Thirty-first Sunday of Ordinary Time: “The greatest among you must be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbled himself will be exalted.” Matthew 23:12 ✝️ The Lord’s ways are not ours and so this world that finds humility, obedience, and a heart of service undesirable is suffering death by despair. Without a way to truth, we cannot find the good we seek.
Recently I have become extra fascinated by those who seek to push themselves to the limit. Previously I had read stories about athletes and their extreme training techniques, but lately my attention has been captured by more “regular folks” who are choosing to push themselves. The decision to choose something extreme, then the thing they choose, followed by the how with execution, and then what they have learn from it has eaten up a lot of my time. Stories of massive life changes or even just simple ones: 5AM risers, or cold plungers, or vegans or even just moms committed to a daily something. There is a part of the person that resigns themselves to a change that requires a decision, a plan, and a diligence that result in often more than they ever anticipated.
The part that I would venture to guess makes us all pay attention are the results – we are human and we are always seeking the answer. But the part that has been pulling on my heart? Its the idea that most of these decisions aren’t ones that feel good, are preferable, or remotely connected to our default. Our brains don’t desire risk, or want to face fear, or feel excited to start something we don’t know how to do… so what is it with a trend that is forcing the human to take on these challenges? That is where it has spoken most to me = people take on something that doesn’t really sound appealing and results are even more overwhelmingly good than they anticipated. What a funny concept …..
This is not the world we live in. It is in our phones, in the marketing we face, in the way we approach our lives. Faster, easier, better, or even the demand for grace – we humans need gentleness, we are delicate creatures – who are easily pulled to what feels god. The world and its ways know this and speaks to it, capitalize on it, and suddenly we have found ourselves in a place that stands against God’s invitation for how to live and also leaves us in a version of despair.
Did you know that America makes up 5% of the population of the world, but 80% of the world’s opioid’s users? This is not just because of the medical world, but it is that life of despair and people’s desperation to deal with it that has led to these figures. My husband is faced with an incredible series of painful realities and none of them provided an easy path to success or happiness by the world’s standard. In fact he was told in many direct and indirect ways, he can’t make it there. And when that despair hit him along with the physical pain, he was offered an escape: Morphine, Oxycotin, Gabapentin, Percocet, and a variety of anti-anxiety medication. These were the solutions for how he to cope, and sadly eventually drift away. We lost who he was and who he could have been… the husband, the father, the son and the human he had always wanted the chance to be. A world that believes in numbing out the hard and choosing escape by playing off despair is destroying those who make up the 80% and many more people too.
My life to this point has seen the depths of despair and why trusting the world’s ways isn’t a solution. And yet, I am still finding myself with a puzzled look when I see a person’s cold plunge, or crazy early alarm clock, or vegan diet! But isn’t that the anthesis to despair? Learning that we can do hard things? Is that not the high they are all getting – doing something hard and seeing maximized benefits. Its like they have opened a secret…. yet anyone who has one of these patterns is likely telling you about it and not keeping it a secret. Perhaps we need to listen, maybe the sales pitch for hard, but worth it needs to be louder than “quick fixes” and giving up.
So what does a cold plunge have to do with Jesus and this week’s gospel? My quote from the gospelt this week talks about being humble. My word of 2023 is humility, because I learned the power that comes from obidience to God’s will and the only way to achieve that is to become humble to it. Humility is a positioning of the heart and the mind. It is learning to fight what our humanity calls us to do. Just like a cold plunge and following the opposite of a world that says if you can’t do the exact formula to get XYZ then life is not worth it. Following God’s plans is going to require going against your tendencies, the world, etc! So learning to approach life is going to serve you and just like a 5AM wake up call, likely with even more than you ever anticipated.
To wrap up this week, I feel on my heart to say those numbers of opioid users that I heard hit so hard and so painfully. I live life seeing the damage done to so many lives by addiction in just one family. And I multiplied that 80% in my head and heart to all the spouses, parents, children, family, friends….. and remember that this message of gospel and faith aren’t just about sharing what I learn or what I would recommend is an important approach. But to remind any readers that we all are on journeys of struggle, pain and searching. You are not alone – there are many of us and we all have God.
Thank you so much for reading and remember to make it a great day!
Jackie
Have A Little Faith in We 