God arranges the weather for you?

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/052818.cfm
1 Peter 1:3-9
Mark 10:17-27

A friend of mine, together with his wife, spent months in planning for a major family celebration. They weren’t traveling alone. Their children and grandchildren were also invited on this week long excursion to the fantasy lands of northern Florida. As the day of departure for Orlando approached, the notion of checking out the anticipated weather came to mind, and my friend consulted the internet weather mystics. Unfortunately, rain was in the forecast. Under the circumstances, there was only one thing to do; and so a prayer was offered that all this planning and preparation would not go to waste and that somehow it would all work out.

The subsequent sequence of events fell into that category which some attribute to luck. The gathered family would stop for lunch; and, while they enjoyed their meal, the skies would let loose. When they finished dining, the rain would revert to a sprinkle. The family would enter a theater for a stage show in light mist. During the performance, the rain would pour down, only to retreat when the entertainment production was finished. During the week’s celebration this happened multiple times.

Obviously, there are those who would hear the story and ask, with a heavy layer of incredulity: “So God arranges the weather just for you?” But that question comes from the skeptic’s perspective and there is another perspective which relies on neither the doubt of the agnostic nor the luck of the secularist nor the karma of the new age philosopher. It’s a perspective that flows from Jesus’ promises.

We were not promised that the weather would change to suite our needs (though sometimes I believe that actually happens); we were, however, promised the presence of the Spirit and his guidance. Whether it’s a thought that suggests that turning right would be best if you’re looking for a parking space or a subtle urging that says now would be a good time to stop for lunch, the notion that the Spirit will guide us, even through the little things is not without foundation. Personally, I believe the Spirit could show us how to walk between the raindrops if that were a necessity.

However, what do we make of Our Father’s intent when these kinds of things happen? His decisions are not capricious. Nor does the Spirit’s guidance simply bow to our wishes and whims. While no single answer is definitive for me, it would seem that at least part of the answer lies in Peter’s message in the first reading.

Peter writes to some of the early Christians with words that cannot help but remind them of the Spirit’s active presence in the most crucial of perceptions.

Although you have not seen him you love him; even though you do not see him now yet you believe in him.

I dare say, we all fall into that category. We have not seen him, but we love him. And, even though we do not see him now, we believe in him. Still, our faith is not absolute. By our very nature, most of us need the reinforcement that comes from a regular confirmation of God’s Love for us and the presence of his Spirit with us. We crave those simple signs that tell us we are neither alone nor lost.

But there is more to these incidents than that. These simple expressions of God’s care invite us to enter his presence more fully.

The man in the Gospel reading asks: “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" That man is you! And me! And everyone else who has ever lived! All of us asking the same question. In the course of the conversation the man reveals that he has seriously attempted to keep the commandments. Jesus looked at him and loved him; and then gave him the answer he would not hear: “You are lacking in one thing.”

Throughout our lives we are offered opportunities to increase our love for him whom we have not seen and to strengthen our belief even though we have not seen. The simpler of those opportunities have to do with parking spaces and rain showers. The more astounding of these opportunities we call miracles. But, whether large or small, the opportunities are always a doorway to entering his presence more fully.

For the man in the Gospel, his ‘lack’ is explained as his dependence on his possessions. For each of us, Jesus answer may be different. In all cases,r the answer will address the one thing we believe we would be foolish to surrender. We stand at the edge of what we perceive to be a precipice. Jesus is telling us that we should fly with the freedom he has given us for God will bear us up on eagles wings. Meanwhile, I stand with him at the edge, calculating if I’m skilled enough to construct my parachute on the way down.

I am lacking in one thing. What is it? Can I even hear the answer?