Like you I read the readings and see what questions hit me. Today’s readings - especially the second reading from James - triggered the why question.
Sometimes people ask, “Why did you preach about that topic or question?”
CLUE
People like games.
Go figure….
It’s a rainy day. It’s vacation. Some people look for games to play. Boggle, cards, checkers, Scrabble. I read somewhere that the number one board game is not Monopoly. It’s Clue. My niece Jeannie’s husband, David, who is the best there ever was in Trivia Pursuit - missed that question on most popular board game - and said, “Never heard of it.” Everyone was surprised he never heard of Clue. Then he paused when he realized that it’s called “Cluedo” in Italy where he was from.
Did you ever notice that Clue doesn’t get to motive?
We have Miss Scarlet - Red. We have Colonel Mustard - Yellow. Mrs. White. White. Mrs. Peacock - Blue. We have Professor Plum - Purple. And sometimes Doctor Black - Black. And they go around the board - going into differert rooms - finding different clues.
We have the revolver, the knife, the rope, the lead pipe, the wrench.
We have the kitchen, the dining room, the library, the conservatory, the dawing room, the trophy room. Does anyone here have a trophy room and the wise husband says, “Any room my wife is in!”
There is no question of motive for the murder - with whatever weapon it is and what room it happens in and who is the murderer is.
MOTIVES: THE WHY
It’s not by accident that the question mark is formed the way it’s formed.
It’s a fishing hook - as we go down underwater to get to motives why people do what they do.
I love the say: “Teach thy tongue to say, ‘I do not know.’”
Then two days later we find out by accident why she did that.
How many times have we said to ourselves, “Wrong again!”
TODAY’S SECOND READING FROM JAMES
Today’s second reading from James is all about motives.
James good motives and bad motives.
There’s jealousy, selfishness, ambition, that cause disorder and foul practices.
There’s purity, peace, gentleness, compliance, mercy, without inconstancy or insincerity - and the results is good fruit.
James asks where wars and conflicts come from? Our passions take over at times. We covet what we don’t possess. We kill each other. We go to war. We ask and we don’t receive - because sometimes we ask wrongly.
I want what I want when I want it - and sometimes we don’t get what we want.
TODAY’S GOSPEL
In today’s gospel Jesus says he’s going to lose. He’s going to get killed for saying what he’s been saying.
In today’s gospel Jesus asks his disciples what they were arguing about. It was greatness.
Is that the biggest motive: this wanting to be number 1, to be or to look like the greatest?
In today’s gospel Jesus says it’s all about serviing others - especially the children - making them # 1.
MOTIVE: THE WHY
Someone said, “Motive is the reason, the why, sometimes the darkest chapter in the darkest book in the massive library we call the human mind.”
Why do we do what we do?
I love the shortest poem ever written: I / Why. And it rhymes.
I wrote the second shorest poem ever written, “You / Who” and it also rhyemes.
And I think we spend our lives on these 2 questions: I / Why and You / who.
Here’s a parlor game. Ask each other what you think is the number one motive in life.
You can also play it in the car or in marriage or at work.
You’ll come up with different answers on different days.
Today I think it’s comfort. Tomorrow I might think it’s control.
Many people will say it’s money.
What do you think it is.
CONCLUSION
The answer varies. The answer has levels.
If you keep on asking why, you’ll come up with and come back to different answers.
And remember the old saying about layers.
Life is like an onion. You peel off a layer at time and sometimes you cry.
You’ll cry when it comes to onions, because there is noting inside at the center.
Try apples or seedfull oranges and there are pits
SEEING THE KINGDOM OF GOD AS A CHILD
INTRODUCTION
The title of my homily for today is: "Seeing the Kingdom of God as a Child." I would like to preach today on the theme of the Kingdom of God being within. The Kingdom of God
is not just out there. It’s also inside us.
This is a theme that you find over and over again in
spirituality. People often spend all kinds of time looking here, there and
everywhere for the kingdom
of God and forget to stop
and look at the possibility of looking within themselves. They forget or they
haven’t heard the message that the Kingdom
of God is within.
Yes, it’s out there also. But the Kingdom is also within.
But we don’t buy that message as children and we don’t buy it as adults - that
is, until we hit a crisis, hit bottom, get down on our knees, go into a foetal
position, are reborn and then start to crawl.
So my message for today is: The Kingdom of God is
within. And the main image I want to use
in my homily is the famous story of “The Wizard of Oz.”
TODAY’S GOSPEL
We’re in Chapter 9 of the Gospel of Mark. The chapter begins
with Jesus on the mountain - where Jesus is transfigured. Then they start
traveling and meeting people. Jesus starts
to teach his disciples that he is going to get killed one of these days because
of who he is and what he is about.
To his disciples, this message is a shocker, especially
after just experiencing Jesus on the mountain in glory. So they deny what he
just said. They don’t buy his message. They don’t want to hear it. They don’t
understand it. And they drop the issue fast. They are so wrapped up in
themselves that they start arguing about who was the most important of the
group.
