Monday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time
I've taken on more house projects in the past few months than I did in the entire year that we were renting. In doing so I have noticed that once I begin a project I can be overwhelmed with my desire to "do it right." I want the perfect tools and I want to make everything just right, even if no one else would notice. In some instances I think I am taking healthy pride in my work, at other times I'm going too far, which Bess sometimes challenges me on by reminding me that at some point the goal is just to get the project done!
I think today's rich young man has too much of the "just get it done" attitude. He wants to do enough to get the project done. We see that in his question to Jesus, "Teacher, what good must I do to gain eternal life?” I see this attitude in the nature of his question. Good is something we pursue because it is good and because it is right. But not merely because we 'have to do those things,' but because we love goodness.
The young man though seems to just want the bare minimum. He wants to know that minimum he must do to get his due. This however is not God's way. God's principle desire is not for us to be coerced into doing the good but to be called to love goodness and love people in return.
This desire rests on the Rich Young Man's heart. He knows there is more to life because he asks Jesus "What do I still lack"? He knows something is missing but he doesn't know what. He also is not ready to hear what is missing. For upon receiving Jesus' "full instructions" he is discouraged. He does not receive a list of things not to do, instead, he receives his a call to perpetual growth, perpetual discipleship and the propehtic call to remove that which silences Good in your life. But then he goes away sad.
May we remain close to the Lord.
- Spencer Hargdon