Elise and I used to live in upstate central Pennsylvania in a rural farming area after we graduated from veterinary school. It was the epitome of small town life. We got to know most people in the area through our work, church and activities we got involved in. When we were moving into our first place, one of the neighbors came out to help and asked us if we square danced. She invited us to try out the local club that her parents were involved in and 30 some years later that neighbor is still one of our best friends and when we go back to visit the area, we dance with the same club and group of people. We moved out of the area to go back to Chicago to be near Elise’s family, raise our children and start a veterinary practice. Leaving there was a really hard decision. We struggled with it for several months. But it worked out. We raised two great kids, got closer to Elise’s family, and had a successful business.
But when we go back to visit Pennsylvania we often wonder how our lives would have been different had we stayed. Would we have been more relaxed, developed family ties to our friends there, would the kids have had the same or maybe even better opportunities? Regret creeps in.
Then we look to the amazing friendships we have here in the Chicago area where we have lived since leaving Pennsylvania. And the closeness we found in living near Elise’s relatives. Our kids getting to know their family and family getting to know them. Bob Burford recently had a reflection where he discussed leaving his long time home in Kentucky and moving to Oklahoma and the difficulties a move like that brings as you try to plant new roots.
Elise and I are now retiring from veterinary practice and considering what we should do. One consideration is moving back to Pennsylvania. Would things be the same? Would our old friends still be there and be receptive? What about healthcare in a rural area? We have actually been agonizing….OK, I have been agonizing…over this for a few years now. I thought leaving Pennsylvania was hard! Deciding if we should go back has been monumental.
I think my focus needs to be on Jesus’ words in today’s Gospel. Does worry add even a moment to our lives. Do we really need to care about the things of this world? About whether we will have clothes or food or money…..or where to live. God cares for the least of the creatures such as the birds in the air and the flowers of the fields. Where do we think that we rank among his creation?
Do we really think that all our efforts to manipulate our lives can have the least effect on the outcome? If we are distant from God…if we don’t visit him in the Eucharist or ask forgiveness in Reconciliation or or pray to him in silence or receive his body and blood or use our gifts to help those in need…if we fail to stay close to the Lord will any of the other stuff really matter?
We can research the best jobs, and maybe even find one. But if that is not accompanied by being close to God in the Scriptures where will your true joy come from. If you work out every morning so that you are fit in body but allow your soul to be weak in spirit, where will your ultimate journey end? And if you locate the place to live that is rated #1 in the country but do not take the time to seek out faithful people and grow connections, is this home really your home with God.
St. Paul says in the first reading from 2 Corinthians that it is only in weakness is he strong. I had always read that line and thought, well that sounds nice but what does that really mean? I think he is trying to say what Jesus is telling us in the Gospel. Stop trying to run things. Stop trying to be the engineer of your life. It does no good. When we pull away from the world…from the activities that the world says makes us strong. From relying on ourselves. Then we have room for God. We trade in the ineffectiveness, the weakness of our own selves for the strengths of God. If we rely on ourselves, we leave no room for the works of God.
“Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be given unto you”. Put your ministries first and God’s ways will be your ways. If you lector, if you are a Eucharistic Minister, if you belong to St. Vincent de Paul Society, you are involved in Cursillo, you work at a homeless shelter or food bank, you are a parent bringing up your children in the faith, you are a catechist. Or you sit quietly in adoration or in nature. Whatever it is. Do it for God and no matter where you live, no matter what your job is, what kind of car you drive, what you wear or eat. It won’t matter because the Lord will be with you always and anywhere.
Now, just where did I leave those real estate listings?
