike, and other ones. But I never would have thought of taking the route he described.

I said, “No Tappan Zee bridge?” “I don’t even take the Tappan Zee – they’re always doing construction on that.”

He said, “Even though it adds 90 more miles onto 450, it takes an hour less time. It’s because, except for Hartford, you skip all the traffic in Connecticut, and then you skip New York and Philadelphia completely.

I would never take 95 the whole way.”

Jesus has come to us, and He desires each of us to come to Him. But reaching Him is a journey that takes effort. If we look to reach Him directly, we’ll meet many obstacles in the road – traffic, construction, accidents on the side of the road, backups, delays.

But there is an indirect way we can take, and His mother knows it. She knows it because she is it. Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ. (1 Cor 11:1) This way looks like it’s way out of the way. It looks like a longer way, and it may not even make sense to us at first. But we get there faster and easier.

We skip all the commotion, the back-ups, and delays.

And after taking this way, you’ll never take the direct route again.

Happy Mother’s Day!

Posted in Family & Friends, Luminous, Serving Others | No Comments »

The Lord is Our Life Buddy

Sunday, May 10th, 2009

A few years ago, I had the gift of scuba diving pretty often with my friend Ron. Now, he’s a dive master, which means he can do just about anything under water. That’s good for me, because I’m a beginner. He would help me with the gear in setting up, he would lead me where to go, and he would help me with the lobstering underwater. And, he always gave me the lobsters afterwards!

Well, one day I went out to dive with another friend Keith, who is not a dive master. He brought some of his equipment. “You need a breather?” “Yeah.” “This works pretty well.” Well, sort of. “The compass doesn’t work on this one – you can use this one.” “OK.” So, off we went into the ocean.

We swam out about a hundred yards and were poking around for lobsters. Nothing was really happening. Finally, my air was running low, so I let Keith know it was time to go back. He says no – see he had only one lobster and needed another one for his wife for dinner. So he kept going. I stuck with him, and gave him some more time.

A little later, again I told him it was time to go back, I was running low. But he still needed that lobster. Finally, I made as much noise as I could underwater, and got him to surface.

Here we were, about 150 yards off shore, with the sun soon setting, and no one on the beach. By this time, I was just about out of air. Now, let me explain a few things to help understand. With scuba, it’s easier to travel at the bottom of the ocean than to swim on the surface. But now, I had to swim on top because my air was almost out. And I am not a good swimmer.

So, I aimed toward the shore, put in my breather, plunked my head into the water, and began to kick, trying to keep my eyes on the bottom of the ocean as a guide. Kicking, kicking, kicking … am I making any progress, I’m wondering. I picked my head up to see if I was any closer to the shore.

There was no shore! I had turned completely around and was heading out to sea!

Now, I tell you, I began to get nervous. I’m thinking, this is how people die out here, heading out like dummies, with equipment that doesn’t work, without a plan, staying down too long to get lobsters. This is how divers become fish food.

So, then I decided I would not be fish food. I would go in by brute force. I aimed to the shore, put my back into the water and kicked and kicked and kicked like I’d never kicked before. We both made it back safe. And afterwards, I had the biggest fried clam dinner I ever had in my life. I never dove with Keith again.

What happened?

I went out without my dive master, my dive buddy. I put my trust in someone else.

Jesus is the only One we can trust our life with. If we abide in Him and His words in us (Jn 15:7), then He sets us up with the right gear in life, leads us in the good paths, and leads us in our life mission. But if we put our trust in someone else, we end up lost and in some predicament. “Apart from me you can do nothing.” (Jn 15:5)

The Lord is our Life Master.

He is our Life Buddy.

Posted in Family & Friends, Luminous, Sorrowful, Sports & Recreation | No Comments »

Being On The A-Team

Thursday, April 30th, 2009

Two nights ago, I had the privilege of singing at a Mass in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe, on the feast of St. Louis de Montfort. St. Louis is the man who enlightened the rest of the Church with a special means of giving themselves to Jesus through Mary His Mother. This consecration has been an important part of my coming back to Christ, and it’s the foundation for a group at the Shrine where I am a member. And, to boot, the Missionary Image of Our Lady of Guadalupe was there as well. So it’s a great privilege for me to be able to sing at the Mass.

Now, I am an OK singer, but certainly not the type you’d put leading the singing in church. I got to sing because the usual musician is out of town and the music director could not make it. I was the last-minute substitute: Choice C.

But as it turned out, I was not alone. There was a nineteen-year-old woman singing with me, Sandy. She was so very kind and humble, she had the most beautiful voice, played the guitar, and, well, she even looked a lot like Our Lady of Guadalupe. (Not to mention that Our Lady was a teenager when she was pregnant with her Son, as she is as Our Lady of Guadalupe.)

