Daily Retreat 01/16/06

2006 Jan 16 Mon: Ordinary Weekday

1 Sm 15: 16-23/ Ps 49(50): 8-9. 16bc-17. 21 and 23/ Mk 2: 18-22

From today’s readings: " Why then have you disobeyed the LORD? I will correct you by drawing them up before your eyes.... New wine is poured into fresh wineskins."

 

Following Directions

We've all had the frustrating experience of entrusting another person with a simple task, only to have the job botched completely because directions were not followed fully. It’s a pretty sure bet that each of us ourselves has likewise at times deliberately ignored instructions because we thought we could do things a better way, but the result was a mess, and thus we needlessly complicated what should have been a easy assignment.

Throughout my high school years at Gonzaga Prep, I had a work/study job which included helping set up for various receptions. The first time I was charged with preparing coffee, the instructions were to set up one heavy duty coffee maker in room 46, prepare another one in room 45, and eventually bring both machines to the reception area after the coffee had percolated. Pretty simple, right? Except that I couldn’t see any reason for setting up the coffee pots in different rooms, so I decided to save a little time and running around by putting them together in room 45. After I had filled them both and turned them on, I moved on to other tasks, intending to return when the coffee would be ready and take both machines to the reception area as planned.

However, when I returned for the coffee, I discovered that putting both machines in one room had overloaded the circuit - the breaker had been tripped, and so, I was stuck with nothing but cold water and damp coffee grounds! Needless to say, there was no coffee available for that reception, all because I failed to follow instructions and thought I could do things a better way.

Sometimes though, there’s more at stake than a shortage of coffee! Saul figured that, instead of obeying God, he would do what he figured would be better for himself and his army. Saul’s disobedience eventually proved to be an ongoing source of temptation for the Israelites, as well as the start of his own ruin. But before you and I rebuke Saul for his mistake, we need to honestly own up to our own sins of sidestepping God’s commandments for our own convenience (even when we fool ourselves into believing it’s for a good reason - plain and simple, there NEVER is a good reason to disobey God’s commandments, there NEVER is a better way than His way!).

God, who created us, has given us pretty straightforward instructions for living our lives. Obeying His commandments doesn’t guarantee us material prosperity or hedonistic pleasures, but it does lead to a permanent share in His divine life and eternal joy. A bungled pot of coffee might be embarrassing and troublesome, but it’s not disastrous. However, it would be eternally wretched if we mess up our job of getting to Heaven just because we tragically think there’s an easier way than following God’s directions.