Word to the Wise
Monday, June 27, 2011 - Monday in the 13th Week in Ordinary Time
[Gen 18:16-33 and Matt 8:18-22,1001]" Please, let not my Lord grow angry if I speak up this last time. What if there are at least ten there?" He replied, "For the sake of those ten, I will not destroy it." [Genesis] Another of his disciples said to him, "Lord, let me go first and bury my father." But Jesus answered him, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead."
On the rare occasion that I enter one of those fancy coffee/tea shops, I am continually amused and amazed at the challenges faced by the folks behind the counter when given one of those incredibly detailed orders for "latte-whatever-however." I hope they are relieved when I ask simply for tea and hot water! [Probably they're bored!] These places are "temples of the option." When I was Master of Novices for my Dominican province, I was continually amazed (and occasionally irked) by the efforts of the novices to bargain with the program for options that weren't there! Although our Western culture is not as bargain-oriented as the Oriental is, we do try to "bargain" on occasion in certain kinds of transactions. The Oriental sense is more prevalent in today's scriptures, but I'm sure we can find ourselves in them.
Abraham bargains with God about Sodom and Gormorrah! We might think this is an uneven contest, but Abraham is sincere. God knows that the total of ten isn't going to be reached. At least Abraham manages to save his relatives (except for Lot's wife). The amazing thing is that he DOES bargain with God. He sees his relationship with God as one that accommodates the traditional Middle-Eastern process. There aren't a lot of options in the situation. God means to destroy the city. Abraham is trying to get what he can out of it! In the gospel today, the disciple tries to play a very sacred card: the duty to give one's parents decent burial. Jesus replies that discipleship trumps all other obligations - options come later, if at all.
Elizabeth Kubler-Ross' famous book ON DEATH AND DYING brought awareness to many people about the way we "bargain" with God for our life in situations of critical or terminal illness. There are other situations where we "bargain!" Students "bargain" for results on a test. Employees "bargain" for a promotion, etc. We say, "Lord, just let me [fill in the blanks] and I'll [fill in the blanks]. I, for one, am aware that I do this on occasion. Perhaps it is a sign of a healthy relationship with God, or perhaps it is a sign of failure to realize the difference between God and creature. I'm willing to accept the "difference" as long as I can say my piece! In the end, though, the rest is up to God. AMEN