Father Tim Lemlin
The first part of January I took some time to visit with my family in Tucson, Arizona. When it was time to return to Rhode Island, I began the trek to Phoenix to catch my flight. I knew two obstacles stood in my way. The first was that a section of Interstate Route 10, the main highway that I normally travel to reach Phoenix, was closed because of construction. The second was that a marathon was scheduled to be run that same morning and the exit that I usually take to make a rental car return had been closed. Two detours confronted me. I felt at a disadvantage because I didn't know the Phoenix area well, but I was also confident because I usually have a good sense of direction.
Thankfully the directions I had received and the detour signs served me well. I was feeling my confidence returning to its normal level. Then it happened, I reached the street on which the rental car business was located and I had to decide whether to turn right or left. I felt disoriented, but my sense of direction told me to make a right turn. After traveling several miles however I began to have my doubts, and finally I had to do something I don't normally do - I had to ask another human being for help to find my way! (I have no doubt that I am scarred for life!)
We hear in our readings today something that is very difficult for us to hear, so we usually dismiss it. We are so used to over identifying with our strengths - our gifts and talents - that when Jeremiah declares "Cursed is the one who trusts in human beings, who seeks his strength in flesh..." we don't see the connection to the end of that sentence, "…whose heart turns away from the Lord." Nor does it make sense when Paul writes to the people of Corinth, "If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are the most pitiable people of all." And then there are the words of Jesus in today's gospel reading from Luke. They seem to contradict the sense of direction upon which we relate so heavily. How can Jesus call one who is poor blessed, or one who hungry, weeping, hated, excluded, insulted, denounced as evil blessed? We are taught to trust only our strengths. Our instincts assure us that our need for security, prestige, and power is correct, that it would be suicide not to move in their direction. And the instincts are correct. It would mean the death of that part of us that causes us to rely only upon our sense of direction.
I have said before that Jesus has a habit of turning life upside down. The truth is that Jesus, Jeremiah and Paul are inviting us to see the world right side up. The way to God doesn't only lead through our strengths (our recognized gifts and talents). The way to God also leads through our weaknesses (our sins and failings). It is when we come to see our places of weakness that we begin to see that our strengths and weaknesses are two sides of the same coin. Then, something unexpected can happen… we can begin to see that we over identify with these strengths and weaknesses, these moments of joy and achievement, pain and failure. "If for this life only," Paul writes, "we have hoped in Christ, we are the most pitiable people of all."
The way to God takes us to a place of transformation. It transforms who we understand ourselves to be by showing us that those things from which we have gleaned our identity are not everything. They are a part of who we are, but they are not only who we are. Usually the only thing strong enough to give us an initial glimpse of where we over identify is suffering. (Suffering is experienced whenever our identity is threatened - when we experience a sense of disorientation. This can happen on a very simple level like my choosing the wrong direction, or on a more dramatic level like when someone we love dies.)
Prayer can help us begin to observe where we over identify. It can also give us the courage to choose to no longer only identify with these gifts, talents, hurts, pains, achievements, failures,
