Times go by Turns

There is an appointed time for everything...a time to weep, and a time to laugh; (Ecl. 3, 1). Good and bad alternate in any human life. Some would say that joy and pain balance out over the course of the years. The poet St. Robert Southwell puts it better in his poem, "Times go by Turns" (1561-1595) - that "The saddest birds a season find to sing..." Very often we find that just allowing the passage of some time gives us a better perspective on today's worries or allows God to do us good.  Let's look at the message of the poem:

Times go by Turns by Robert Southwell.

THE lopped tree in time may grow again,
Most naked plants renew both fruit and flower;
The sorest wight may find release of pain,
The driest soil suck in some moist'ning shower;
Times go by turns and chances change by course,
From foul to fair, from better hap to worse.

The sea of Fortune doth not ever flow,
She draws her favours to the lowest ebb;
Her tides hath equal times to come and go,
Her loom doth weave the fine and coarsest web;
No joy so great but runneth to an end,
No hap so hard but may in fine amend.

Not always fall of leaf nor ever spring,
No endless night yet not eternal day;
The saddest birds a season find to sing,
The roughest storm a calm may soon allay:
Thus with succeeding turns God tempereth all,
That man may hope to rise, yet fear to fall.

A chance may win that by mischance was lost;
The net that holds no great, takes little fish;
In some things all, in all things none are crost,
Few all they need, but none have all they wish;
Unmeddled joys here to no man befall:
Who least, hath some; who most, hath never all.

Real Celebrities...?

     So often we think of the famous biblical character David as the beard-less shepherd boy who kills the giant Goliath for his people; a brilliant writer of Psalms. We are even told that the Lord will come from the house of David (Lk. 1, 27...) and will be called the son of David. The guy who was a king and even forgave Saul totally. But that is not the end of the story...the same David (2 Sam. 11...) we hear of a particularly heinous episode in his life involving adultery and murder. And there is more. True, at other times, we have penitence and tears.

         Hey, David pictures on the large screen the ambiguities and inconsistencies in the life of any one of us. Over the whole period of our lives, isn't there some comparable collection of good and bad deeds? So who is the real celebrity?

From Dissension to Harmony (1 Corinthians 12:22-25).

There is an old African fable showing that every member of the community, including those who appear to be useless, is important after all.

       Once upon a time, the various parts of the body began complaining against the stomach. “Look at me,” says the hand, “I till the soil to plant the seeds, I harvest the crops, I prepare the food. All that the stomach ever does is lie there waiting to be fed. This is unfair.” The feet agreed, “Me too, I carry the heavy stomach around all day, I carry him to the farm to get food, I carry him to the river to get water, I even carry him up the palm tree to get palm wine, and all the stomach ever does is lie there and expect to get his ration of food, water and wine whenever he needs them. This is unfair.” The head, too complained how he carries all the heavy load from the farm and from the river, all to feed the stomach who does nothing to help. The parts of the body decided that this injustice must stop. To force the issue, they decided to embark on a protest action. They agreed to stop working and feeding the lazy stomach until the stomach learns to be a responsible citizen of the body.

        A whole day went by and the stomach was not given any food or water or wine. All that the stomach did was groan from time to time while the others taunted him. By the second day of starving the stomach, the head said that he was beginning to feel dizzy. By the third day, the hands reported that they were feeling weak, and the feet were wobbly and could not stand straight. Then it dawned on them that, much as they were visibly supporting the stomach, the stomach was also supporting them in a less obvious but equally important way. It dawned on them that by feeding the stomach they were feeding themselves without knowing it. So they called off their strike action and went back to work to feed the stomach. Their strength returned and together with the stomach they lived happily together after.

 

A Checklist on Love...

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

(1 Corinthians 13:4-7)

 How much of a loving person are you? An exercise based on this reading helps us to find that out easily. The text, taken from the New International Bible, version reads: Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. (1 Corinthians 13:4-7) Now let us read the passage again putting “JESUS” and “HE” wherever we find “LOVE” and “IT.” You can see that it read smoothly. You can still agree with every line of the passage. Next read the passage again, this time substituting your name, “NN”, and the pronoun “I”. Do you still agree with every line in the passage? How do you score yourself on a scale of 1 to 10? That shows how loving a person you are.

Learning to win life...

        Looking at daily missal readings of this week, we are left with our mouths open by the immense and great teaching we are given on how to win life.  
        Nice things do not happen always. Like the day which shines or rains at times, there are unwholesome matters that come unpredictably in our way. Good memories are ever there for sure, but bad moments also come in our lives. the days, the sun, the moon, the week, the earth will never stop their rotation or motion just because we are in bad or in good moods, health or not, happy or sad, life goes on and we need to hear these words to keep head high: (1 Samuel 16, 1)...the lord said to Samuel, " how long will you grieve over Saul?...Fill your horn with oil and set out..."
        When we are born, we all cry as a sign of welcome to the world - the world is a war zone; a battle field; life is a journey of battle. But to win life, we should understand that our power is minute to tangle the enemies of life, we need extra power from God because the battle is His: (1 Samuel 17.32-33, 47) David said, " The Lord, who saved me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, will save me form the hand of Goliath...For the battle is the Lord's..."

Greatest mistake we make in life..."childish requests"

"Appoint a king over us like other nations have...1 Sam. 8, 5".

            Parents have probably heard something similar from a child when a neighbour buys the latest toy for his little kids: "can't we get one of those too?' An American writer once wrote to the effect that if you let people do what they want, they end up imitating each other. We see it in teenage fashions where peer pressure almost dictates a uniform. Adults too fall to the same mistake when they do things because others do, or because others have. Israel was governed by judges up to this point but now they want a king, not because a king is good, or will bring unity, or lead them better, or make them fear God, or make them better in progress, BUT because other nations have; want to be like everyone else.

              Our conscience at times requires some singularity of behaviour on our part. Everyone knows how difficult that is when faced with a lot of contrary pressure from friends and neighbours. Though theoretically most of us are free to think and act as we ought to right, we are battered on the other side by a strong desire to fit in, to not stand out. Ideally in our own lives we would allow what God asks of us in our particular situations and with our specific capabilities to dictate what we do. Instead of looking over our shoulder to see what the trends are, we look within to know what God asks of us in the present moment of our life. Neither singularity nor conformity is primary but what conscience tells us.

Defeating - Ignorance, misunderstanding and pain

Jesus came preaching that He might defeat all ignorance. He came teaching that He might defeat all misunderstandings. He came healing that He might show His power over pain. We, too, must proclaim all certainties; we too, must be ready to explain our faith; we too, must turn the ideal into deeds.