Hidden Gems

A man was exploring caves by the Seashore. In one of the caves he found a canvas bag with a bunch of hardened clay balls. It was like someone had rolled clay balls and left them out in the sun to bake. They didn't look like much, but they intrigued the man, so he took the bag out of the cave with him. As he strolled along the beach, he would throw the clay balls one at a time out into the ocean as far as he could. He thought little about it, until he dropped one of the clay balls and it cracked open on a rock. Inside was a beautiful, precious stone!

Excited, the man started breaking open the remaining clay balls. Each contained a similar treasure. He found thousands of dollars worth of jewels in the 20 or so clay balls he had left. Then it struck him. He had been on the beach a long time. He had thrown maybe 50 or 60 of the clay balls with their hidden treasure into the ocean waves. Instead of thousands of dollars in treasure, he could have taken home tens of thousands, but he had just thrown it away!

It's like that with people. We look at someone, maybe even ourselves, and we see the external clay vessel. It doesn't look like much from the outside. It isn't always beautiful or sparkling, so we discount it.

We see that person as less important than someone more beautiful or stylish or well known or wealthy. But we have not taken the time to find the treasure hidden inside that person. There is a treasure in each and every one of us. If we take the time to get to know that person, and if we ask God to show us that person the way He sees them, then the clay begins to peel away and the brilliant gem begins to shine forth.

May we not come to the end of our lives and find out that we have thrown away a fortune in friendships because the gems were hidden in bits of clay. May we see the people in our world as God sees them.

A nun walks into Mother Superior’s office and plunks down into a chair. She lets out a sigh heavy with frustration.

“What troubles you, Sister?” asks the Mother Superior. “I thought this was the day you spent with your family.”

“It was,” sighed the Sister. “And I went to play golf with my brother. We try to play golf as often as we can. You know I was quite a talented golfer and was a full scholarship student at the university before I dedicated my life to Christ.”

“I seem to recall that,” the Mother Superior agreed. “So I take it your day of recreation was not relaxing?”

“Far from it,” snorted the Sister. “In fact, I even took the Lord’s name in vain today!”

“Goodness, Sister!” gasped the Mother Superior, astonished. “You must tell me all about it!”

“Well, we were on the fifth tee -- and this hole is a monster, Mother -- 540 yard Par 5, with a nasty dogleg left and a hidden green and I hit the drive of my life. I creamed it. The sweetest swing I ever made. And it’s flying straight and true, right along the line I wanted, and it hits a bird in mid-flight not 100 yards off the tee!”

“Oh my!” commiserated the Mother. “How unfortunate! But surely that didn’t make you blaspheme, Sister!”

“No, that wasn’t it,” admitted Sister. “While I was still trying to fathom what had happened, this squirrel runs out of the woods, grabs my ball and runs off down the fairway!”

“Oh, that would have made me blaspheme!” sympathized Mother.

“But I didn’t, Mother Superior!” sobbed the Sister. “And I was so proud of myself! And while I was pondering whether this was a sign from God, this hawk swoops out of the sky and grabs the squirrel and flies off, with my ball still clutched in his paws!”

“So that’s when you cursed,” said the Mother with a knowing smile.

“Nope, that wasn’t it either,” cried the Sister, anguished, “because as the hawk started to fly out of sight, the squirrel started struggling, and the hawk dropped him right there on the green, and the ball popped out of his paws and rolled to about 18 inches from the cup!”

Mother Superior sat back in her chair, folded her arms across her chest, fixed the Sister with a baleful stare and said “You missed the putt, didn’t you?”

Parachute

A small private plane was flying with three passengers on board: the Pope, a rich businessman, and a boy scout. 

Suddenly, the engine sputtered and stopped altogether. They all rushed to get their parachutes. They were horrified to realize that there were not enough parachutes for all of them. One of them will be left without one. 

The pilot took one, saying, “I have a wife and two kids. They need me.” And off he jumped. 

The businessman, seeing that the boy was holding a parachute, grabbed it away from him, saying, “I am a very important person in this world. I must not die!’ And putting the straps on his shoulders, he quickly jumped out of the plane. 

Only the Pope and the boy were left on the plane. The Pope told the boy, “Son, take the last parachute. I am old and I have no family. I’m ready to leave this world. You are still young and have a great future. Save your life.” 