Now, my singing voice alone is boring, but not only that, I have gasps, places where I forget to breathe. My timing is off, I sing way too low most of the time, and my volume is all over the place. I sing like a choice C singer. Hack.

I told her, “You have a great voice. You should be doing all the singing, you can do the solos.” She said, “No, we are a team. We’ll sing together.” So, we sang together for the Mass.

And the most amazing thing happened. She sang and played the guitar with me, and by doing that, everything changed. She smoothed out all the rough edges, adapted for the volume, and her higher voice balanced my drone. And even more, she could harmonize at the drop of a hat. Her harmonizing turned every ordinary song into an extraordinary song.

With her guitar playing and singing, we sounded like Choice A. People were even weeping! She got all the accolades of course, and what did I get? I got to sing with her. I would have been a disaster alone, but instead, with her, I got to be a part of the A team.

In his writings revealing the special means of consecration to Jesus through Mary, St. Louis de Montfort wrote that we need this means because, from God’s standard, everything we do is like Choice C: it’s hack. He wrote that we should live life always with Mary so that “she may purify it, sanctify it, embellish it, and thus render it worthy of God.” (The Secret of Mary, No. 37)

Mary gives us the Sacred Humanity of Jesus. When we live life with Jesus’ Humanity, when we live life with Mary, she smoothes out all the rough edges. She adjusts for our faults and weaknesses and fills them in. And not only that, she embellishes our life with a harmonizing that makes every ordinary thing extraordinary. It becomes worthy of God Himself. It becomes the Life of her Son.

We get to live with her, and our life goes from Choice C to Choice A.

We get to be a part of the A team.

Posted in Family & Friends, Joyful, Serving Others | 3 Comments »

Why He Pays The Price

Sunday, April 12th, 2009

During Holy Week, on the day I usually take a “day off”, I went out to the Chrism Mass at the Cathedral in Boston. The Chrism Mass is the Mass where all the priests from the Archdiocese come together, and the chrism oils that priests use in the sacraments are blessed for the year. The priests also renew the vows they made in accepting the call to be a member of Lord’s priesthood.

Now, you would have thought with my day off, I could make it in plenty of time. Of course not. I ended up arriving about 10 minutes early, but still way past the time for getting any reasonable parking. With a sigh, I made a pass down the street by the cathedral, past the full parking lots, the filled spaces along the street. Then, all of a sudden, there was a spot. Out of nowhere. Great. I pulled in, got out and looked at the meter.

Nothing. Four flashing zeroes. The meter was hungry – and I had no quarters. Now, meter maids in Boston take very good care of hungry meters, and when parkers neglect their little meters, the maids feed them with big pricy tickets. They are quick and thorough – they are vigilant, devoted maids for their meters.

I knew that it was impossible to not get a big ticket.

So, I could have gone to go get change from somewhere, and I would miss a good part of the Mass. I could try to find another parking spot that didn’t have a meter (good luck). So, inside, I made a decision. It wasn’t with words, but if it were, it would sound like this: “Lord, this is my fault. I could have been here earlier, I have no excuse. But I want to be with You and Your church at this Mass. I will take the big ticket. I will pay the price to be with You.”

When I began to walk away, down the street came a priest friend. We greeted each other and chatted briefly. I went to the street corner to cross, and there were all of my friends from the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy. We shared some conversation as we crossed the street and entered the Cathedral. In the entry was a friend from the Franciscan community that I had spent some time with. I visited the Lord in the tabernacle in the side chapel, and when I came out to look for a seat, I saw a brother friend from the Oblates of the Virgin Mary. He invited me into his pew, and when I was seated, I noticed across the aisle 7 or so pews filled with schoolchildren from my home parish.

Everyone prayed together during the Mass, and after the Mass, my father’s cousin stopped by me to say hello. I went to the Cardinal and thanked him for his words in his homily. Then, I rejoined the Franciscans to meet up with one of the brothers. When we walked outside, I saw a priest who I help at nursing homes in a neighboring parish, and we talked. A seminarian friend who I had been with on a World Youth Day trip stopped to talk. I exchanged phone numbers with another seminarian friend, to catch up some time soon. A priest friend from the Oblates came by out of the blue, and got a picture of us. One of my best friends, the priest who said my mother’s funeral Mass, was there with his parents, who are wonderful friends of my family and have helped us so much. I got to catch up with another newly ordained priest friend who I hadn’t seen in a long time, and, by phone, I caught up with a seminarian from Georgia who was a brother postulant with me with the Franciscans.

I offered to give one of the priests a ride, and as we walked to the car, I thought about how happy I was. “The Church is my home. The Church is my family.”

