Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time 'B'

Saturday February 4, 2012

“The sun will come out, tomorrow!”

It has been said that there are two kinds of people in this world: Those who exclaim on waking, “I thought sure I would have a headache today!” and those who say: “It’s great to be alive!” However, I don’t think the distinction is that clear. I doubt that there is any one of us who has not asked, in the words of the song, “What’s it all about, Alphie?” “What’s it all mean anyway?” “There are no free lunches!” and “No one gets out of this life alive!” Life is terribly complex at times — for some folks, a real struggle..

One author frames the question this way: “What is it that determines whether I shall face this day as simply another page in the daily grind or the moment wherein I discover and appreciate the very ground of my meaning and the purpose of my existence?”

Could it be Irish guilt, or Italian, German, Japanese or Chinese, or just plain old human guilt that enables us to beat ourselves up? Or could it even be rooted in our early Catholic upbringing? Thank God the confessional is no longer a tribunal but a place of healing of the heart and soul for those who have lost their way.

I came across this story published in the New York Times Magazine in back in 1991:

It was about one hundred Cambodian women refugees who resided at that time in Long Beach, California. They had witnessed the ‘killing fields’ horror of the Pol Pot regime and were certifiably blind even though doctors said that their eyes functioned perfectly well. They suffered from psychosomatic or hysterical blindness. They are blind, but their blindness stems not from damage to their bodies but damage to their minds.

Scientists really do not understand this phenomenon, only that it shows the power of the mind over the body. As one researcher explained it: “Losing eyesight makes sense if you are trying to escape the stress of a situation… At the movie theater you don’t cover your ears when grotesque violence comes on the screen. You cover your eyes.”

Human pain comes in many forms: personal or family dysfunction; chronic illness, addiction, emotional problems, the by-product of war with its horrific effects on the winners and losers. We dare not forget the trauma suffered by victims of abuse. Hunger grinding poverty; exploitation, oppression and lack of economic and educational opportunity continue to afflict people of developing nations. Violence, intolerance and distrust touch us all.

We can block out the pain of life blinding ourselves to the reality of our woundedness. Some people escape into the bottle; others into sexual excess. Some people cry themselves to sleep and others cry themselves to sleep hoping that “the sun will come out tomorrow.”
Job faced it all but it was in his darkest moments that he realized the God had not abandoned him.

No one has come up with an adequate answer for the fact that life does not pass smoothly. Rich or poor, educated or uneducated, young or old, life has its share of pain. But when we embrace the struggle of life and the reality of pain, we gain insight and receive the strength to deal with it. Acceptance is not acquiescence. You say, “Easier said than done!” You bet!

Chief Linchwe II, head of the Bakgatla tribe and one of the founders of Botswana is said to have told this story about two men:

One was blind and one could not walk. They were working together. The blind man carried the crippled man on his back. One had the feet; the other had the eyes. One day, they met a lion. The blind man just threw the crippled man and ran away. The lion killed the crippled one because he could not run, the blind one because he could not see. Both men died because both had lost sight of the fact that their lives in this world were necessarily bound up with one another; only together would they be able to discern and live the mystery of their life. Only together could they move beyond the bump of life’s daily grind to is ultimate ground of meaning.

Sometimes we need to seek the help of a wise counselor or the ear of a compassionate soul friend.

Jesus often fills that roll through a counselor or friend. Jesus “helped her up,” i.e., raised her up. Our relationship with Jesus can help us not only to deal with it but also to rise above it.

In our post Darwinian struggle to know who God is, we sometimes blame someone else for not being there. Perhaps our definition of God needs an update. Georgetown theology professor, John Haught, in his book After Darwin: A Theology of Evolution, in his exploration and exposition of the theology of evolution, praises God not as master designer but as a God of process whose love is humble enough not to control or manipulate.

Loving parents will the best for their children and so refrain from control or manipulations to make certain their destiny. We always want to be one with our children but surely would not meld their identity into our own as if to clone? God does not want us to be clones but loving reflections of his love. We are created in God’s image — male and female, but we are not puppets in the hands of manipulative God.

Jesus is the paradigm of God’s love, combining human freedom with unconditional love, which equals the ultimate in faithfulness.

Jesus did not suffer and die because God willed it. God is not a sadist and Jesus was not a masochist. No, God asked faithfulness of his Son and Jesus was faithful under all circumstances whatever the cost. It was this faithfulness that resulted in his death. The world finds it difficult to accept such loyalty. Is it too much to believe that God cried at the death of his son?

So it is within this context that we humans struggle with the mystery of life, pain, and even death but always with an eye toward resurrection which, according to John’s Gospel, begins in the here and now as we incorporate the mystery of Christ’s life into our own. In the words of St. Paul, “I live now, no longer I, but Christ lives in me.”

And in the words of Annie, “It’s a hard knock life!” But we can get through with a little help from our friends and of course with a lot of help from our God and “the sun will come out tomorrow.”

PS: speaking of our early Catholic upbringing, a little humor on the subject doesn’t hurt and can even make the medicine go down. Enjoy! Sister Strikes Again.

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