Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
July 25 is the feast of St. James, the patron saint of pilgrims.
One of the things we know about pilgrimages is that there will be difficulties. As if by a spiritual law, things don’t ever go quite as planned!
We also know from experience that things tend to turn out OK anyway. In fact, because the pilgrimage is in God’s hands, things often turn out better, in ways we couldn’t have planned or anticipated, because of the difficulties.
As a result, we often look back and think to ourselves, “I wish I had handled that better when it happened!” Veterans of pilgrimages sometimes become quite good at this: Knowing that surprises are going to happen, they’ve learned to make unexpected events a pivot into deeper trust and surrender to God rather than a pivot into frustration.
Developing a better “pivot” when things don’t go as we would wish — that’s worth reflecting on!
That was the story of Israel’s wandering in the desert. We read several episodes of that journey this week.
The people are pursued by Pharaoh’s army. Naturally, they’re afraid. How do they pivot on that fear? Unfortunately, they pivot into complaining: “Why didn’t you just let us die in Egypt?”
The people are in the desert. Naturally, they grow hungry. How do they pivot on their hunger? Unfortunately, they pivot into grumbling: “Why didn’t you leave us in Egypt? At least we had enough to eat!”
These are great instances of how the Bible uses “counterexample” to teach us. Israel’s pivot isn’t being held up as an example for us to imitate. It’s a counterexample for us to avoid. The Bible is asking us: When you face a similar situation, how can you dig deeper and do better than this? What would a better response to challenges — a better pivot — look like?
In the Gospel reading for the feast of St. James, the apostles give us another counterexample. James and John want to sit at Jesus’ right and left in His kingdom. Hearing this, the other apostles grow indignant. Jesus gathers them and says, in effect: “That’s the wrong pivot! Naturally, you all want to be great. But pivot on that desire into service rather than competition.”
We close the week with the feast of Sts. Martha, Mary and Lazarus (July 29). There are two Gospel readings to choose from that day. Together, they give a perfect example of how we can develop our “pivot point.” In one option, we hear the famous story of Martha and Mary. Naturally, as hostess, Martha has a lot of work to do. But she pivots from that work into annoyance at her sister. In the other option, Lazarus has died. Naturally, Martha is sad. But she pivots on her sadness in a different direction: into faith in Jesus.
The week begins with the wrong pivot: Israel’s pivot from fear into complaining. It ends with the right pivot: Martha’s pivot from sadness into faith in Jesus. As we near the implementation date for parish changes as part of All Things New and the effective date for new priest assignments, what natural emotions are you experiencing? What pivot are you making on those emotions? And how can your pivot point learn from biblical examples and counterexamples?