SOW  THE  WIND, 

REAP  THE  WHIRLWIND 

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 14^th Tuesday in Ordinary Time is, “Sow the Wind, Reap the Whirlwind.”

We’ve heard that saying from today’s first reading. We get it, or we think we get it, but we don’t really think about it. Words can be like the car in the other lane - flying by us or we are flying by them. It’s there. It’s gone.

It’s a saying that shows up here in Hosea 8: 7.

We’ll also hear it again in Proverbs 22: 8  - “the one who sows injustice reaps disaster.”

Then there is Galatians 6:7, “Don’t delude yourself into thinking God can be cheated: where a man sows, there he reaps: if he sows in the field of self-indulgence he will get a harvest of corruption out of it; if he sows in the field of the Spirit he will bet from it a harvest of eternal life.”

Great quotes. I believe each clarifies the saying that much better.

You reap what you sow.

Spoil your kids, you spoiled your empty nest years.

What goes around, comes around.

Do nothing - expect nothing.

Do dumb things - expect dumb results.

Those who live by the sword, die by the sword.

HOSEA

Hosea the prophet reads the riot act to the kings and princes and tribes of Israel. He tells them, “You’re flirting with danger. When you pray to silver and gold idols, don’t expect the real God to show up when you need him.”

Sow the wind, expect the whirlwind.

You’re planting grain that has no ears - so don’t expect flour.

POLITICS AND THE PULPIT

Take the example of politicking from the pulpit. Now that’s a tricky topic.

It’s a fact that the scriptures - especially the prophets - and then the Books of Kings, Samuel and Chronicles bring in history and politics and what have you.

The other day I heard someone say that they want us priests to speak up about the current political drama that’s going on.  Yet I also know that if one does, one gets complaints about politics from the pulpit.

Basically, I let America Magazine speak up on these issues. There is a chance to write letters to the Editor or to cancel one’s subscription - if one disagrees with an editorial or an article and one has time to study it.

I know that I slip at times and let my bias, my positions, my political perceptions slip out - and every time I pay for it - by a comment someone makes to or at me on the way out of Mass. When will I ever learn?

I’ve heard people say: “Don’t make the church pulpit a bully pulpit - unless people have a chance to speak up.”  If they can’t speak up in church when they disagree with the preacher, they will be speaking up in the parking lot or on their cell phones or Facebook.

So what’s your take on November coming?  I’ve noticed that names come up in every conversation or coffee break that goes longer than 15 minutes.

STEP BACK AND WATCH

Perhaps the wisest stance is the stepping back and watching stance - that is - if one is able to keep calm, cool and recollected.

Statistics scream out that negative campaigning in the short run gives a candidate more bang for his or her dollar - or rant or rave or scream or scheme.

However, In the long run, the truth will win out. There are video tapes. There are ways to check sources. There will be biographies about each candidate coming out in 10 years.

CONCLUSION: TIME WILL TELL

In the meanwhile, we’ll keep on hearing the ancient proverb in various forms: “When they sow the wind, they shall reap the whirlwind.”

Hot air is hot air. Balloons burst. The air dissipates and disappears and we discover there is nothing inside.

And Dorothy wakes up - at home - in Kansas.