The Wise, The Foolish, The Evil

I am reading a book called Necessary Endings, by Dr. Henry Cloud.  Primarily written for business people, the book gives insights about when it is time to end a project, a relationship, or a business.  Most people, it seems, will hang onto endeavors that no longer work -- or that never worked -- in the hope that things will eventually get better.

In one of the chapters, Cloud writes that there are only 3 types of people: the wise, the foolish, and the evil.  The wise person is the one who, given the understanding that he has gone off course in some way, will correct his action or direction if given the opportunity, the resources, and the support or encouragement to do so.

The foolish person refuses to correct his/her behavior because it was never his/her fault; someone else is always to blame.  No amount of pointing out what happened; no amount of providing resources and opportunity; no amount of encouragement will persuade the foolish person to make a change.  He refuses to take responsibility, to apologize, or to change his course of action.

The evil person has no desire to change because he or she actually enjoys creating chaos or hurting others.  This person will sabotage whatever project is on the table, just for the pleasure of causing trouble or for being obstinate.

All three of these types may have the same past; they may have made the same mistakes and even caused the same pain to others.  But their futures are vastly different.  Cloud points out that you have to realize what type of person you are dealing with before deciding to end a relationship or business endeavor.   One of his telling markers is the question, "Do I still want to be having this same conversation two years from now?

We have just celebrated the feastday of St. Mary Magdalene.  According to the Gospel, Jesus cast 7 demons out of her.  We do not know if she was the same Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, who sat at his feet listening to him, but we do know that she was one of the 3 Marys at the foot of the cross.  We know that she went to the tomb early Sunday morning to mourn the loss of Jesus, whom she loved beyond all telling.  We do know that she was the first to see the Risen Lord and to tell the Apostles that He was risen from the dead.

Mary was a wise woman, no matter what she lived in the past.  In her gratitude for being freed from 7 demons, she never left Jesus.  I find such comfort in her wisdom.  Jesus gave her the opportunity to be different; he provided the strength, the resources, and the encouragement she needed to change.  He cannot do less for any one of us.  The only question is whether we will recognize the provision He gives or continue in our foolishness because it's not really our fault, after all.

With Joy

With joy you will draw water from the well of salvation (Is. 12:3)

Before I had ever started reading the Bible, at a point of exhaustion and breakdown in my life, a counselor said to me, "Gayle, you cannot give yourself joy."  Now why this should have been such a revelation to me, I cannot tell you.  Looking back now, it seems to be a rather obvious conclusion.  And yet, I had spent a few years exploring ways to do just that!  I had looked into Transcendental Meditation, Yoga meditation, and The Power of Positive Thinking.  

Here's the problem:  With all of those methods, you actually have to DO them!  It reminds me of my mother complaining that when she bought her sewing machine, the salesman told her of all the wonderful things the machine could do.  "But it doesn't do any of those things," she said with a twinkle in her eye; "it just sits over there and does nothing!"  Yeah, I get it.  At the time I was looking for joy and inner peace, I had 3 small children who didn't get it -- no matter how tired I was, I was not going to nap during the day (or even at night most of the time.)  Nor was I going to sit down and ooom.  I remember how much I just wanted to read the Sunday paper with a cup of coffee!

Positive Thinking seemed to need a little reflection on my part, but the day I caught myself pouring a half-gallon of milk down the toilet when I had intended to put it in the refrigerator, I realized that I would be lucky just to get through the day sane; never mind "positive thinking."

Hearing the words, "You cannot give yourself joy" brought me up short!  Oh, really?   I looked up maybe for the first time in a long time, realizing the Source of Joy.  And I asked.   About six months after that, I received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit in the hospital, after being prayed over by my roommate, a 22-year old girl who had told me her own story of redemption.  Little did I realize at that time how effectively God had answered my prayer for joy!  

Now, some 43 years later, the joy that flooded my soul that day remains and has never left me!  I spontaneously started reading the Bible (another gift from the Holy Spirit), where I constantly find my joy renewed, and where I find references that strengthen me.  For example, Psalm 16 says:

My heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;

my body will also rest secure.....