Jesus then asks them what they were talking about as they
were walking along. Perhaps, he heard some loud arguing. They are so embarrassed with his question
that they become silent. So Jesus, perhaps to inject a little humility into
them, tells them, “If anyone wishes to rank first, he must remain the last one
of all and the servant of all.”
Then he must have seen a child standing there, so he
presents the child as the example, the paradigm, the model, of what a person of the Kingdom
is to be like. Be like a little child.
WHAT A CHILD CAN
TEACH US
The little child doesn’t have college degrees. The little
child doesn’t have a big salary to brag about. The little child is just a
little child. So he or she is the last on the list of prominent people in the
village, but he or she can become first.
For example, watch what happens when a little child comes
into a room. Everyone stops what they are doing when a child appears in a group
of adults. He is welcomed by all. He is served by all. He brings the best out
of people. The little child does that. The little child makes other people
become children again. Ga.Ga. Tickle. Tickle. Children bring the best
out of adults. Children get adults to start talking to each another.
A little child then is a paradigm, a model of the kingdom.
Watch a little child and you can learn a lot about yourself. In fact, watch
yourself and you’ll see yourself still doing things you did as a little child.
THE WIZARD OF OZ
Recently I watched the movie, The Wizard of Oz. It brought
me back to the days when I was a child and saw the movie for the first time. I
enjoyed it then. I enjoy in more now. It’s a movie that will never go out of
date. It has so many messages to think about.
I think it can help get across the theme that I am pushing
today: the answer to many of our questions are within. The Kingdom of God
is within. And to go within, you have to become a child again. You have to be
born again.
Most of my reflections on this theme will not be mine. They
will be especially thoughts from Sheldon Kopp in his book Guru.
FRANK BAUM: AUTHOR
OF “THE WIZARD OF OZ”
The author of the “The Wizard of Oz” was a man named L.
Frank Baum. He wrote the book in 1900. Most of us are familiar with the movie
version, staring Judy Garland.
L. Frank Baum wrote the book because he was sick and tired
of childish stories. The children stories of his childhood didn’t grab him. So
he wanted to try to get kids to do good not by threat, but by an appeal to the
good. His dream was to take his readers to the mythic level. He wanted to help
kids see that the solution to many of our problems are within us. And so he
made up a story which he called, “The Wizard of Oz”.
It’s the story of a young girl Dorothy and her longing for
answers to some of the most important issues in life.
I’ve reflected on this story of Oz many times and every time
I reflect on it something new hits me.
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Let me go this way. The story of “The Wizard of Oz,” has
all kinds of characters. First of all there are the 4 characters who make the journey for answers:
Dorothy, the Tin Man, the Scarecrow, and the Lion. Next there is the Wizard.
Then there are the Good Witch and the Bad Witch.
Now the first point that I would make is that all the
characters are actually within us. Think about it: each one of us has all those
characters within ourselves.
We are like Dorothy; we are looking for the security of
home. We’re like the Scarecrow; we want brains and wisdom. We’re like the Tin
Man; we lack heart so we want heart and a feeling of compassion for others and
so we rust and so we can become crusty. And lastly, we are like the Lion; we
lack courage. All too often we lack the courage of our convictions. We have
wisdom within us as well as a good witch and a bad witch.
THE STORY OF
DOROTHY
However, the story mainly is the story of Dorothy and a
significant event in her life that changes her outlook on everything.
In L. Frank Baum’s story, Dorothy starts off as an orphan.
She is all alone and by herself. Then the day comes when she is placed in a foster home. It’s the home
of Aunt Em and Uncle Henry. They are grey people. The house is grey. They don’t
laugh. They don’t smile. They have problems when Dorothy smiles and laughs. It
seems to her that they don’t enjoy her or Toto her dog. Both are full of life
and it seems that they can’t deal with it.
In that loneliness and in those feelings of not being
understood, Dorothy has a horrible nightmare. A cyclone hits their house.
Dorothy is whipped off into the land of Oz and in her search to get home she
meets various characters.
First, she meets the Good Witch of the North who wants to
help her get home. She gets Dorothy to put on the silver slippers of the dead
Wicked Witch of the East who was killed in the storm that hit her house. The
house fell on and killed the Wicked Witch of the East.
Next, Dorothy meets the Scarecrow. He is a Straw Man in the
field. According to Sheldon Kopp, he represents the inadequate person, the
helpless character, the person who has birds pecking on him. He doesn’t have
any brains. People don’t expect too much of him. They need to help him. He
doesn’t have the brains to climb off the pole and use his brains. But on
meeting Dorothy he does come down and joins her on the pilgrimage to get home.
It’s the journey of life. For Dorothy, it’s the journey for security - for her aunt and uncle. For the Scare Crow
it’s the journey for brains and for a home.
Next, they meet the Tin Woodman. He has lost all his parts.
He is standing in the field with ax in hand, but he can’t move. His problem is
just that: he can’t move because he is so rusty. He is very polite, but he has
lost his heart. “He was once a man of flesh and blood, but was hurt so often
that he gradually had all the parts of his body replaced with tin. And, alas,
the heart was left out. He too is not responsible for this unfortunate state of
affairs. If only someone would do something for him, he might be able to really
care about people instead of merely appearing to be polite. His problem with
rust requires that other people be around to oil him up or he just wont be able
to function.” (Kopp, p. 125) What he wants is to be compassionate. He knows
that he wants to feel for others, but he finds that so hard because he is rusty
and crusty. Being the dependent type, he needs other people. He needs others to
oil him, but they don’t give him a hand. As a result his heart is a mess.
