Reflection
When I was a boy, there were many wild blackberry patches behind our home in rural Indiana. One hot afternoon in mid-July, I saw a neighbor bring her small bucket to one patch to pluck enough of the wild berries to make a pie. As would happen, another neighbor, on whose property the patch grew, happened upon the scene. The owner shocked me with her rage at the berry picker. She yelled and scolded the woman, saying she was stealing her berries. The berry picker stepped from her task, offered the berries she had in her pail, and apologized. The owner refused to take the berries and stared as the repentant neighbor rushed home.
As an impressionable boy, this incident has remained with me through the decades as a reminder of how desperate we humans can be in defending what we own. Why would someone sever a relationship with a neighbor over a few wild blackberries, especially since there were dozens of other spots nearby along fence rows and pastures where berries were plentiful?
As an adult, I continue to be astounded by our human quarrels over possessions.
Whole nations go to war to take what they think is theirs. Some families split irreparably when the parents’ wills are read. Couples quarrel over budgets. Children fight over toys.
The two readings today remind us that competition, covetousness and jealousy have been part of the human condition since the beginning. Status, power and possessions are worshiped as gods under the illusion they will make us valuable and provide security. These gods demand our time, energies, and sacrifices.
But also, throughout the ages, the one true God has provided prophets to remind us what is really important, and what provides for our deepest needs.
When we decide to emotionally detach ourselves from all we cling to for safety and meaning, we open ourselves to a liberated life lived for God.
Detachment from status, power, possessions places us in a dependent relationship with God.
Joseph’s brothers wanted the favored status their younger brother had with their father, Israel. The tenants wanted the full fruits of their labors. The chief priests and Pharisees, indicted in today’s parable, wanted to get rid of Jesus who had more status and power over the people than they did. All of them wanted to get through violence what they wanted.
In our examination of consciousness on this Lenten day, perhaps an inventory of what we cling to may be in order:
- What am I hoarding? My blackberry patch? An attic or basement full of stuff that will end in the dumpster when I die? More money than I can spend in my lifetime? Not all are called to the vow of poverty, but all are called to a life that is emotionally detached from anything that pulls us away from God.
- Am I insisting my reputation be protected even at the expense of others? Do I seek to preserve or acquire power to influence a family member, colleague, friend by not respecting their autonomy?
- Do I cling to time, unwilling to pause to value, listen to, and enjoy the presence of another?
- Am I doing violence to myself by always being in a hurry? If so, what drives this? Am I trying to do too much, please someone, prove my worth?
God wants our entire being. God wants us to surrender everything, to slow down, to listen, to pay attention, to pray.
God gives us what we need when we need it. To try to control people, money, a reputation, time or anything else is a form of idolatry. Why? Because we fail to be fully detached in order to surrender to a loving God who reaches out to us with two simple words: trust me.