You have made known to me the path of life;

you will fill me with joy in your presence,

with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

I think the first reference I stumbled upon, though, was Isaiah 12:3:  With joy, you will draw water from the well of salvation.  I remember reading about someone who drew a small flower next to verses she wanted to recall, and that was my very first "flower" in the bible I was then using.  Since then I have bought another bible, and I think that may be the only flower in the new one, although there are multiple underlines and notations now.  I was so thirsty for that water of joy that I actually jumped for joy when I read John 4 -- the woman at the well.  

What she needed most desperately was joy.  She, having had 5 husbands, went to the well a mile and half outside her town.  Presumably there was another well in the town visited by the respectable women who looked down on her.  She went at noon; presumably, they went early in the morning to fetch the necessary water for the day.  And she was alone there.  Jesus' words to her:  If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.....the water I give [you]  will become in [you] a spring of water welling up to eternal life.  

If we knew that the name of that living water was JOY, would we not want to drink from it every day?  But we cannot give it to ourselves; it is a Gift!

Ebenezer Road

If I ever wrote an autobiography, I'd have to call it Ebenezer Road.  (In fact, I wrote an account of my experience of Katrina in 2005, which I had planned to call Ebenezer Road were it ever published.)  In the Old Testament, as the Israelites made their way through the promised land after crossing the Red Sea, they periodically would build monuments made of stone, "...and they called it 'Ebenezer,' meaning 'thus far has God helped us'."  Those monuments remained throughout the land, and the next generations when seeing the monuments would ask, "What's the story here?"  Then the older generation would re-tell the miracles and glories they had witnessed on their journey--how God had been their Helper.

Toward the end of Jesus' earthly life, just before His arrest, He came into Jerusalem riding on a donkey, and "...the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen.... Some of the Pharisees in the crowd [told Jesus to rebuke His disciples]. 'I tell you,' He replied, 'if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out'."  I wonder if the Jews at the time would have recognized the reference to their Ebenezer stones.

Literally, Ebenezer means "stone of help."  Karl Rahner is considered the greatest theologian of the 20th century.  He was once asked if he believed in miracles.  "I do not believe in miracles," he said; "I count on them to get me through the day."  Were I to begin piling up stones to commemorate the small and large miracles I have experienced, I'm sure I'd have at least a small fortress.  God's help is so subtle that most of the time we fail to recognize His hand in the matter, although a good bit of the time we do say, "Thank God!"

Last year, I was in California during the time of the wildfire in Sonoma.  As we watched the news, we began making preparations for the power to be shut off in our area not far away.  The gas tank had to be filled in case we needed to evacuate, the animals had to be thought of, and we needed food that didn't need refrigeration.  In the meantime, I texted a friend in Mississippi who worked in our parish, asking for prayer.  That Sunday morning, I rose early as usual and around sunrise, I noticed a wall of smoke advancing our way.  It slowly came toward the property and surrounded us for about an hour or two.  But then, it began to clear all around us for about a quarter of a mile.  I was surprised to see the smoke encircle the area where we were, remaining at a distance for the rest of the day.  I was able to go out and feed the horses, walk the dogs, etc. without any problem.  Amazingly, the smoke continued to hover around the property, but at some distance.  Even the sky above us was clear.

When I got back to Mississippi, I heard that my friend had alerted our pastor about the situation.  That morning at Mass, he announced that one of the parishioners was in California near the Sonoma fires, and he prayed that the angels would blow back the flames and keep us safe.  People will call that a coincidence, but I call it one of many miracles that have encompassed my life.  I don't think of these miracles as exceptional; I think of them as normal.  I am sure that if we could gather a group of survivors who were directly impacted by those fires, we would hear one story after another of miraculous intervention and escape. 

Psalm 54 says, Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me. 

And Psalm 46: God is our refuge and our strength, an ever present help in distress.

And Isaiah 43:  When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
                          and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.
                          When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned;
                           the flames will not set you ablaze.

Maybe I should start looking for some large stones!
            

What Does God Want?

I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you (Jn. 15:15). 