The boy, with a naughty smile, said, “Don’t worry, Holy Father. There are still two parachutes left. The 'very important man in the world’ just jumped out wearing my knapsack!"

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time

In today’s gospel, Matthew 13:24-43, we have a continuation of last week’s gospel in which we are presented with three new parables comparing the kingdom of heaven to a field planted with wheat and weeds, a mustard seed and yeast. Wheat, weeds, seeds and yeast were common, everyday images for the people listening to Jesus. As I have reflected on these images over the years it occurred to me that with the exception of weeds and yeast many people here in Peachtree City may never have seen a field of wheat or a mustard tree. A number of years ago I tried to come up with a few more relevant images like popping corn or a tweet. They didn’t work very well. However, today as I reread the gospel an entirely new idea smacked me in the face. The kingdom of heaven is like anything that grows and matures. The message is that the kingdom is not static or stagnant. The kingdom of heaven is in constant movement growing, expanding, adjusting just like we are.

On a microcosmic level most of the cells in our bodies are growing and dividing all the time. They don’t stop until we die. We don’t feel or see our cells changing but we know it is happening. And on the macrocosmic level the universe in which we live is constantly expanding. Again, we don’t feel or see the expansion of the universe but we “know” it is happening thanks to Dr Edwin Hubble (and Buzz Lightyear).

So, what does this mean for us? All of us are invited to become citizens of the kingdom. The choice is ours. However, with heavenly citizenship comes responsibility. If yeast is stale, it provides no leavening and so we throw it away. If seeds don’t germinate, nothing grows. It’s the same for us. If we want to be active citizens of the kingdom of heaven, we must nurture the yeast, the seeds and our faith. Last week’s first reading from Isaiah 55:10-11 sums it up: “Thus says the Lord: Just as from the heavens the rain and snow come down and do not return there until they have watered the earth, making it fertile and fruitful, giving seed to the one who sows and bread to the one who eats, so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; my word shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it.”

The kingdom of heaven is fulfilling the word of God. This is something we pray for every time we repeat the Our Father, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt 6:9-10). As we go about our daily lives here in Peachtree City, let’s all remember our responsibility to live up to the challenge.

With a love that is both powerful and patient, O God,

you sustain the growth of the good seed your Son has planted. 

 Let your word, like a mustard seed,

bear rich fruit within us,

and like a little yeast,

produce its effects throughout the whole church.

Thus may we dare to hope

that a new humanity will blossom and grow

to shine like the sun in your kingdom

when the Lord of the harvest returns

at the end of the age.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

God for ever and ever. 

 AMEN

 

Be Humble or You'll Stumble

Lincoln once got caught up in a situation where he wanted to please a politician, so he issued a command to transfer certain regiments. When the secretary of war, Edwin Stanton, received the order, he refused to carry it out. He said that the President was a fool.

Lincoln was told what Stanton had said, and he replied, "If Stanton said I'm a fool, then I must be, for he is nearly always right. I'll see for myself." He did, and when Stanton convinced him the order was in error, Lincoln quietly withdrew it.

Part of Lincoln’s greatness lay in his ability to rise above pettiness, ego, and sensitivity to other people’s opinions. He wasn’t easily offended. He welcomed criticism, and in doing so demonstrated one of the strengths of a truly great person: humility.

So, have you been criticized? Make it a time to learn, not lose.”

~ Patience Johnson

God's Will

God gives us choices – it's God’s will that we should have free choices. Maybe God doesn’t have the same control issues we do. God’s will for us is to make wise and healthy and loving choices. Abundant Grace accompanies the gift of free will. We call that “the power to carry it out”. God still leaves it up to us to accept the Grace and to accept God’s will. The consequence of not accepting the Grace is known as an "unmanageable life."

Loch Ness

An atheist was fishing on Loch Ness when suddenly his boat was attacked by the Loch Ness monster. With an easy flip, the beast tossed his boat high into the air and then opened its huge mouth to catch him. As he sailed into the sky, he cried, “Oh, God! Help me!” At once, the ferocious scene froze! As the atheist hung there in mid-air a booming voice came out of the clouds: “I thought you didn’t believe in Me!” “Come on, God. Give me a break!” pleaded the man. “A minute ago I didn’t believe in the Loch Ness monster either!”