The Compass

" When John the Baptist heard in prison, of the works of the Christ, he sent his disciples to Jesus with this question, 'Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?' Jesus said to them in reply, 'Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have to good news proclaimed to them. And blessed is the one who takes no offense at me.' " -- [Matthew 11: 2-11].


Somehow, I cannot get over the fact that-- despite all of John the Baptist's roving the countryside, preaching, 'Prepare the way of the Lord', and teaching,  'the One who is coming after me is mightier than I.   I am not worthy to carry his sandals.' -- that in the end, when Jesus came, John did not at first recognize Him.

And we see this, in the Apostles' slow, all-too-human dawning realizations, about who Jesus really is.
In Matthew 16: 22, Jesus tells His disciples that "He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders. . and He must be killed and on the third day be raised to life." Peter's reaction is, essentially, 'THIS cannot be!' A man who is to be murdered like a common criminal cannot BE the Messiah.

At the time when Jesus began His ministry, the Israelites expected a great military leader, a ruler/warrior who acted also as a judge, someone like Moses. Or, they expected perhaps a prophet, such as Isaiah. Or, perhaps a King, such as David or Solomon.

At one point, even Jesus' disciples vied amongst each other for who among them would be called the greatest.  Clearly, the disciples themselves were expecting an exalted leader. Instead, Jesus rebuked them: "The greatest among you shall be your servant. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted." --[Matthew 23:11].

The issue then, is HOW do we recognize God?

I think that these Scriptural passages must give us great Hope!  God is too mysterious and too huge for our feeble human brains to fully comprehend. So very often, we just don't get it. IF God is present, we often do not even realize He is there.

I always have in mind that I need to work on recognizing God in my life. But, I also MUST teach this to my son!

It is very hard for me to discern God at times. Growing up, my family and I attended church faithfully each Sunday. I went to Sunday School; I was baptized, Confirmed and received my First Communion.

But, when I was 14, abruptly we ceased attending church. When I asked about it, I was told, "We don't do that any longer."  From my family's talk, they seemed to "not believe in that stuff" any longer.

I was confused. Very.

I started hearing their gossip at the dinner table.  Their bitterness-- they seemed to covet more and more, when we seemed to have so much already. Their racism and disparagement of the poor. Their  supercilious attitude, convinced that we were superior to the poor or the marginalized.

All this I somehow knew in my heart to be wrong. For, " the desire for God is written upon the human heart."

Only in the last several years, as an adult, have I even owned a Bible. And then, I came across the great "Shema" the Old Testament Commandment that Moses gave to his people: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Recite [these Commands] to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you arise. Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead. . ." -[Deuteronomy 7: 2].  The Old Testament Shema became the New Testament "greatest Commandment".

And yet, today, over 70% of Millenials say that they have "no religion" at all. This is a shame, a crime.

I teach my son that he must have a Compass for God. IF God is not in it, don't do it. Always do the loving thing. IF it is not Love, it cannot be God.

I also teach my son that Jesus and God are the Great Healers. They comfort the poor and the sick, they help the lame to walk and the blind to see.

 IF what my son is doing is NOT loving and healing, then he is NOT the face of God.

I also teach my son that the Dark Side loves-- and thrives upon-- division, hatred, violence and chaos.
If my son is NOT against division, hatred, violence and chaos, then my son is part of the problem, and he is encouraging, if not participating in, Evil.

I would like to see a world where we are not afraid to say that Evil is real. I would like to see a world where we name what the Evil IS. We cannot even begin to fight Evil, if we cannot even name it.

Somewhere along the line, Christians have become "the enemy".  We Christians are asked, "You are NOT Christian? Are you?'    Pope Francis has said, "The encroachment on [Christianity] in the West is a 'polite persecution' disguised as 'culture and progress.' "

Evil has become tantalizing, dazzling, even attractive. Bad has become "good".  The Light in Christianity, in Jesus, has become laughable -- or, even worse, irrelevant.

If we do not recognize God, let alone live a life dedicated to Him, how can we hope to defeat the Dark Forces all around us? For, by not living by the Light, we invite the Darkness in.



[Related Posting: "The Voice of One", 12/5/16; "The Armor of Light", 11/28/16.]

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