Never underestimate the power of…whining. I was a bit of a brat as a kid. When I wanted something, I would not relent until I got it. If I could not convince someone with logical reasoning, I would wear them down with a constant barrage of pleading and whining. I learned from the best. My older brother, Joseph. He wanted a dog. Period. My parents were less than enthused. After all, we all know who would be raising the dog. Them!
So my brother proceeded to beg and plead, then resort to walking around on all fours pretending to be a dog. He figured my parents would be afraid he would transform into the aforementioned canine unit if they did not give in. Yes, I know. If this happened today my brother would have likely insisted that he get walked to school on a leash and my parents forced to comply by some school psychologist. But I digress. We got the dog, a collie. And, yes, my parents ended up the primary caretaker. Oh, and my brother managed to finish evolving into a normal boy.
For me, I wanted a motorcycle. I know, I know. You are all surprised by that wish from me. But this IS where it all started. I did not let my Father breath. Not for a second. Until he gave in and bought my younger brother and I Yamaha AT 125’s. Still remember that bike with a twinkle in my eye. Until I recall that I crashed it into a washout and bent the forks into a pretzel. Foreshadowing.
The point here, obviously, is that when I wanted something I would carry on without ceasing. I also learned that I really believed that my Father would cave…I mean respond to my wishes. If I didn’t believe that, I would not have persisted so long. In today’s Gospel reading we hear the parable from Jesus about the widow and the unjust judge. She has been engaged in her own version of whining trying to get a favorable judgement from the judge. We are not told what it is that she wants. Maybe a Yamaha one-hump camel. Who knows? But this judge is getting worn out from the widow’s demands. He finally relents. partially because he apparently does not want to get beat up by this woman…“I shall deliver a just decision for her lest she finally come and strike me.” NOT an approach I would have taken with my Father, BTW. Persistence paid off for the widow.
We see this persistence in a few other stories from the bible. Hannah, the barren wife of Elkanah who prays to the priest, Eli, in 1 Samuel. She prays in the temple at Shiloh for a son. God grants her a child and she dedicates it to God by leaving him with Eli to raise in God’s house. The boy is named Samuel and becomes the first prophet in the Bible, anointing Saul as the first king of Israel. And we see similar persistence in the story of St. Monica and St. Augustine. Augustine was a wild boy who valued pleasure and friends more than God. His Mother, Monica, was a Christian and his Father was a pagan. Monica pleaded with her boy to turn from his ways and back to God. When this failed, St. Ambrose, bishop of Milan, counseled Monica to change her tactics. He famously told her to “speak less to Augustine about God and more to God about Augustine.” Augustine found God in his Mother’s prayers and went on to be one of the great theologians in Catholic history.
That is not to say that we will always get what we pray for. We will get what God knows is in our best interest. Jesus states after telling his parable to His apostles, “Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones” Prayer opens a dialogue with God and when we open our heart to His word, we will better be able to see the best path for us. That time is meant not to change God’s willingness to give us what we want, but to allow time for us to see what God wants for us. Prayer does not change God. It changes us.
The last line of the Gospel reads, “But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” Like my belief that my persistence with my Father would eventually pay off, we must have faith that God’s response to our prayers will be heard. Without that faith, there would be no reason to persist. And here is the thing. Persistence is not just meant for praying for something that we want. Jesus says in the quote above “…when the Son of Man comes….” This means when he comes to finally take us home. This, ultimately, is the persistence God wants from each of us. To make it through the challenges of this life. The pain, the loss, the ridicule, the self-doubt. To make it through the testing fire and to be waiting at the end when Christ comes for us. It is almost as if prayer is the practice. The warm up for the ultimate prize.
“Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!” (Psalm 27:14)
“Be still, and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10)
BTW. Mine and my brother’s whining did paid off. That Collie, “Tammy”, made a huge impact on my life. We lost her to a uterus infection and I vowed that I would not let that happen to others if I could help it. I became a veterinarian. And the motorcycle that threatened my brother’s identity as a non-internal combustion based being? Motorcycles became my passion. They helped bring me and my younger brother back together again. And now they fuel my retirement job. Thank you God for teaching me the power of prayer AND the wonders of whining.
