Wednesday – 24th Week in Ordinary Time

Gospel – Luke 7:31-35

My Way or the Highway

Tennessee Home

We took a quick trip to Nashville last week for some medical appointments, our first experience of Music City!   And it was a good reminder for me of how much I have been depending on my “Google lady” to get me pretty much anywhere this past year.  New home, new state, definitely new terrain!  Gone are the dependable grid patterns of Chicago streets and the flat expanse of Illinois.  Mountains and valleys and hairpin curves of country roads are the new normal! 

Don’t get me wrong; I do enjoy the experience.  But driving in a brand-new city can be quite a bit unnerving, especially for me.  Too often, I think I can get to our destination quicker.  I think I know a better way.  I prefer to listen to my own voice, my own thoughts.  I know what’s best and I have all the answers!  But I am learning to adjust and trust my Google lady!

And that is exactly what Jesus is warning us about in today’s Gospel.  The Pharisees just won’t listen to anyone except themselves; they think they have all the answers.  And if anyone different comes along, they should be condemned and ignored, like John the Baptist.  Children play the flute but people refuse to dance; they sing a sad song, but people refuse to weep.  They accept God, they believe in God, but only on their own terms!  They are blind to God’s truth and message.

Creator, teach me to listen!  To hear your voice and wisdom in the words of others!  Teach me that, if I follow only my own path, I will lose my way and stray from the one true path that leads me to You.

 

(PS – I never get lost; sometimes I just take the ‘scenic’ route)

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