When we finally reached the car, we walked around to look at the front windshield.

No ticket.

Two and half hours at a starving meter in the South End of Boston, and no ticket.

Impossible.

I didn’t have to pay the price after all.

How was it that I didn’t have to pay the price, but instead got to be with all these good people, all these friends on the same day, at the same time? How was it that I got to be with my true family, my real home that day, and I didn’t have to pay what I really owed?

One little act of the heart. “I will pay the price to be with You.” That one act, and He gave me His family, His home. For free.

We can be afraid to admit our guilt, to confess we’ve done wrong. We are afraid to pay that price, because we know it’s painful, if not impossible, to pay. But the repentant thief on the cross with Jesus admitted his own guilt, he didn’t try to get out of it. Instead, he confessed, he accepted his responsibility and all the consequences: But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” (Lk 23:40-41) He asked only to be with the Lord: And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” (Lk 23:42)

And the Lord paid his price and gave him His home: And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” (Lk 23:43)

Whatever the price is that we owe, all the Lord wants is our humble confession and willingness to pay it in order to be with Him. He just wants to hear the words:

“I will pay the price to be with You.”

It’s then that we receive His Kingdom. And He pays the price.

Blessed Easter!

Posted in Family & Friends, _Glorious | 4 Comments »

Receiving Is The Only Way

Saturday, April 11th, 2009

On the Annunciation last month, I was on my way through a mall to get to the church for Mass, when I saw a little kiosk stand selling matryoshka dolls. These are the Russian dolls that come in sets of five, where smaller ones nest inside bigger ones, until they all fit inside the largest one. Well, I noticed a very small set, the littlest one, that had images of the Madonna and Child. The biggest one is only about an inch tall. I ended up buying it, I’m thinking, “This is a good example of how grace is mediated. This will come in handy for teaching some day.”

So, the Mass was a special celebration of the Annunciation, where about fifteen more men and women consecrated themselves to Jesus through Mary. It was a great evening, and afterwards, on the way out, I showed some friends the little matryoshka dolls. So while we’re looking at them, little Therese comes out. Now, Therese is the littlest child, the littlest one, at the whole Mass.

“Oh, she’ll love this. OK, Lord, now I know why I got these. Now I get it.”

So I sat down, and a big crowd gathered around. First, she saw the biggest doll, which is already pretty tiny. I popped that open, and out came the smaller doll. Therese was so surprised and excited. Then the next one, the next one. Finally, we got down to the next to last one. Now, this little guy is small – only a quarter of an inch at best. It has a little, tiny emblem of the Madonna and Child, and Therese thought it must be the last one. It’s impossible that there could be a smaller one. I struggled and struggled to open it (this thing is tiny). Finally, it popped open, and the smallest little matryoshka doll you could imagine popped out.

Therese leaped and screamed with joy.

And I got a little kiss from the littlest one.

The Blessed Virgin Mary is the littlest one. In the Annunciation, we celebrated the great moment when she received God and His Kingdom with her whole being. In thanks for her gift, she declared her Magnificat, her exclamation of praise for God.

There is only one way to enter the Kingdom of God. We can’t enter by studying theology and religion. Helping the poor won’t get us in either. Living a good and virtuous life won’t get us in. Doing great projects in the Church doesn’t do it. We cannot enter by fighting for political and social justice. And there is no special prayer we can say.

There is only one way:

We receive it like the littlest one.

Like Mary.

Like little Therese.

“Let the children come to me, do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” (Mk 10:14-15)

Posted in Family & Friends, Joyful, Serving Others, Sorrowful, Work & Career | No Comments »

We Will Get There Together

Sunday, April 5th, 2009

I had the gift and privilege to be at the local Eucharistic Congress last night in Boston. It’s really for young adults, and with my grays I’m past that age, but I was invited in by one of the organizers. Plus, I can’t miss an hour of adoration with the Cardinal and then a Eucharistic procession through the North End of Boston. So I went.

So what is a Eucharistic procession? It’s when the Lord Jesus in the Eucharist is carried by a priest in a monstrance down a path with a bunch of people following in prayer. Yesterday was a beautiful and powerful experience to follow the Lord with the Cardinal and about 300 others through the streets of Boston’s “Little Italy”. At a few spots, everyone would kneel and adore for a short time. We each had a little candle, and we sang as we followed along the way.

But it was a windy night. And candles can go out with the slightest gust, right? It was not a good night for keeping a candle lit.

