12-14-13
(St. John of the Cross, Priest and Doctor of the Church)
Jesus answered His disciples’ question about the prophet Elijah with these words,
“Elijah will indeed come and restore all things; but I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him but did to him whatever they pleased.
So also will the Son of Man suffer at their hands.” Mt 17:9a, 10-13
They did not recognize Him!
Last year I finally had it with lugging that heavy Christmas tree up the stairs,
even in it’s three collapsible pieces. It was one of those “pre-lit” trees that opened up
like an umbrella, so there was no insertion of a hundred branches . . .
We loved that tree compared to our earlier versions.
It was just that I’m starting to get too old now, and maybe a little intolerant of lifting
so much any more. And as those “pre-lit,” light strings slowly began to burn out, that beautiful tree just didn’t have quite the thrill any more, that it did in it’s earlier years.
And even in my last ditch effort to improve it,
after hours and hours of removal of all of those lights, tightly wrapped around every single branch, that tree still seemed to weigh a ton. So last year I bit the bullet and bought a slightly smaller and much lighter tree – with NO pre-lighting. The question was, what to do with that old tree. It was still in pretty good shape. And I was certain that someone would want a FREE, 7.5 foot, artificial Christmas tree.
Well, as I always say, “I couldn’t sell a jug of water
to a desert-dry nomad – for free!”
And the “free tree” just went to confirm
my sales inability.
NOBODY wanted it!
Today’s Scriptures reminded me that I am not alone.
Elijah the prophet, John the Baptist, John of the Cross and even Jesus
struggled to get people to buy-in to Goodness,
to buy into Love, to buy into Hope, to buy into GOD –
FOR FREE!
Those people just did not Recognize a good deal when they saw it.
And so, the Baptist was beheaded, John of the Cross was imprisoned,
Elijah had to hide in a cave, and we all know what happened to Jesus!
DO WE RECOGNIZE, BELOVED, THE AWESOME GIFT
THAT IS RIGHT BEFORE OUR EYES???
God loves us. Jesus died for us. The Kingdom of Heaven is open to US!!!
And ALL we have to do is BELIEVE and follow in His footsteps!
Jesus says, “Come!”
. . .
Well, that old tree; . . . in the end, some poor sucker is going to end up
paying probably $50 or more for it now, from Goodwill . . .
When they could have had it for FREE!
Oh well!
Some of us DO recognize a Good deal when we see it.
Come, beloved. Jesus is waiting for YOU!
___________________________________end of post
Whispers to the Wind 