I  WANT  WHAT  I  WANT 

WHEN  I  WANT  IT 

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 7th Tuesday in Ordinary Time is, “I Want What I Want When I Want It.”

Don’t we all?

Well, it all depends.

I read that it’s the addict’s creed.

It’s everyone’s need when someone does something we don’t like or they don’t do what we want them to do. Like, for example,  - pick up their dog remains and we step in it. Or, for example, - they walk down the main aisle in the middle of a sermon and the whole church is watching them - including the preacher.

Smile.

TODAY’S READINGS

When I got the idea for this homily from today’s two readings.

James is telling us in the first reading where wars and conflicts come from.

They come from right here [Point to the heart and head]. Right inside this me that I am.  We covet. We envy. We’re jealous.  We want.

We want what we want when we want it.

In today’s  gospel, Mark 9:30-37 -  the disciples are fighting on who is the greatest.

They don’t want to hear that this Jesus enterprise brings on the cross - the dying to self - the rising, the resurrection for others.

The call is not to be served, but to serve.

The gospel tells us about little children. They are all surprise. They are out of our control. They need service. They need attention. They need us. Talk about wanting what they want when they want it. Think of children.

So too dogs.  “I want a treat! Woof. Woof.”

DESIRE

Buddhism is not the only religion that gets at desire.

Jesus challenges us to get in touch with what we want.

Blessed are you when you hunger and thirst….

We could also add, “Feeling angry - when you hunger and thirst.

So once again, it all depends.

What we want is what we want: our will.

My will be done - on earth as it is in heaven.

This is everyday stuff.

I hate it to go to a restaurant or anywhere with another - or be in the other seat in the car - and the other is going crazy - with the line - with the waiting - with the traffic.

Where’s the waiter!  I want what I want when I want it.

I love the cartoon that says, “You want it when?”

Xerox that one. E-mail it to yourself. Hang it on your mirror. Magnet it to your refrigerator door.

On the NBC evening news  with Lester Holt they have been featuring the long lines at airports to get screened. In Chicago the line and the wait can be 3 to 4 hours and many are missing their flights.

Talk about terroism.  This started big time with 9 - 11 and we have been dealing with the after shocks ever since.

I don’t know about you. I am waiting for the tipping point and figure out new ways of dealing with all the  craziness of the human heart.  You want that? When?

When I drive through those wide overhead E-ZPass go throughs  - that can register 3 cars at once - I wonder if  airports will come up with a massive bomb sniffing xRay machine - that a crowd can walk through all at once.

THREE QUOTES

Listen to what James says again - but this time in the first chapter of James, “Let patience have her perfect work, that you may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.  If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God.” James 1:4-5

Anwar Sadat said,  “Most people seek after what do not possess and are thus enslaved by the very things they want to acquire.” 

Logan Pearsall Smith wrote, “There are two things to aim at in life: first to get what you want; and after that to enjoy it. Only the wisest of mankind achieve the second.”

I would add a third:  The really wise learn how to deal well with not getting what one wants.

I remember hearing the Jesuit psychiatrist and priest, James Gill telling about a heart [or was it a stress specialist?]  in California who urges Type A people to do the following spiritual practice of how to deal the stress of long lines. 

I have done this ever since.

It’s a simple trick. When you see 3 lines in a bank or supermarket, always pick the longest line. Then when you get up to the front, jump off the line and once more pick the longest line. I’ve been doing this in Giant - Office Depot - wherever - ever since - even toll booths.

I'm not a Type A person - but if one is - an added practice is to try to recall your high school classmates by name while standing or waiting on long lines - or the capitals of all the states in the U.S. or whatever.

CONCLUSION

The thought for the day is patience.

Key game plan would be patience;

Key ways of being patient: the ability to laugh - the ability to wait - the ability to get there very early and close your eyes as you move up on the line - and if you really want to confuse others - go back and start again - on the longest line.