Saturday, October 3, 2020

Saturday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 460

Jesus said, “I have observed Satan fall like lightning from the sky. Behold, I have given you the power ‘to tread upon serpents’ and scorpions and upon the full force of the enemy and nothing will harm you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice because your names are written in heaven.


Because I am now a senior and watch the evening news like many of my senior colleagues I have learned that I have the power to lower my Aewonsee. Actually, I didn't know I owned an aewonsee but if you tell what it is I'll be happy to lower it.  

Apparently the ads are aimed at people with diabetes and I am not there yet. But I am glad to learn from the Lord I also have "the power to tread upon serpents and scorpions and upon the full force of the enemy!"

I do encounter serpents and scorpions occasionally. They are those nasty stings that hit me from time to time, and might come from any direction. They can hurt for hours or days and, if I'm not careful, the sting will become infected. It might turn to gangrene or sepsis.

I am thinking of irritating things like insults, misunderstandings, and troublesome developments that I think are Totally Unfair and Should Never Happen To Me. 

Very often, I chew on these resentments like a cow with her cud. The habit is called rumination and cows are called ruminants. You might remember your highschool biology. A ruminant animal crops and swallows vast amounts of grass which pass into a stomach. Later in the day the animal urps up a wad -- or cud -- which is chewed into a finer, digestible mess. When it's ready the cud is swallowed again and passed into a second stomach, and thence to the intestines and so forth. 

Ruminating is what I do when I get hold of a particular resentment and work it to death. To my death, that is. And I can't stop doing it! If I am given to sharing with others they're going to hear about it over and over again until they tell me to go somewhere else, we're tired of hearing it. 

But I just can't stop ruminating. I am, to use a handy expression, powerless over my resentment and my life is unmanageable. 

Until I turn to the Lord and say, "Save me! I cannot save myself." He then gives me that awesome power to Do Something Else. Usually something like praying the Lord's Prayer one word at a time. Or even one word per breath. And I keep at it until I can't remember what it is I'm trying to forget. But as soon as I remember I hurry back to the prayer and begin again: "Our, Father; Who; Art; In; Heaven....

Many people don't know they have the power, and some people don't want it. But I find it enormously helpful when I suffer the pain of a grievance or resentment. I have the power to let it go. And then to return to that Blessed Assurance that the Lord gives to his beloved people.

No comments:

Post a Comment

I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.

Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.

I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.

You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.