Next, they meet the Cowardly Lion. His opening posture is to
beat his breast and fake courage. But almost immediately he lets everyone know
that he is a big coward in need of courage. “Although he has brains and heart
and home, he lacks courage. Therefore, he cannot be expected to follow through
with boldness, to risk himself, to act like a man - or rather like a lion. He
roars to scare others off, but if they stay to challenge, he shows his
cowardice.” (Kopp, p. 125)
PSYCHOANALYSIS
Where does one go for help? Sheldon Kopp uses this story of
the Wizard of Oz to talk about psychoanalysis and getting help. He says that
people see the counselor as a Wizard. They go to him for help. In this story
they all go to the Wizard if Oz. That’s the person the Good Witch of the North
suggests that she go to EmeraldCity and see The Wizard
of Oz.
So all four run into various adventures as they go in search
of the Wizard. We’re off to see the Wizard, the wonderful Wizard of Oz.
When they finally get there, the great Wizard of Oz tells
them that they have to kill the Wicked Witch of the West. If they do that their
problems will be solved.
So they go in search of the Wicked Witch of the West. The
Wizard tells them that they have to bring back the Wicked Witch’s of the West’s
broom.
And in that journey, they fight and argue amongst themselves
like the disciples on the road in today’s gospel. That’s the bad news. The good
news is that in the struggle that goes on in all 4 of them they become one.
Before they were separate, trying to do it alone. Now they start to rely on
each other. They discover community. They help each other. They team up. They
become one. As a result all the talents of the group are utilized. One gives
the brains. One gives the heart to the other. One give courage to those who
don’t have courage.
They do everything they can with the vision that they have
and the others will get what they need. It’s like Paul’s message of the Body.
Each part needs every other part.
As a result they are able to achieve what they have to do.
They kill the Wicked Witch of the West. They get the broom and bring it back to
the Wizard.
THE WIZARD IS NO
WIZARD
The story does not end there. They still think the Wizard is
the solution to their problems. Thanks to Toto, Dorothy’s dog, they discover
that the Wizard is no wizard. Toto barks and pulls back the curtain. The Wizard
is shown to be an ordinary human being, who bungles things like everyone else.
He is forced to take off his mask.
Yet, the Wizard ends up being a good psychotherapist. He
ends up giving good advice to everyone.
He gives the Scarecrow, the one who felt he lacked brains, a
diploma. The diploma is a sign that he went through the school of hard knocks.
He went through the struggle.
The tin man is given a solid gold watch - as a sign and a
symbol of his loyal service.
The lion is given the medal. It’s a symbol of his new found
courage and bravery.
Dorothy clicks her feet and that’s how she gets home.
Commenting on Dorothy, Sheldon Kopp says, “As for Dorothy
herself, she learns that all this time all she had to do to get home was to use
the Silver Shoes she has had on. She needs only knock the heels together three
times and the shoes will carry her wherever she wishes to go. That is, she has
learned that she has the power to go wherever she wants to go and to make
changes in her life if only she is willing to take the responsibility of
recognizing and using that power.”
Kopp goes on, “Of course, the Wizard could have told them
all this at the beginning of treatment, but they never would have believed him.
How could they have accepted that they were demanding from other simple human
qualities that they already possessed? The insights are too simple to be
grasped, too obvious to see, and can only be had when a person stops demanding
them from the powerful Wizard/Parent who is supposed to take care of him. He
must give up the struggle with himself and become involved with another, and
with what can be between them.” (p. 128)
Kopp believes that L. Frank Bloom tells the story so a
reader, especially a young person, would see that the solution is within. Yet he
wonders if they would hear it. It seems that we have to go through the school
of hard knocks in order to really learn. We have to follow the yellow brick
road even if it leads to some rough traveling times. Isn’t it by going through
life that we discover just what St. James is telling us here in today’s second
reading? Life has its jealousy and its strife and vile behavior and people have
inner cravings that create wars inside each of us. We envy and quarrel and we
ask the wrong way.
In other words, if the problem are within me, the solution must be within me. God is within
me.
CONCLUSION
I think that’s enough for today. What I tried to say
was: reflect on seeing the Kingdom of God as a little child. If you get a
chance, see the movie, “The Wizard of Oz” again. It will help you see that like
Dorothy and the case of characters in the story, you can make it along the Yellow Brick Road
of Life, if you travel with friends.
The model of the kingdom is the child. The model for the
community is the child. But it’s not this first innocent child. It’s second
innocence. It’s not the first child, it’s the child of the kingdom that is
reborn. Nicodemus heard the saying, Unless you be reborn, unless you be like
little children you shall not enter the kingdom of God.
It’s that second child. I think that is what this gospel, this story is about. Thank
you. over and out.
Cf. The Princeton Seminary Bulletin, Volume 14, Number 1, p.
68
