Thursday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/071912.cfm

my soul yearns for you in the night,yes, my spirit within me keeps vigil for you;when your judgment dawns upon the earth,the world's inhabitants learn justice.



M. Scott Peck famously began his book, The Road Less Traveled, with "Life is difficult." This ancient teaching from Hindhu, Buddhist, Jewish, Christian and Muslim traditions (to name a few) seemed to come as a shock to many Americans in 1978.  It is still a rude statement to some patients I encounter in the hospital.


Nor should that come as a surprise, given that most patients in American hospitals are there as a result of poor life style choices. Smoking, over-consumption of food and alcohol, and inactivity add up to poor health. Many live a long time with their chronic illnesses, causing themselves much distress and costing our medical system much strain; but they're not very happy about it. 


Clearly, given their bad habits, they were not prepared spiritually for a long, difficult life. But these hapless patients also represent the yearnings of every human soul. Like you and me they have looked  for happiness in all the wrong places and with all the wrong people. And they pray with me, my soul yearns for you in the night...


Spiritually-aware counselors insist that alcoholics and substance abusers are more spiritually sensitive than most people. They have been deeply disappointed by life in part because they always wanted more. And their frenetic efforts have crashed. 


As Isaiah said in this haunting passage:

as a woman about to give birth writhes and cries out in her pains, so were we in your presence, o lord.we conceived and writhed in pain, giving birth to wind; salvation we have not achieved for the earth, the inhabitants of the world cannot bring it forth.

Jesus also wanted more. He wanted salvation for everyone and would give everything he had for it. Nor would he settle for immediate gratification, which is where you and I often end up. He pressed on toward Jerusalem and Calvary. He could not be satisfied with another Passover meal and its promise of someday. Rather he would give his all to his Father and trust that his sacrifice, united with yours and mine, would suffice to bring relief to all the Earth.


Life is difficult, as the philosophers say, but when we embrace its difficulty it is much easier. In fact, it becomes downright pleasant.