Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 96

We are always courageous, although we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yet we are courageous....

The human being is the only animal that prefers to walk upright, on two legs. Some apes and trained dogs can do it but they move faster and more gracefully on all fours. It's odd that we should prefer this difficult and dangerous method of locomotion. With only two feet on slippery ground we're likely to fall. On dry ground we may trip. It takes great strength and coordination from the toes through the ankles, knees, hips, spine, shoulders, neck, and head to walk upright; and it only gets more difficult with age. Walking is said to be the most difficult thing we ever learn and many people never really master it. Military institutions invest much energy into teaching recruits to walk tall, efficiently, and proudly. 

I think of that human exercise as analogous to being human. It's not easy; it never was; it's not supposed to be. It takes courage to defy gravity as we walk upright; it takes more courage to walk in the path of righteousness all the days of our life. 

And we must do it. 

I sometimes think life is like walking into a stiff wind. To make any progress at all we have to keep face forward. To turn one's back to the wind is to lose. It's death. 

I hear the same lesson in the teacher who said, "If I am not taking chances I am not doing my job." That's true of any profession and life in general. 

So we pray every day for the courage, willingness, and spirit to face the day with a cheerful spirit of sacrifice. "Here I am, Lord!" we say with every Saint from Abraham to Mother Theresa of Calcutta. "What do you want of me today? I am ready."