So, we walk out of the church into the night and turn a left, right away into a steady gale. Left and right, candles were being extinguished. But as fast as they were going out, people were helping each other re-light them. Then came a calm spot. Then we went around a corner, and a sudden burst of wind shot out. Lights going out everywhere. Even my friend Mel, who I thought had his light so well guarded, poof – out it went. It went on and on like that the whole way.

Sometimes I found a light from someone else, sometimes I gave a light. Sometimes I had to search for someone who had a light. Sometimes I looked around to help someone who didn’t have a light. I can’t count how many times my own candle went out and then was re-lit. As we followed the Lord in the way together, we adored, sang – and tried to keep our lights lit. And when we finally got to the last church, our lights were lit. We got there – together.

If you say yes to following Jesus, it will be out into a dark way, where there is a strong wind. There will be distractions and temptations and fears and doubts. And you will have a little light. Now I’ll tell you, even though you guard your light as well as you can, the wind will at some point reach it and put it out. It will be impossible to keep it lit on your own.

Now I bet you’re thinking, this guy’s not a good salesman. How would anyone survive? Why would anyone take up an offer like that?

Here’s why: when you are His disciple, you are not alone.

“By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one for another.” (Jn 13:35)

For us Christians, it’s our love for one another that keeps our lights lit along the way. Even though the wind is strong and the way is dark, when the journey is ended, your light will be lit.

We will get there – together.

Posted in Family & Friends, Luminous, Serving Others | No Comments »

Be Foolishly Merciful

Thursday, March 12th, 2009

When I was a boy, my brother and friends used to play a game called pickle. In the yard, we’d set up two bases, with a player at each base with a baseball glove. These are the basemen. They would throw a single ball between them. Other players would try to run back and forth from one base to the other. These are the runners. While the runners tried to go back and forth between the bases, the basemen would try to tag them out, like in baseball. The ball would sometimes fly over someone’s head, or be dropped. There was chaos a lot of times. But once in a while, a runner would get stuck between the two basemen, in a run-down. The ball would go back and forth between them, with the runner first running toward one base, then the other, trying to avoid being tagged and to make it safely to any base.

Pickle!

How do you get out of a pickle? You’ve got to be foolish.

What do I mean? …

Today I was on the phone trying to set up a new drug prescription for my father. The doctor’s office was ready to prescribe, so I called them.

“We use a mail order prescription service,” I said, “can you call in the prescription to them?” “We don’t call in prescriptions. If you give us their fax number, we can fax the prescription in.” I replied, “Well, I think they have their own fax form and procedure …” “Well, you can mail the form to us. Or drop it off. Or, just call them up and have them fax the fax form to us, then we can fax the prescription to them. Here is our fax number.

They can do that.”

So I called the mail-order pharmacy. “Hello, can you fax the fax form to my doctor, so his office can fax back the fax form and the prescription?” “Well, the doctor’s office has to contact us directly.” “Could you just fax the fax form to them? I have their fax number right here.” “Well, we have a simple number for them to call. They don’t even have to speak to a person. With only a few button pushes they’re all done. It’s very easy for them.” Silent pause. “So … you couldn’t just fax the form over to them I guess?” “No, that’s not our procedure. Have them call us.

They can do that.”

Pickle!

Now, I could have gotten mad. I could have said, “Look, I’m the one stuck in the middle here. This will be the third phone call I’ve made, going back and forth, when all that either one has to do is make one single call to the other, and everything would be done. Each one wants their way, and won’t cut a break. Fine. I’m not going to cut them a break either.” I could have just given up and gone to the local pharmacy. Or I could have gotten the fax form and mailed it coldly with a huff to the doctor’s office. All of these would be very reasonable. I was tempted to do it.

But then, I would have been tagged out.

I would be doing the same thing they were doing. I would have become the evil I hated.

What did I do?

Something very unreasonable, something that may seem like foolishness. I retrieved the fax form that the doctor’s office refused to get. I personally drove 2 miles with a warm greeting to the doctor’s office to deliver to them the fax form – by hand – that the pharmacy refused to send.

And I was safe. I made it. I was free. No bitterness and rancor, just joy and energy. I had a great, great day after that, I can’t even begin to explain…

Jesus was always in pickles in His ministry. “But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market places and calling to their playmates, `We piped to you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn.’” (Mt 11:16-17)

But He was always getting out of them, too: “But I say to you, Do not resist one who is evil. But if any one strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also; and if any one would sue you and take your coat, let him have your cloak as well; and if any one forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.” (Mt 5:39-41)

At some point, God puts each of us into a pickle. When you are in a pickle, don’t be afraid to follow these foolish words. Don’t be afraid to be foolishly merciful.

You will have a great, great reward.

For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. (1 Cor 1:25)

Posted in Family & Friends, Luminous, Science & Technology, Serving Others | 4 Comments »

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »