Tools

“If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.”

~Abraham Maslow

When we can take a long view of our problems, we can sometimes see that we're using inappropriate tools to try to solve them. What's necessary for us to do is to move away, to detach. That may show us a whole new context into which our problem fits, and in which it may not even be a problem.

Detachment is hard to achieve when we're deeply hooked into a situation. When we send ourselves drastic messages like "now or never!" we're pressing our noses right up against the problem - a position in which it's difficult to maintain a balanced view. To stop and say, "If not now, then perhaps some other time," unhooks us and lets us remember that life is richer and more varied than we thought when we were hooked.

Crisis thinking can be like a hammer - it flattens everything. This can be our way of trying to control the outcome of our individual struggle. But when we remember that we make up only small parts of one grand and beautiful design. We can surrender our problems to it.

To be a competent worker, we need to seek out the tools that are best suited to the task.

Forgiveness

"I once picked up a woman from a garbage dump and she was burning with fever; she was in her last days and her only lament was: ‘My son did this to me.’ I begged her: You must forgive your son. In a moment of madness, when he was not himself, he did a thing he regrets. Be a mother to him, forgive him. It took me a long time to make her say: ‘I forgive my son.’ Just before she died in my arms, she was able to say that with a real forgiveness. She was not concerned that she was dying. The breaking of the heart was that her son did not want her. This is something you and I can understand."

The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord

Today we celebrate The Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, liturgically marking the end of the Christmas Season and the beginning of Ordinary time. The baptism of Jesus is another epiphany, another manifestation of his divine being.  The Incarnation and Epiphany announced the birth of Jesus to the world.  With his baptism, Jesus launched into public ministry; God the Father announced to the people of Jerusalem, "Judea, and the whole region around the Jordan"(Matthew 3: 5) that Jesus "is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased"(Matthew 3:17). 

The significance of the Christmas Season is that God loved us so much he sent his son, Emmanuel, to be one with us.  The significance of the Baptism is that Jesus embraced his humanity and united with all of us sinners even though he was sinless.  And, Jesus accepted his mission “to fulfill all righteousness” (Matt. 3:15).  In the first reading today, Isaiah 42:1-4, 6-7, the Prophet tells us how Jesus will fulfill all righteousness.  He will “bring forth justice to the nations.”  He will “open the eyes of the blind;” “bring out prisoners from confinement” and “from the dungeon” he will bring out “those who live in darkness.” 

Through our baptism, we share the mission of Jesus.  The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us that “Through Baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as sons of God; we become members of Christ, are incorporated into the Church and made sharers in her mission” (CCC 1213).  Jesus gave the Church (the disciples, and us) our mission, just before he ascended into Heaven, “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matt 28:19–20).   This is an enormous task! Let us pray that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit will give us the wisdom, strength and courage to get it done.

God our Father, 

with Jesus you call us to be

your beloved sons and daughters

and with him you give us the mission

to become humble and dedicated servants.

Grant that we may not break

those crushed by sin and sorrow.

Help us to serve always the cause of right, 

to be eyes to the blind

and a voice for the downtrodden.

May we please you in all we do.

We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord.

Amen.

If

If you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

But make allowance for their doubting too;

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,

Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,

And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;

If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

And treat those two impostors just the same;

If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken

Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,

And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

And never breathe a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

To serve your turn long after they are gone,

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,

And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!​

Lead, Kindly Light

Lead, Kindly Light, amidst th'encircling gloom,

Lead Thou me on!
The night is dark, and I am far from home,
Lead Thou me on!
Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to see
The distant scene; one step enough for me.

I was not ever thus, nor prayed that Thou
Shouldst lead me on;
I loved to choose and see my path; but now
Lead Thou me on!
I loved the garish day, and, spite of fears,
Pride ruled my will. Remember not past years!

So long Thy power hath blest me, sure it still
Will lead me on.
O'er moor and fen, o'er crag and torrent, till
The night is gone,
And with the morn those angel faces smile,
Which I have loved long since, and lost awhile!

Meantime, along the narrow rugged path,
Thyself hast trod,
Lead, Saviour, lead me home in childlike faith,
Home to my God.
To rest forever after earthly strife
In the calm light of everlasting life.

Subtle Messages

It is interesting to reflect on the Scripture readings which follow after Easter. In these readings, it is noted that those closest to Jesus while he was alive were not able to easily recognize him after the Resurrection. Surely those who knew and walked and talked and ate with Jesus should be able to see him more clearly.

I wonder what this says about the rest of us who sometimes struggle to see God in our daily lives. Perhaps we have to look with different eyes if we are to see God’s hand working in our lives. Perhaps the messages are more subtle than a Hollywood production of Seas parting and trumpets blaring.

Maybe there’s hope for us!!

In Times of Need