On Tuesday, I went to visit my spiritual mentor.
He is not a monk or priest, but a retired college professor who has been an
inspiration in my ministry. A patient on the Transitional Care Unit, I asked
him why he was not eating with the other patients in the dining room. His said
that he was not “that old.”
He was not comfortable with conversation that
focused on your latest bowel movement and news about loose fitting dentures. I
always preferred being around young people whose minds were open and creative
and kept me alert to the delights of life.
My friend needs a new hip and surgery would take
place on his birthday. Instead of a card and 86 candles, he was getting a new
joint and pins. His shared some history that brought him back to a decision
about a career. He thought he would make a good doctor. So he asked a scout
leader who was a doctor for a reference letter to a medical school. To his
surprise and disappointment, his friend refused to write a letter citing a
weakness in his character. The doctor understood that working with patients
required what is referred to as “professional disengagement.” Simply put, don’t
get too close to your patients or it will affect your skills. Sadly, a few good
doctors fall victim to addictions to relieve the stress of the job. This
physician was expressing a complement and saying that his young friend was a
sensitive guy who would find it too difficult to separate from the suffering of
his patients.
Instead of a medical career, Walt took his
compassionate nature into the academic field and became a well-respected
college professor. But his friend opinion in those early years was right. The
first time, our professor had to fail a student, he was depressed and upset
with himself. He wanted all his students to succeed. He went out of his way to
develop a remedial plan for each struggling student to retake an exam or redo a
project until they could pass the course. Despite his best efforts to affirm
his challenged students, a few would fail his course and that always broke his
heart.
I believe our God has a weakness. God is too
sensitive that He does not want anyone of us to fail. God sees our potential,
the good that He created in our hearts. Sometimes, our choices do not reflect
His will or we get stubborn and fail to see the goodness in God’s plan for us.
So we lose our way, blame God for our failures and think worse that God no
longer wants us to be a part of his family. That is our illusion.
The lesson of life is that we are prone to more
failures than success. What we fail to realize is that by making mistakes this
helps us focus our attention on what’s works best for us. Following God’s will,
living in holiness filled with kindness, generosity and forgiveness reflect the
character traits that God first place in our hearts when we were born. We do
have lots of weakness, we slurp our food and words, we drool with jealousy and resentment,
we practice lots of lying and deception. In spite of these character flaws or
sins, we have a God with a major weakness. He just keeps coming back into our
life. Why? Because He can’t help himself.
How many thoughts have you had when you condemned
yourself for a sin, a weakness that you thought God would never forgive. How
many times have you broken a rule of the church and said to yourself, Lord, I
am not worthy to receive you because I am a terrible person. Or worse, you
imagine that God wants nothing to do with you because of your weakness and
sinful nature. Like our good professor, God has a plan to help you not only
pass the course but help you to blossom and thrive again in holiness.
Our Lord’s weakness is our greatest strength.
From His compassion and mercy we reach our salvation. Praise God and thank you
Walt for being such a wonderful, faithful mentor to this priest and all your
students. May God heal you and bring you home soon with a strong hip and many
friends.
Lord, I pray for all my Sonshine Friends during
these summer months that we take the time to express our gratitude for your
weakness. In our moments of weakness, send your healing spirit to renew our
spirit and restore our strength and fill our hearts with Your compassion and
peace.
