"On that day, a shoot shall spout from the stump of
Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom. The spirit of the Lord shall
rest upon him: a spirit of wisdom and understanding, a spirit of counsel and of
strength, a spirit of knowledge and of fear of the Lord, and his delight shall
be the fear of the Lord. Not by appearance shall he judge nor by hearsay shall
he decide, but he shall judge the poor with justice, and decide aright for the
Lord's afflicted." These words from Isaiah Chapter 11 were a message of
hope for a people broken, bruised, battered, and afflicted. They, the chosen
ones, were far from looking like being "chosen." They could even say
"If this is what it means to be Your chosen, please do not do me any
favors." Being the chosen of God has NEVER meant, nor does it do so today,
that somehow life is going to be easy, if you are one of the chosen. I was
going to say a walk in the sunshine, but then the chosen people did have a long
walk in the desert where the sun does hang out a lot. It lasted forty years. It
was not an easy stroll; rather it turned out to be a long slog. (Kind of like
our lives at times?) The account of that journey is a great source of comfort,
encouragement, and wisdom for us as today as we make our journey as
individuals, as families, and as a community of faith. It is so reassuring to
know that no matter how far off, and to where "The Chosen" strayed,
God as it were, strayed with them. They acted as if He was not present for
them, but that was their illusion. Over a period of time they were guided back
to the right way and right relationship, and not always with their willingness
intact.
God does not
need us to be perfect, in any way, for Him to accomplish His mysterious
work. He does His best work when we get
to that place, in our desert journey, where we are forced to accept the fact
that we are, ever will be perfectly imperfect. We will NOT get away with just
mouthing the words. This acceptance of our innate imperfection has to be
pain-fully drawn from the depths of who we are. This is the beginning of our
faint, and often frightened "Yes" to our stump/stumps. The most
convoluted "Yes," on our part is enough for the miracle of His grace
to become operative in us. We are now becoming aware of our stumpy-ness. How
many stumps we are faced with will be in direct proportion to our honesty. WE
must also keep in mind this wonder-full reality, the more stumps we own the
more blossoms and fruits our garden eventually will produce. Is it not great to
see a root slowly produce its unique, wonder-full harvest? The place where
once, to the naked eye, there was nothing of any value to be seen, now
everything has changed. There is beauty, to enliven and delight us. There is
nourishment for body, soul, and spirit. An abundance of life springs from those
stumps. It is The Lord who has done, and will do that which to the human eye
seems impossible. A caveat, a warning,
all that is now and has been bestowed on us is not for ourselves. Pope Francis
keeps that hard, and for some, a very disturbing reality constantly before us.
He is not too popular with some individuals who are not familiar with Catholic
Social Doctrine. The Pope is NOT saying anything new. What has been said in the
past has either been forgotten or was, at the time, ignored. WE are in constant
need of being reminded of who we are, a chosen people whose origin is the womb
of our Creator’s infinite love. Love is our origin and it is also the reason
for our existence. We are to be DISTRIBUTORS of the gifts we have been
entrusted to our care. We are not going to take anything with us. "There
is no U-haul behind a hearse" (Graham) All is given, to be given
away." All that we keep, we lose, and all that we give away, we keep.
"I do not have to tell you what that is!”
Honesty
with who I really am is not easy. Thank God we are told that we grow into being
honest. My journey into honesty began, the day I was able to own my dishonesty
about being honest. My honesty was a little stump, so my ability to grow
spiritually was frustrated. Honesty is a prerequisite for growth. The presence
of The Truth is essential for us to grow into our real truth. Our real truth
the true self, is the person who God created and keeps in existence. When I am
living a lie there is no God connection, hence we wander and wander as did The
Chosen of long ago. It took a long time to grow into a willingness to be
honest. "Once we admit we are honest about dishonesty, we are being, wait
for it, being honest." This is a great paradox, meant to stretch us, as do
all paradoxes. Ouch!!! I am at times willing to forego this stretching. I tell
God “enough is enough” I am willing to stop, but somehow God chooses to ignore
this willingness. Like a parent ignoring a child's unreasonable request!!! So
the question has to be asked, will this stretching never end? The answer, I am
sad to say is, "as long as I am alive, I am and will be stretched."
We know that stretching is essential for good health. We are encouraged to
stretch for at least five minutes each morning. Whatever is healthy for us
physically of necessity is essential for our spiritual health and growth.
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