This is very important for us to understand. At the school of Jesus we are always learning. We can never say that we have fully grasped who God is or that we have reached the ultimate stage in our relationship with God. Our God is a God of surprises and we need to have an open heart to be able to discern the prompting and the urgings of our God at every moment of our lives. Relationship with God is not achieved by passing an examination after years of study. It is a daily walk with the Holy Spirit of God. One of the great saints of the church, St John of the Cross had this powerful image. God is always hovering around us like he hovered over Mary at the Annunciation. God wants to enter into our lives in order to make us more and more like him. But He will not force Himself. We need to make a space for Him, like we need to clear the ground for a helicopter to make its landing.
As human beings this is not always easy because there is something in us that does not desire to keep adapting to change. We prefer to continue with our ways of thinking and acting because we feel more secure. The problem with all of this is that we become very defensive and insecure. We can easily feel threatened by the prospect of having to change. Fear begins to motivate many of our choices that we make. Instead of welcoming whatever happens as a messenger bearing God’s love, we immerse ourselves behind barricades of suspicion and rejection. Consequently we begin to see things very negatively and we find ourselves losing our cool and reacting instead of responding.
When I look at the Scriptures, and when we also reflect on our own experiences, we find that very often God works with us through the interventions of another person or through some situation that surfaced all of a sudden. Very often God does not intervene directly but through someone or something that we encounter. Moreover, it often happens that God desires to say something to us through the ordinary things of life or through someone who is an ordinary human being. At times we might think that God speaks to us only through some dramatic event, or because we have encountered some very important person. God speaks to us and invites us to have another look at where we are going through what normally happens around us. In giving a glass of water to one who is thirsty or in treating others the same way that we would like to be treated we are well on the road to become more like Jesus. Likewise, it is at times too difficult to understand that by imitating someone who is not considered to be important by society like a child we are getting closer to understanding what acting, thinking and feeling like Jesus entails.
God even uses donkeys to get his message across. When the King of Moab, Balak, sent for Balaam to curse his enemies, God asked Balaam not to go. Somehow, Balaam was persuaded to disobey God and decided to go to King Balak to satisfy his wishes. So in the morning he saddled his donkey and started on his journey. God sent his angel to prevent Balaam from continuing on his journey. The donkey could see the angel while Balaam and his servants could not. Because of this the donkey tried to steer away Balaam from the right direction three times. Every time, the donkey copped a beating. At the end, the angel of the Lord said to Balaam, “Why did you beat your donkey three times like that? I myself had come to bar your way; while I am here the road is blocked. The donkey saw me and turned aside from me three times. You are lucky she turned aside as I should have killed you by now.” “I have sinned. I did not know you were standing in my path. However, if you are angry with us, I will go back.” (Nm 22:32-25)
Learning from Jesus means that every situation that we encounter and every person who we meet can be a source of blessing and an opportunity for growth. This also includes those situations which seem negative and unpleasant. Being a disciple of Jesus denotes a lifelong willingness to be formed and reformed and demands a certain openness of mind and heart. This is the very opposite of individualism. Growing in our relationship with Jesus Christ requires that we approach God with our hearts and our minds ready to receive and be transformed by what our God is every readily prepared to share with us. Discipleship requires that we approach life and our God with our hands cupped ready to receive and learn. We do not have the answers for everything. We do not and cannot control every situation. This demands an open heart always prepared to learn and be fashioned by the values and the principles of Jesus Christ.
What we find meaningful in life depends on our philosophy of life. With Jesus Christ, what seems to be tragedies can be turned into triumphs, what seems to be impossible can become possible and what seems to be normal and part of every day life can be a source of profound growth. Indeed, our relationship with our God deepens the more we are ready to have an open heart and mind to learn. This is a most exciting journey.
God Bless
