I don't know about you, but I'm happy to be in Florida with our warm weather and not in the mid-west or northeast with their cold and snowy weather.
Now and then, I stop into a bookstore to browse. I happened to rediscover a book titled Disorder in the American Courts. It quotes things people actually said in trials.
For example, an attorney asked: “Do you recall the time that you examined the body?” The witness replied: “The autopsy started around 8 PM.” The attorney continued: “And Mr. Denton, was he dead at the time?” The witness: “If not, he was by the time I finished.” In another case, an attorney asked a witness to describe an individual. The reply: “medium height with a beard.” The attorney followed up: “Was this a male or a female?” The witness answered: “Unless the circus was in town, I’m going with male.” The book is good reading for a laugh when you need one.
I did come across a book titled The Power of Meaning. People want to feel a sense of well-being, and yet many feel alienated and depressed. Happiness, the author proposes, results from living an other-centered life.
The author then describes some ingredients that will create a meaningful life and result in happiness. First, we have to experience a sense of belonging, whether it's family, colleagues or like-minded pals. These networks are where we can find true friends and where we can be our true selves.
A second ingredient is purpose. Living with a purpose motivates and energizes us to do something for others. It can be work, volunteer service or a pastime, e. g. a hobby.
A third ingredient is transcendence. We want to live for someone or something greater than ourselves, e. g ., family, or a profession, a passion for righting wrongs or whatever.
The point is simple: with these ingredients, we will be happy. I would add that there's a subconscious, if not conscious, quest in all of us for what is ultimately true, ultimately good. Many call this God. To paraphrase St. Augustine: our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee, O God. Our purpose in life, from a Christian perspective, is to abide in God and God in us forever.
The word of God carries us back in our imaginations over three thousand years, to the first king of ancient Israel, Saul. Here Saul sets out to kill the charismatic David. Now fast forward. David sneaks into Saul's campsite, finds Saul asleep and spares his life. David refuses to take revenge on wrongs done to him. Moreover, Saul is God's anointed one.
The author may be challenging us to forgive wrongs done to us, to let go of thoughts of revenge and move forward with our own lives.
Paul in his letter to the Christian community at Corinth contrasts the first man or “Adam” with Christ. The first was a “living being”; the second was a “life-giving spirit.” Yes, we now participate in God’s life by virtue of the waters of baptism, but we don’t yet participate fully. Paul says once we were like the first man--corruptible; but now we will be like Jesus Christ--incorruptible. Paul challenges us to live a godlike life, worthy of our calling as sons and daughters of God our Father.
In the Gospel according to Luke, Jesus asks us to love our enemies. In the Greek text of the Gospel, the word for love is agape. It indicates not a romantic or emotional love, but an unconditional love for our fellow human beings, wishing them not bad luck or misfortune, but only good.
Jesus makes some radical demands upon us in this Gospel: Do to others as you would have them do to you. Love your enemies; if someone slaps you on one side of the face, offer the other; give to everyone who asks.
Now how can anyone practice these teachings of Jesus? How understand them? Who can “give to everyone who asks?” Are these teachings simply another example of middle-eastern hyperbole or exaggeration? Yes, a few people, for example, Francis of Assisi or Dorothy Day, have tried to live these teachings literally. But for most people, they’re not very practical. So, how understand these radical teachings?
First, you don’t have to like someone to love them. The love that Jesus asks us to have for our “enemies” means that, no matter how they wronged us, we will never let bitterness close our hearts to them nor will we wish them anything but good. Agape recognizes the common humanity we share with all people who call God their “Father” – and that unconditional love begins within our own households, workplaces and communities.
Remember that Jesus connects our love of God with our love for one another. Matthew 25 says this loudly and clearly: when I was hungry, when I was thirsty, etc. We can’t say we love God and yet neglect our needy fellow human beings.
Second, these radical teachings of Jesus have to be linked to the mission of Jesus, who proclaimed that the kingdom of God is in our midst. Yes, the kingdom is here but the kingdom is not completely or fully here. You and I are living in-between the historical coming of Jesus centuries ago and the final coming of Jesus in glory at the end-time. We live in the tension between.
Jesus indicates the goal or thrust of our ethical behavior, but this goal may not always be achievable. For example, "give to everyone who asks" is not always possible, yet it indicates the thrust or direction of our lives: be generous with what we have: our time, talent and treasure.
To the person who strikes you on one side of the face, Jesus says, offer the other as well. Offer. But sometimes we have to stand up against evil. Sometimes we may have to take someone’s life in self-defense.
But the teaching of Jesus indicates again the thrust or direction of our lives, that is, we should try to be peacemakers, healers, bridge builders, reconcilers.
And so, the radical teachings of Jesus create a tension between the present and final stages of the kingdom of God.
The genuine disciple of Jesus lives in this tension by seizing the many opportunities to do good today. To quote John Wesley: “Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the ways you can. In all the places you can. At all the times you can. To all the people you can. As long as ever you can.” Amen.
