Put Your Hands to the Plough; Don’t Turn Back!
Job 9:1-12,14-16 / Lk 9:57-62
If we were from Mars, watching certain kinds of movies, checking out the greeting card racks, or listening to certain swooning teenagers, we might conclude that love is forever. But upon closer observation, we’d have to amend that judgment to “sometimes!” For so much of what at first looks like love turns out to be mere infatuation, or even worse, just being in love with love.
The same is true of friendship. It can have for awhile all the appearances of something that will last, and then when a pressure point or moment of stress is reached, it can disappear without a trace. We’ve all had the experience or being abandoned or cut off in broad daylight, and we can only hope that we’ve not done it to others.
Jesus had that experience often! How hard that is to understand for such a good man. But he made demands upon those who gave him the big smile and said they wanted to follow him. He asked for single-minded commitment that led to observable changes of heart and of life. That’s not the “easy salvation” that some folks were looking for then and are still looking for now, and so many walked away.
Walking away is always a temptation, especially when the path is rugged. At that point we’d do well to remember what St Peter said, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of everlasting life.” So stay the course. Put your hands to the plow and don’t turn back. Be faithful as he is faithful.
