The readings this week give us a warning and a remedy for preventing spiritual disaster. They seem rather appropriate for those in the USA who have just celebrated the inauguration of a new president as well as for me personally after concluding all the festivities surrounding the Baptism of my first grandchild. It is time to take an inventory of sorts and figure out a prudent plan for the immediate future as well as for the more long term one, a plan to follow the Lord in all we do. It is time again in the liturgical year, "the time of fulfillment", the time to "repent and believe in the gospel".
In the selection we have from Jonah, we see a compliant Jonah doing the Lord's work and God working through him to touch the hardened hearts of the people. We witness a repentant people, willing to "do what it takes" to return to God's favor. What we do not catch a glimpse of in this particular selection is what it took to get Jonah to follow the Lord's bidding. Most of us do remember the entire story and perhaps even recognize the pattern of it in our own lives. We, like Jonah, often are not "ready" to do the Lord's bidding, no matter what that might be.
The Gospel account from Mark also gives a picture of compliant men, fishermen, who left everything to become "fishers of men". We also know the supporting parts of that story including how difficult it was for each of them and the other apostles to be faithful to that calling. Their lives often mirror our own with the ups and downs of trying to be faithful.
In the difficult struggles that have come my way in the last few years, I have come to realize that sometimes "it is what it is". Human beings sometimes need quite a bit of help to do the Lord's work, period, whether in the convincing stage or the enduring stage.
For me, it seems that where I am along the journey of faith is the familiar rest spot. The truth is that we all need nourishment for this journey, be it through others or just being still enough to realize that "God is God and we are not". God does lead and provide needed help along the way. The rest spots make us pause so we can go, either continuing or changing course, in the right direction, the direction God has determined is best for us. The high spots when we know God is there matter greatly, but so do the times when the silence is deafening.
The greatest challenge I face, what it means to me personally to "believe in the gospel", is to believe what I can't see or feel, to believe that our Triune God will accomplish what has been promised, with or without me, no matter what seems to be at present. These rest spots in my life often occur at interesting times. They make me confront that challenge in myself, whether I am stopping to rest because I am worn out from effort or relaxing after a celebration.
I pray that my country, my family, and myself will take the needed nourishment of hope we need right now, take that prudent inventory, and do the Lord's bidding. We need hearts full of both humility and confidence, grounded and dependent on the graces of God. It is the only way that the journey, usually a long and difficult one, makes any sense at all.
(Comments to Lanie at lanieleblanc@mindspring.com.)