MIXED UP

INTRODUCTION


The title of my homily is, “Mixed Up.”

A theme that hit me as I read today’s readings was this: We are a mixture – a mix – a blending – a combination of so much. So the title of my homily is: “Mixed Up”

TODAY’S GOSPEL

Today’s gospel is a mixture of three stories – a story about a man with a field in which he planted wheat – but an enemy came and mixed the field with weeds. The second story is about a mustard seed which someone planted in the earth. The tiny seed, combined with earth, sun and water, becomes a large plant – big enough for the birds of the air to dwell in its branches. And the third story is about a woman mixing yeast with wheat flour to make loaves of bread.

TODAY’S FIRST READING

Today’s first reading from Wisdom tells us that we have within us strengths and weaknesses – power and hesitation – and even though God is a God of power and might, God is also a God of forgiveness and lenience.

TODAY’S SECOND READING

Today’s second reading from Romans tells us that we are a mixture of inner whining and groaning – and in the mix of our groanings, there is the Spirit of God interceding with inexpressible groanings trying to help us.

MIXTURES

Life exists because of mixtures – mom and dad, seed and egg.

Life exists on this planet, because we have earth and water, lots of water. The sun is just in the right spot – at the right distance – to be the only place in our solar system we know that supports life right now. But obviously and unobviously, to exist our planet needs moon and stars and a mixture of lots of other unknowns for us to be alive at this moment – here and now.

Life is a mixture. For us to exist, our parents met wherever they met – and their parents met wherever they met – the stuff of story and puzzle and pinching ourselves for being alive.

That’s why I love to quote the old saying from Groucho Marx, “If our parents didn’t have kids, chances are we won’t either.”

Life is a mix of millions and millions of different circumstances. If one was missed, we wouldn’t exist.

Life is intricate, complex – surprise and serendipity.

MAKE A FEW POINTS AND GET OUT OF THE PULPIT

Let me make a few points and get out of this pulpit.

Yesterday, working on this sermon, the theme and thought of mixture hit me. Then the question: where does one go with this theme?

After a mix of lots of thoughts, I came up with these four points.

1) IN CONTROL AND OUT OF OUR CONTROL

The first point that hit me was this: there are things in life that are in our control and there are things out of our control.

We’re driving our car, but we’re not driving that other car. He or she might be on their cell phone, or they have been drinking, or they didn’t service their car, or what have you, and they cause an accident and tie up traffic forever. We can do our best, but there’s the rest that’s out of our control.

In the first gospel story today, the farmer was in control of what went into his field: wheat. But the enemy planted the weeds.

I like to picture the human brain as a field – in which lots of things are planted.

What’s planted in your field?

Imagine what’s in the brains – what’s deposited, what’s saved in the long term memory banks of everyone of us here in this church?

Everyday – memories are triggered – scenes from long ago. Someone mentions Toronto or New Orleans or a blood drive or a car accident, and immediately we have recall – and if we’re the type who cuts people off in the middle of their stories, we say, “That reminds me of the time I was at a convention in New Orleans.” Then someone else cuts in and says, “I went to a convention once in Denver for Tupperware.” And on and on and on.

Everything we see is planted in our memory. Some of what we see is in our control. We can take the remote and click elsewhere. While at the computer there are scenes and sites we can avoid. More and more men are planting on the hard drive of their memory pornography. Not smart. It can become an addiction. It can damage respect for women – and another can come upon it by accident – for example children.

But there are lots of scenes that we can’t control. How do we deal with that? We might have to accept the message of the gospel. We can’t go into a brain and wipe out what we have experienced. We need to make peace with our past – and make better decisions to control what can be controlled in our future. Everything sticks. Garbage in – garbage in. Beautiful music in – beautiful sounds within.

Take gossip or simply talking to another about another. When we are the speaker, there is that moment – that key moment – when we say to ourselves, “I don’t have to say this.” But if we choose to speak, to tell the story about another’s affair or drunk driving crash, that only we know about, then the other hears it – and they now see that person in a different light.

If I said to you, we have a speaker coming up at the end of this Mass and she is going to tell you about a program to help people with AIDS from indiscriminate sex and prostitution and she’s been there and done that, you will not be able to hear her without the comments about her that I just made. I just made that up, but it’s now in your memory.

So point one, some things are in our control and some things aren’t.

Sometimes we have to learn to accept that weeds are part of life.

2) DON’T EXPECT TO GET WHAT YOU DIDN’T PLANT

If you want mustard, don’t shake the catsup bottle on your hot dog.

If you want mustard, don’t plant tomato plants.