It's the darndest thing! (Or, as my next-door northern Mississippi neighbor would say, "Dang!")  We could not have guessed it on our own, although the Greeks probably came closest to it with their gods accompanying people on their journeys.  The Canaanites and other pagans often threw their infants into the fire as a sacrifice to appease their gods.  The Aztecs built temples wherein they cut and mutilated themselves at the top, or offered human sacrifice to their gods.  And the Pharisees scrutinized every practice to see whether Yahweh would or would not be pleased with the tithes and offerings of the hoi-poloi.

And then came Jesus, eating and drinking with sinners and tax-collectors, scandalizing everyone by healing on the Sabbeth, and asking whether it was lawful to do good on the Sabbeth, or to do evil.  (He asked the question because "Some of them there were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus....")

And then He said, "Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to.  Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, 'Sir, open the door for us.'

"But he will answer, 'I don't know you or where you come from.'

"Then you will say, 'We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.'

"But he will reply, 'I don't know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!'"

So what is "the narrow door" of which He spoke?  What does God want from us?

Dang! He wants to be friends with us!  Who would have guessed it?  He wants to know us!  Matthew 7 has people coming to Jesus "on that day" saying, "....did we not prophesy in your name, and drive out many demons and perform many miracles?"  Then I will tell them plainly, "I never knew you."  He wants to be friends with us, wherever we are, wherever we are coming from!  He did say that we would do miracles in His Name, indeed, but it seems that it is not the miracles that cause us to enter the kingdom "on that day," but rather that He knows us!  And how, then, will He know us?

When I think about my good friends, whether I see them seldom or often, I think about an ease between us; I think about us easily walking in the same direction, not in opposition to one another.  I think about a free exchange of speech and a kind of undercurrent, or excitement, in being together.  I think about laughter and discovery, and maybe even free argument of ideas that does not wound but that ends in a shared glass of wine.  

God HAD to come in the flesh so that we could "walk with Him" and learn His innermost thoughts.  We have to somehow share the same Spirit with Him, as unlikely as it would seem.  When Jesus said to the Apostles, "I no longer call you servants, but friends," He said it at the Last Supper, at the same time He promised to send the Spirit to reveal what they could not then bear to hear. He would "take from what is mine and reveal it to you" (Jn. 16).  

We CAN be "friends" with God if we share one Spirit with Him, and Jesus promised to send the Spirit after He was raised from the dead.  The Acts of the Apostles is the story of that Spirit acting in the Apostles so that they continued to do what Jesus had done in the flesh.  2 Peter says :

His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.  Through these he has give us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

What does God want?  He wants our friendship; He wants us to participate in His own Spirit.  As for everything else, He will provide whatever we need for "life and godliness."

Think on These Things

Finally, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable -- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy -- think about such things.....And the God of peace will be with you (Philippians 4:8).

Padre Pio once said, "I shudder to think of the harm done to numerous souls by the lack of spiritual reading."  And that was before the age of instantaneous information from sources beyond what he could have imagined.  Our children are bombarded today with information and images that shape their minds even before they have a chance at "spiritual" reading. Children's programming -- an apt term, by the way, since we now know how our brains are programmed by what is seen and heard---when I was growing up consisted of The Lone Ranger, Sky King, and Howdy Doody.  Today, even quality programming on tv is overshadowed by often violent video games and cell phone access.

Recently, our local paper carried an article titled, "Study links negative thinking to Alzheimer's disease."  Researchers have been observing patterns of thought they have labeled RNT, repeated negative thinking, in people over 55.  PET scans have measured two proteins -- tau and amyloid -- that cause Alzheimer's when they build up in the brain.  People with higher RNT patterns showed more cognitive decline over a four-year period, and they were more likely to have amyloid and tau deposits in their brains.  Depression and anxiety are also associated with cognitive decline, although the connections are still not clear.

Two days after that article appeared, the paper carried another one called, "Book of Delights author shares the truth about joy."  Ross Gay, a professor at Indiana University, spent one year writing every single day about something that delighted him -- hummingbirds, high-fives from strangers, and the laughing snort, which he calls "among the most emphatic evidences of delight."  His "Book of Delights: Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude" won the 2015 National Book Critics Circle Award.  His rules for writing were "Write quickly and by hand."  "When you notice you've been delighted, suddenly the world is more full of delights," he said.  Joy overflows from this man in the interview.

