WHAT  DO  YOU SEE 

WHEN  YOU  LOOK 
OUT  THE  WINDOW 

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time [B] is, “What Do You See, When You Look Out the Window?”

There are over 7 billion people on this planet.

What do they see when they are looking out the window of their eyes?

What do they think and feel when they are looking out the window of their souls - that is, when they are soul searching.

What do I see when I’m walking through a Mall and I see an old man sitting on a Mall bench watching the world go by?

I walk by and wonder what he’s seeing, who he is, what he’s thinking, where he’s at. At times I’ve sat down with folks just sitting there and asked, “How’s it going?” I love one on one’s in buses, planes, and outside of churches.

How's it going in there?

I get that thought all the time - looking over at a person in the next car on Route 97 - or Route 50 or in Church Circle. Who are you? Where are you headed? What’s with the face? What’s with the smile?

TODAY’S READINGS

Today’s readings triggered these questions and thoughts.

I look out my eyes while sitting there in the cushy fat cat chair during the readings of the Mass and wonder where you are  - where anyone in church is - in these hard benches in this church.

Are you a front window - front windshield person - or a rear view mirror person?

Are you in the past, the future or in the now?

Are you an optimist or a pessimist?

Do you see the restaurant is half full or half empty? Do you say, “Great we’ll get a seat!” or “The food must stink”?

The optimist invented the airplane; the pessimist the parachute?

Two men looked out prison bars. One saw mud and the other saw stars.

How do you see? What do you see? 

Do you see the smile on the person eating spaghetti or the red sauce on the person’s shirt or blouse?

In today’s first reading from Amos we hear about a shepherd - a man who also took care of sycamore trees. God spots him and calls him to leave all and prophesy - preach - to my people Israel.

In this first reading, Amos is in Bethel. He's at a shrine there. A priest, Amaziah, tells him to get lost. Go. Disappear. Get out of here.

Prophets get killed or dissed or are told to disappear.

If we met Amos in the Mall just sitting there, would he have a sad face, mud on his sandals and an ugly taste in his mouth - because he was eating the pits? Or would he have a dream in his eyes wondering where to go next - where to prophesy more - even if there will be more rejections?

Hey! Bibles might be on bookshelves - or in hotel rooms - but most people ignore them. Who wants soul and spirit challenges?

Read the book of Amos to get the rest of his story and some answers to questions about prophets - and what their challenges are.

In today’s second reading from Paul to the people of Ephesus, he tells us some powerful optimistic things about ourselves.

God has given us - blessed us in Christ - every spiritual blessing in the heavens.

At lunch yesterday Father Harrison said to Father Krastel across the table, “I was cleaning out my room this morning and I found behind my desk a Christmas gift with your name on it. It’s still wrapped. I have no idea how it got there.”

Is that us - there are gifts to us - and we haven’t picked them up yet?

In today’s second reading Paul tells us that we are adopted by God, chosen by God, we are the hope of God, we have been given the promises of the Holy Spirit, which is the first installment of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s possession.

Amazing vision - amazing gifts - amazing promises - that could hit us like those people we see in TV ads - that Publishers Clearing House people are at their door knocking - screaming - you’re about to get a million dollars - for life. And these are much more real….

Sitting on a mall bench or in a car driving along and that hit us - what would our face look like? What would our mind be doing? Would our mouths have a wow shape?

And in today’s gospel, the 12 are sent two by two to go into our world and proclaim good news and scream out of people unclean spirits.

And they are told to travel lightly.  Have just a walking stick, no food, no sack or back pack, no money - wear sandals - preach repentance - and if rejected - shake the dust of that house or place off your feet and move on to a new place.

What would it be like to do that with one’s life?

For 8 ½ years before I came to Annapolis,  I worked out of St. Gerard’s Parish in Lima, Ohio with another priest, Tom Barrett. Every week we were in a different small town - mostly small parishes - and we did just that. But we had a lot more clothes etc. no walking stick - and we went by car - and Tom knew where every Ihop in Ohio was.

And one of the best parts of those 8 ½ years were the conversations we had driving from place to place - telling each other about what we had just experienced in places like Elyria, Kalida, Leipsic, Napoleon, Defiance, Hicksville, Holgate, Hamler, Paulding, Payne, Ohio. Payne was very interesting - because we heard people in Paulding saying things like, “I was in Payne last week.”  Or my cousin in Payne just bought a new truck.”

ZEN AND THE ART OF MOTORCYCLE MAINTENANCE

I spotted on my bookshelf while working on this homily, the old book, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.  It’s a complicated book but it gets one thinking from a complicated man. Robert Pirsig tells the reader some of his thoughts while driving on a motorcycle from Minnesota thru Montana  - to California - first with a couple - and the guy is very different from him - along with his teen age son hanging on behind him.

The other guy doesn’t care what’s going on in a motorcycle engine - there are always mechanics - but Robert Pirsig like to known how to maintain a motorcycle engine - as well as people - especially himself.

Wow - it’s a chance to read what someone - different from us - was thinking when he was looking out the window of his eyes - with the wind of the highway in his face - going 70 miles an hour. 

He put his thoughts into a book - that had a record 121 rejects. Imagine that.

CONCLUSION

What’s behind your eyes? What have you seen? Where has the wind of God blown on you and in you and stirred things up? What have been your rejections?

Tell them all to yourself.  Sit on the beach or the porch or in a mall or when driving along or sailing along  - tell your life to yourself. What happened? What’s it been like to be you?

Better, talk to each other. Write it out. Show it to another - and if you’re not listened to - that’s just 1 rejection.

Summer - summer is the time for some deep soul searching. Close your eyes and look thru the eyes of your mind to see what’s going on in there. Don’t forget your third eye - the inner eye. Peek into your soul this summer. 

What's going on in your inner life - in your inner room?

When was the last time you were in that inner church - inner sanctuary?