I feel such tenderness for the exchange in today’s gospel reading (Mark 10:17-31) between Jesus and a man who has a deep desire to do the right thing. I feel Jesus’ heart go out to him. The man comes to this “good” teacher no doubt having heard about the goodness Jesus has been projecting across the land. He wants Jesus to please tell him how to inherit eternal life. I hear him asking, how can I be like you, Jesus?
Keep the commandments, Jesus says. I have since my youth, the man replies. Obviously this is a good man, and yet, curiously, he wonders still.
“Jesus, looking at him, loved him”–can’t you just feel the tenderness in that moment? And then Jesus says, “You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” I can just picture the man’s head dropping, eyes closing, thinking oh no, not that. The man “went away grieving, for he had many possessions.”
I recognize in myself the man’s eagerness to be faithful. And I see in life how hard it really is. Indeed, Jesus says to his disciples after the man leaves, “How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” Yes, money does have a way of tripping us up. And also so many other things, such as pride, bias, and a sense of privilege. Anything that holds us back from taking the sacrificial risk that all love requires. Love always asks us to stretch ourselves in some way so that another can experience their innate dignity and worth as a child of God.
Life is filled with pressures to measure up and make it. And isn’t it true that though we want to love, loving inevitably demands more than we counted on? With our human foibles it seems impossible. “All things are possible for God,” Jesus says. To his disciples who have given up house and home and livelihood he tells them they will receive a hundred times more now in this age, and they will receive eternal life in the age to come.
Now? I imagine Jesus’ disciples looking around and wondering how this could be, seeing a lack of their abundance and also hearing Jesus say in the same sentence something about persecutions.
I am challenged to dig deeper into myself and what Jesus is saying. Perhaps it is taking the risk to love that brings us one step closer to communion with God and that which makes Jesus so compelling. Perhaps we might tap into God’s original joy in creation if we take time to simply surrender to God in contemplative prayer and carry through life the intention to listen and act out of the guidance of the Spirit. No doubt we each will need to look honestly at how possessions, including attitudes, can often possess us negatively.
I like to imagine that after a time the rich man in the gospel returned to Jesus, and Jesus helped him discover the wellspring he was looking for. I want to believe that the man did learn to love more fully. My hope is because of the freedom I feel in realizing and letting go of stuff that has a hold on me. I also experience divine blessing when someone is lovingly there for me and when I go the extra mile for someone in need. I imagine we all have stories of hope and joy.
For reflection:
- When have you felt your True Self?
- Given what love requires, is it worth it?
- How does or might a regular prayer practice of centering and letting go affect your decisions in
life?
-Trish Stefanik, Overlook Retreat at Dayspring