If we begin to observe our inner landscapes, we might notice what effect our "programming" has on us, for better or for worse.  Recently, I began watching a series I had heard people talking about -- The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.  It was light-hearted and funny, and I was enjoying my daily episodes.  However, about 9 episodes into the story, there was one so filled with the "f word" that it seemed to program my brain.  My mother once told me that the last thing you think about before going to bed is the first thing you will think about in the morning, and unfortunately, I had watched this episode just before retiring for the night.  As I tried to fall asleep, my head was filled with the "f" dialog, and I hated the feelings that filled my soul.  I finally promised myself never to do that again.  Instead, I try to make my last thoughts before sleep something worthy of waking up to.  I want to experience joy in the morning, not grief and abuse.  

Jesus said the kingdom of heaven is "the pearl of great price, for which a man will give all that he has."  Our inner kingdom of peace is worth preserving at all costs!

As in the Days of Noah......

Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?....But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well (Matt. 6:27, 33).

In a time of Covid 19, it would seem that these words would assume paramount importance.  Our lives have changed.  No longer can we chase after "reaping and storing in barns," or "worrying about clothes," etc.  People cannot work; students cannot attend school.  What can we do?  Some look for ways to amuse themselves, but across the nation, we see millions of people turning to "seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness."

College students freed from their studies have organized ways to transport food from farms to cities, to feed those who are hungry and who cannot afford to buy food.  Small children have made bracelets to raise money to buy masks to protect lives.  Nurses and doctors have come out of retirement to help understaffed hospitals, working hour after hour to the point of exhaustion.

In the days after Katrina, I saw my entire world divided into light and dark:  there were those looting and shooting, taking advantage of the chaos that reigned in the city of New Orleans. And there were those who immediately went to work commandeering small boats and large trucks to rescue those abandoned on bridges, overpasses, and housetops.  When the world is turned upside down, there will always be Noahs who arrive with home-made Arks to rescue those who are drowning, and there will be those who are partying and laughing until the last moment before the flood washes over them.

Jesus said, "For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away.  That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left....Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time?"

A time like this of chaos and confusion tends to divide the whole world into two camps --- those who will add to the darkness and those who will bring whatever light (righteousness) they can to the situation.  

Fear and Faith

It was a warm summer's afternoon in the 1980's.  We were living in Metairie, about 4 miles from our church, and I was getting ready to attend the Saturday vigil Mass at 5:00 pm.  For some odd reason, I had forgotten that my husband was attending a conference downtown, and since we had only one car, I had no transportation to church.  I walked out the front door about 20 minutes to 5 and stood in mild shock staring at the empty driveway.  I briefly thought about starting to walk to church, but then realized the impossibility of making 4 miles in 20 minutes.  Suddenly, I heard a voice in my spirit: Fear turns back; Faith goes forward.

Laughing at my own foolishness, I decided to take a chance.  The worst that could happen would be that I would go a mile and turn back, having taken a much-needed walk.  The best that could happen would be that I would get a ride to church and learn something about faith.  My biggest problem was that we lived alongside a canal, and in order to cut off about half a mile's distance, I would have to walk in the weeds along the canal for a short distance in my good clothes and shoes. 

Rapidly trudging alongside the canal, I tried not to think about how stupid this whole idea was.  Actually, though, I had an inner sense of adventure and excitement.  I was, in a sense, "testing God" to see if the voice in my head was real or only my imagination.  After leaving the weeds, I walked alongside the main road for about half a mile when I spotted some good friends at an intersection.   They were waiting for traffic to clear when they saw me waving from across the street.  Crossing over to go in my direction, they stopped to pick me up, asking whether I was going to church too.

When they heard my story, they could not believe it.  They had been leaving for church when their mother realized she had forgotten something and so had been delayed for a few minutes while she went back into the house to retrieve it.  Thus, they "happened" to be at the intersection at the same time I arrived there.  What a great lesson it was for both of us:  Fear turns back; faith goes forward!