If you want wheat bread, don’t buy rye bread.

If you want to enjoy your kids’ kids, spend time with your kids when they are kids.

3) CHECK THE INGREDIENTS ON THE SIDE OF THE PACKAGE

Too often people who feel mixed up - and angry - don't step back and think. Think of Auguste Rodin's statue, "The Thinker!" Sit there and think. Think about life. Think about reality. Think about yourself and the others in your life. Compare!

Since life is a mix, it’s smart to step back and see what the ingredients are – to read what’s on the side of the package.

If you want to love yourself in a healthy sense, find out who you are. The old saying written in Greek on the wall of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi still makes sense: "Gnoti seauton” ["Know yourself!] Step back. Self reflect. Learn from each experience! Learn to accept reality. If we are 5 foot 9 and 54 years old, the odds are we’re probably not going to grow to 6 foot 2.

If you want to get married, find out about the person you’re marrying. Talk. Communicate. Clarify. Check more than their smile.

The old sign in Roman markets – in Latin, “Caveat Emptor!” [“Let the buyer beware!”] also makes sense. It too contains great wisdom.

Read good books. Mix with good people. Walk away from people who drain. Okay, sometimes we can’t. We didn’t pick who sits with whom at the wedding banquet. Plant good stuff in the great field – called the human brain – located on top of our shoulders.

I keep reading a book with the title, “A General Theory of Love,” by Thomas Lewis, Fari Amini, and Richard Lannon, three psychiatrists, brain researches and teachers in California. It’s a marvelous mix of philosophy, science, religion, poetry, etc.

On page 148 in a section called “The Big Picture” it states, “Everything a person is and everything he knows resides in the tangled thicket of his intertwined neurons. These fateful, tiny bridges number in the quadrillions, but they spring from just two sources: DNA and daily life. The genetic code calls some synapses into being, while experience engenders and modifies others.”

There it is: nature and nurture.

There it is – the things we have control over and the things we don’t.

There it is: the serenity prayer – to change the things I can change, to accept the things I cannot change – and to pray for the wisdom to know the difference.

Read the ingredients on the side of the package.

In other words, I look like my parents and brother and two sisters. My two sisters would add, “Unfortunately”. So we all have had a great mix of similar and so many different experiences. It’s what makes family picnics interesting.

4) WE’RE A MIX OF SIN AND GRACE – NEEDING REDEMPTION

We’re mixed up. Looking at our life, we have to give ourselves and those around us, mixed reviews. Nobody bats .1000. The only person I heard of who hit over .400 was Ted Williams. [Okay there is also Rogers Hornsby, George Sisler, Ty Cobb and others.]

We strike out. We pop up. We hit into a double play and end the inning. We make errors. Our spouse doesn’t live up to our expectations. Neither do we. We have good days and bad days. We know our nicks and scars on close inspection. We didn’t deliver on our childhood dreams. We tried. Sometimes we gave up. We’re better that we thought we could be, but there are days we’re worse. It’s called marriage. It’s called life. It’s called being a human being.

We’re fields with wheat and weeds. We’re grapes that glisten in the sun and look beautiful in the morning dew – but sometimes we’re crushed, but hopefully we’re the type of wine, someone will like.

We need redemption. Jesus, God and Human, what a great mix, who came and said it’s okay to fail, to die on the cross, as long as we rise from our small and big deaths.

Today we Redemptorists celebrate our feast day, The Most Holy Redeemer – Jesus, who received mixed reviews – Hosannas and death threats – but lived life to the full - and Resurrection forever.

We, unlike Jesus, make mistakes. We need Redemption, Healing, Forgiveness, getting back up after the falls.

In Eugene O’Neill’s play, Annie Christie, one of the characters says, and I think speaks for all of us, “We’re all poor nuts and things happen, and we yust get mixed in wrong, that’s all.” (Eugene O’ Neill in Annie Christie [1922]. Act. IV)

So we’re a mixture of right and wrong, wheat and weeds, sin and grace, good days and bad, but as Christians, we would add, "There’s more than just saying, 'That’s all'. " There’s always more than, "That's all!" or "That's it!" There’s Christ walking down our streets – knocking on our doors - entering our lives – sitting down to table with us - mixing with us at each Eucharist, and then walking with us into the weeks of our life.

CONCLUSION

Let me conclude by saying: "In this sermon I tossed out a few seeds, some of which might stick. Jesus would add, 'Some will miss.' – but that’s another gospel and another sermon. I'm assuming, I'm presuming, some of what I said, will mix with the mix called you. Go figure."