Be right about someone, rather than right about something

By Tim Trainor

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/092620.cfm
Ecclesiastes 11:9-12:8
Luke 9:43-45

I would like to pick on two (2)  things in our readings today to tie into my comments:

• A paraphrase of the Responsorial to our Psalm (“In every age and situation (we encounter),  O Lord you are our refuge” (when we listen to You)).
• The portion of the Gospel describing the mystery of Christ's passion being “hidden” from the disciples. And why were they afraid to ask Him about it? Could Jesus have begun an unseen-able Spiritual Battle that is still with us today? Could it also have had something to do about the mystery of suffering – that was to come upon Jesus, overflowing from Him to the Disciples (and potentially therefore even down to us in our present age?).  Well, Let's see.

Speaking about our “present age” it’s easy to worry about the state of our country given the amount of increasing tension and the resulting darkness that seems to be growing greater every day as we move towards the Elections.

Conflict plagues us and trickles all the way down to our most intimate personal relationships. We have all — at one point or another — faced people who make it seem impossible to obey God's command to, “love thy neighbor as thyself.”

We must realize that although God’s standards are high, they are never unreasonable. This is because God gives His followers all the heavenly tools they need to follow His commands. In order to put these heavenly tools to full use, we must first identify where they are in God's word.

One of the most enlightening verses about conflict is Ephesians 6:12, where God reveals, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places.”

We live in a society in which, sadly, we are encouraged to embrace a posture of offense. It seems people actively look for opportunities to be offended by others who don’t see the world from their point of view. But God reminds us our true battle is, “… not against our fellow man, but rather, against spiritual forces of darkness that wage war against our peace and seek to use any and every opportunity to divide us.” To me this present darkness equal The Daily News Content! How about you?

Embracing this godly knowledge elevates our perspective and begins to transform how we process disagreements. Sometimes we need more than just knowledge to really live out God’s commands. Thankfully, He provides further help and encouragement in 1 Corinthians 10:13. “And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” To me, the way out” is another way of saying the promised “refuge” in our Psalm!  He promises in this scripture so we can endure it.

As believers in Jesus, we know that these words are not only true, but that they are promises from a loving God who cannot lie (Hebrews 6:18).  Knowing this, we should have absolute confidence that when we feel too weak or overcome by temptation to behave in a godly way when faced with conflict, God will always provide a way for us to lean on Him and do the right thing — a refuge!

Embracing realistic expectations about the present day discord can give us a heightened sense of peace when these issues present themselves.

Of course, God will give us a way out! He is a loving Father who hates dissension more than anyone. He intended that we live in harmony, and even after sin entered the world He continued to instruct His people to love others more than themselves, which sometimes means checking our pride, especially when offering our opinions.

Former TV host Elisabeth Hasselbeck addresses this point in her book, "Point of View," where she writes, “Being right about something is less important than being right with someone.”

She adds, “I am more confident that God desires for us to experience the joy of being right with one another, not more right than one another. And that He is asking for where we stand on issues to be way less important and sacred than the God we stand under together as brothers.”

What a timely thought. Swallowing our pride and putting our opinions on the back burner does NOT come naturally. That’s why it’s essential to seek God’s wisdom and knowledge constantly. Scripture tells us, “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you” (James 1:5).

Each of us needs to ask himself, “Am I doing this?” Ask God for Wisdom as I encounter disputes, especially with Family and Friends.

Some comments on spiritual tools and weapons:

• Reflecting on and saying the Saint Michael the Archangel Prayer. Why this: Remember the above passage “against spiritual forces of darkness that wage war against our peace” .
• Saying a daily Rosary per Bishop Sheridan and our OLW Priest's requests.
• See the OLW Card "Prayer to Mary at Election Time" . Could are our Spiritual Leaders be trying to tell us something?
• Consider attending an OLW Thursday 6pm Adoration session.

Some comments on spiritual strategies.

• Embracing realistic expectations about discord can give us a heightened sense of peace when political issues present themselves.
• Approach 1: Overlook it. Proverbs 19:11 tells us - “A person’s wisdom yields (or leads to) patience. It is to one’s glory to overlook an offense” . Especially if it's a FAMILY or OMG member!
• Approach 2: We can AGREE to disagree and pray that EACH of us will be given the LIGHT/WISDOM to deal fruitfully with this matter in its various IMPACTS on us.

•  You may be asked to SUFFER (allow Christ to suffer this in you) and thus grow in holiness         plus the virtues of humility & patience!
  
• I read recently “When we ask Him to come and abide in us; we ask the Holy Spirit to form Him in our lives. If Christ is formed in our lives, it means that He will suffer in us. Or, more truly, we will suffer in Him.
• If Jesus is made man in you, He will be made you. In me, He will be made me. It is extremely difficult to lay hold of this fact. It is very hard NOT to think of a kind of mystical Christ just beside us, or just in front of us, suffering with infinite patience and joy, being obedient, humble, persevering, fulfilling his Father’s will. It is really difficult to realize that if he is formed in our life we are not beside him but IN him; and what he asks of us is to realize that it is actually in the actions that we do that he wants to participate also - to act and to suffer….
• It really needs to be practiced to be understood. We need to say to ourselves a thousand times a day: “Christ wants to do this; Christ wants to suffer this.” And we shall thus come to realize that when we resent our circumstances or try to spare ourselves what we should undergo, we are being like Peter when he tried to dissuade our Lord from the Passion.
• There is one tremendous answer to the question which is reiterated to the point of utter weariness when God asks us “to turn the other cheek” and we immediately consider responding: “Why should I?” Try to withhold that reply until you consider another  question: “Ought not I allow Christ to suffer these things thru me and so enter into His glory?” (His glory being perhaps being the preservation of this relationship – back to the idea of Being right about SOMETHING is less important than being right with SOMEONE.”) From Caryll Houselander († 1954) a British Catholic author, poet, and spiritual teacher.
• Above all – remember – God's command to us:
          “Love thy neighbor as thyself.”
•  Therefore our Guiding Strategy is:
         “Being right about SOMETHING is less important than being RIGHT with SOMEONE”   
•   Finally, we should never be surprised when dissension arises. Jesus told us, in fact promised us, that in this world we will have trouble.
  

Let's now begin our wrap-up by looking at full Ephesians 6:11-13 quote that most of us remember:  

“Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.”

So, let us each of us be ready to embrace this situation with realistic expectations that match the fact that we are now engaged in a spiritual battle. Then the weapons  and strategies we choose to address this discord can, in the end, give us a heightened sense of peace when these issues present themselves. We probably will have to undergo some suffering even thou we put the full armor of God.

We are promised to be allowed to stand firm (in God's eyes) plus avoid unnecessary “Friendly Fire Causalities” of Family, Church & OMG members! Peace also comes from understanding that Jesus has already won a much greater battle  – the war against sin and death has been decided– but the Defeated Enemy still fights on! Know that this same Person (Jesus), who died for all of our sins, is surely ready and available to help equip, guide & support us with His Angles in the day-to-day, much smaller still ongoing spiritual skirmishes we  might wander into.

So, Remember – In disputes with Family & Friends in the coming weeks - my grand takeaway is: “Being right about something is less important than being right with that someone.”