Mulling over the whole situation later, I realized that if I had gotten ready for church knowing that I had no car and not enough time to walk, it might have been presumption on my part to think God would provide a way, when I could have just waited until Sunday morning to attend Mass.  But my decision to walk was based solely on the direction of the moment, which I though might have been coming from the Holy Spirit.  I wanted to test that voice, which seemed so strong and so sure.  It was hard for me to believe that I was making it up on the spur of the moment.  And how glad I was that I decided to try it out!  I was learning to believe that God would guide me in more difficult moments of my life. 

It seems to me that this was what the journey of Abraham might have been all about.  First, a Voice inviting him to take a chance to "Come and see."  Then, Abraham being intrigued and wondering what might happen if he ventured forth.  Could this Voice be trusted?  And finding out along the way that he was not left alone after all.  Little by little discovering in small and then in larger ways that he was being held up and accompanied on the way.

The Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard wrote: We cannot stop doubt with reasons. Those who try have not learned that it is wasted effort.....if someone wanted to be [Jesus's] follower, he said to that person something like this: "Venture a decisive act; then you can begin, then you will know."  What does this mean? It means that no one becomes a believer by hearing about Christianity, by reading about it, by thinking about it....No, a certain setting is required---venture a decisive act. The proof does not precede but follows; it exists in and with the life that follows Christ.   (Kierkegaard, Provocations)

Stability and Strength

In the first book of Kings, we read that when Solomon was building the Temple in Jerusalem, he had two bronze pillars erected at the entrance.  The pillar on the right was named Jachin, which means "stability."  On the left, the pillar was called Boaz, which means "power." (I Kings 7:21). 

A twelfth-century monk named Aelred of Rievaulx pointed out that Jesus also erected two "pillars" at the entrance of His church: Peter (stability) and Paul (power or strength).  Thus, the church of Jesus Christ is built on a firm foundation, not shaken at its core.  In fact, when the charismatic movement was at its strongest in the 70's and 80's, my pastor in Kenner preached a remarkable sermon wherein he said that we need the church at Rome (stability) as well as the church at Ephesus (power, charisma).  Without both pillars, the church faces the situation of becoming either stale in its stability or unhinged in its power.  And indeed, any armchair historian has seen the church go through both phases before eventually being corrected by the power of the Holy Spirit operating in His saints.

In thinking about the beauty of the church balancing itself over the years through the stability of Peter and the charisma of Paul, it occurred to me that Peter was not always "stable" nor Paul "charismatic."  It took the traumatic "shaking" of both men at the core of their personalities and the filling of the Holy Spirit to make them into the "pillars of the church" that we recognize today.  Peter's denial of Christ must have been a shock to the very center of his being after he had just told the Lord (Jn. 13) that he would lay down his life for Him.  And Paul, so sure in the center of his heart that the followers of the The Way were heretical Jews betraying the faith of Abraham, had to be knocked to the ground by his encounter with the risen Lord.

Indeed, as Pope Francis recently pointed out in his general audience of June 10, God wants to change all of us as He changed Jacob when he wrestled with the Lord to obtain a blessing and a "new name -- Israel."  "This is a beautiful invitation," the Pope said, "to let ourselves be changed by God....we are only poor men and women, [but] God has a blessing reserved for those who have let themselves be changed by Him."

The change God wants to make in us, it seems to me, is to make us into Temples of His Living Presence like the Temple in Jerusalem and like the church first established at Rome and in Ephesus.  In order to do that, He must build into us "stability and strength/power."  For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, says Paul to Timothy (2 Tim. I:7), but a spirit of power, of love, and of a sound mind (or self-discipline).

You shall receive power -- the Greek word used here in the Acts of the Apostles is our root word for dynamite---when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, Jesus tells the apostles, and if you obey My words, you shall be like a house built on a firm foundation (rock)....when the wind and rains come, you shall not fail (Matt. 7).

Stability, Power, and Strength -- these are the Pillars of the Church, and these are the pillars that God wants to build into our personalities as temples of the Living God.  Pope Francis tells us that God wants to change us as He did Jacob, and wants to give us a "new name" -- no longer cheater, grabber, usurper, but (Jacob) rather, One who has prevailed with God and with men, (Israel).