WHAT’S YOUR TAKE?

There are two kinds of people: those who see wheat and those who see weeds? * What’s your take? What do you see?

There are two kinds of people: those who say, “Hail world, full of grace!” and those who say, “Hail world, full of sin.” What’s your take? What do you see?

There are two kinds of people: optimists and pessimists – you know the metaphors – glasses of water – half full or half empty? - or big gift boxes with straw in them – horse or horse manure? ** What’s your take? What do you see?

There are two kinds of people: those who see light and those who see darkness. What’s your take? What do you see?

There are two kinds of people: those with face muscles that proclaim a smile and those whose faces scream a scowl. What’s your take? What do you see?

There are two kinds of people: those who sing, “Ode to Joy” or those who sing, “Dies Irae?”*** What’s your take? What do you see?

There are two kinds of people: those who give and those who take, those who bend and those who won’t budge. What’s your take? What do you see?

There are two kinds of people: those who say they’re right and you’re wrong and those who say, “Let’s talk.” What’s your take? What do you see?

There are two kinds of people: those who celebrate life, sky dive, skate board, get out on the dance floor and those who sit there saying, “Crazy kids!” What’s your take? What do you see?

There are two kinds of people: those who always have that top button, buttoned, and those who loosen their collar – open those buttons and relax. What’s your take? What do you see?

There are two kinds of people: those who stand up in church and pray, “Thank God I’m not like the rest of people, greedy, unfair, adulterers – especially that I’m not like the person back there. I fast two times a week; I tithe on all I get”; while in the meanwhile the other person in the back, hesitant, and with eyes down cast says, “God be merciful to me a sinner.” **** What’s your take? What do you see?

There are two kinds of people: those who say, “How come Jesus is in communion with that person? How come Jesus eats with sinners and dines with them?”; and those who think and say what Jesus says, “It is not the healthy who need the doctor, but the sick. Go and learn the meaning of the words: What I want is mercy, not sacrifice. I did not come to call the virtuous, but sinners.”***** What’s your take? What do you see?

There are four kinds of people: (1) those who are hard headed and hard hearted. They are like the dirt road – nothing grows on them; (2) those who are shallow ground – the Word grows on them, but soon withers for lack of roots; (3) those who are good soil and the Word gets growing in them, but they have too many other things going and growing in their lives and the Word gets choked; and (4) those who are good soil and the Word grows in them – producing thirty, sixty and a hundredfold.****** What’s your take? What do you see?

© Andy Costello, Reflections, 2009

* Cf. Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

** The reference is to the story of two twin boys - one of whom was an optimist and the other who was a pessimist. Their parents bought them a pony - and it came in a big cardboard box with straw in it. Upon arrival, the father put the pony in the fenced-in backyard. When the boys came home from school they saw the big box: one saw horse manure and the other seeing the staw screamed, "Great. We got a pony!"

** Ode to Joy by Friedrich Schiller (1786) set to music by various musicians. I have in ear the composition by Ludwig van Beethoven.; Dies Irae - perhaps by Thomas of Celano - also set to music by many musicians.


*** Cf. Luke 18:9-14


**** Cf. Luke 15; Matthew 9:9:9-13; 1 Timothy 1: 12-17; Amos 5:21.


***** Cf. Mark 4:1-20; Matthew 13:1-23; Luke 8:4-15.