The
Beach, the Office, and Detachment
7/15-16,
2006
Fr.
George Smiga
Mark
6:30-34
Hot
sun, breezes off the water, rhythmic waves. A little girl
kneeling on the ground, scoops up sand and packs it tightly
into her bucket. She turns it upended and gently lifts it.
To the delight of the young architect, her castle tower is
formed. She will spend the rest of the afternoon dedicated
to her work, scooping out the moat, packing tightly the walls,
building bridges out of Popsicle sticks, and sentinels out
of bottle caps.
Big
city, busy streets, rumble of traffic. A business man sits
in the corner office of the high rise tower next to his computer
screen, shuffling papers, making assignments, crunching numbers.
His bluetooth is on his ear and constantly flickering. He
too is in the midst of construction.
Two
builders, two castles. They share much in common. Both have
a mission. Both are dedicated to that mission. Both are making
something new out of the materials that have been presented
to them.
But
there's a difference between the little girl and the business
man. For all her seriousness, the little girl approaches her
work with detachment. At the end of the day she will watch
with joy as the tide comes in and washes her castle away.
She will go home without sorrow, without fear, without regret.
The business man may not be as wise. He may allow his commitment
to his work to cloud his vision. He may imagine that that
commitment can guarantee his success and that his work can
last forever.
The
gospel today calls us to find the right balance in our life
between commitment and detachment. We must be committed to
our responsibilities, addressing them with energy and with
zeal. But we must not imagine that our commitment guarantees
our success. We must put our work, and indeed our entire lives,
in God's hands.
This
need to find the balance between commitment and detachment
might explain the rather strange directives that Jesus gives
in today's gospel. He sends the twelve out two by two with
real authority and a real mission. Yet he prevents them from
taking with them the things they will need for that mission:
no bread, no purse, no money in their belt, not even an extra
change of clothes. They must depend on God and on others for
those things. Such dependence is a reminder that the ultimate
accomplishment of any mission is not entirely in our hands.
God alone grants success.
You
and I must understand the importance of detachment. Detachment
does not mean that we do not care. We care deeply. Detachment
reminds us that it is God's will and not our will that will
ultimately be done. When we can approach our life with detachment,
we are able to be committed in a deeper and more realistic
way. We can give ourselves more generously, we can avoid discouragement
more easily, because we know that all things are in God's
hands.
With
detachment, parents can give themselves to the serious business
of guiding their children and encouraging their growth. Yet
they will still have the freedom to love their children even
if they make foolish decisions. With detachment, we can continue
to work with honesty and patience, even when the results are
not what we hope them to be. With detachment, we can work
for justice, even though the odds are against us and the progress
is terribly slow. We can love those who are difficult, we
can forgive our enemies, because we realize that life is not
about our agenda, but God's agenda. We can continue to believe
that God will somehow use our efforts to build the kingdom.
The
challenge, then, for each of us, is to find that balance between
commitment and detachment. We must certainly take our responsibilities
seriously and give ourselves to them. But we must also remember
that we are building castles of sand. Such castles might be
washed away tomorrow or might stand longer than we ever imagined
they could. But the ultimate outcome of our work is not in
our hands. We build the castles. God rules the sea.
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