How God is Calling You To Take A Break
Yesterday we were visiting my mom and our oldest daughter, Marian (4 years old) was loosing her mind.
Marian has a habit of consistently repeating mischievous things, even though she’s aware of the consequences.
For example, while eating at the table she will sit close to the edge of her chair instead of in the middle. Within moments, she falls off her chair. Despite hurting her bum, she will repeat the same mistake several times over the course of a meal.
Another classic mischievous act is chasing our cat around our home. Both of our daughters are guilty of this. Once our cat, Emma, is fed-up, she will take a swipe at them, resulting in small scratches on their hands. While I think Marian has learned her lesson, Katherine still insists on occasionally grabbing Emma’s tail.
As you can imagine both my wife and I get frustrated when our girls repeat the same mischievous acts even though they know the consequences.
We are People of Habit
If I’m honest with myself, I’m not very good at learning from my mistakes. Often it takes a long a time or a cataclysmic event to shake me out of complacency. For example, due to my frugal nature, I turn lights off as soon as I leave a room. Most of the time I’m on autopilot and I neglect that someone may still be in the room. My wife may be in the kitchen preparing food or in the bedroom reading something and I just turn the lights out on her. After repeating this grave offence, Jennine will become quite upset with me.
The above are trivial examples, but we can all think of habits that we regularly fall into despite being aware of the consequences. Why is it so hard to let go of negative habits?
The Israelites and Their Bad Habit
In today’s first mass reading from the book of Exodus, we are reintroduced to the famous account of Moses coming down from Mount Sinai after 40 days and nights with the 10 Commandments, only to discover that the Israelites have fallen back into their old form of worship (Exodus 32:7-14).
The Israelites were desperate to worship. They took golden rings and melted them to create a statue of a golden calf. The golden calf was the Egyptian god Apis. Apis was one of the more highly regarded gods of ancient Egypt.
Despite God freeing them from slavery and keeping them safe in the wilderness, the Israelites return the pagan form of worship of their former captors.
So it comes as no surprise that God becomes angry. Why do the Israelite turn back to the very people who, only months earlier were mistreating and trying to kill them?
God is Loving & Just
As a father when my kids repeatedly make the same mistakes I get more upset with every repeated offense. Once they ignore repeated warnings, the consequences are ramped up.
For example, yesterday at mom’s, Marian was repeatedly running up and down the steps. First, we explained to her that if she continues she will get hurt by slipping and falling down. After ignoring us, we physically removed her from the steps and asked her to play something else. When Marian returned to the steps, she had a “time out” for 5 minutes.
I know not everyone will agree with me, but as I reflect on the current global pandemic, I can’t help but think that the current situation is a wake-up call for humanity. Especially in the last century, humans have mistreated each other, along with creation with no sign of the injustices slowing down. Perhaps this is humanity’s “time out.”
If I were passive with my kids and allowed them to get away with things for the sake of making them feel good, I would not be very loving or just. We refer to God as Father, because he is both loving and just.
Let us pray,
Loving Father, All praise and glory belong to you alone. Forgive us for the times we have fallen short. Continue to guide us through these uncertain times. We pray that we may be renewed in wisdom, strength and love at the end of all of this. We make this prayer through Christ, Our Lord. Amen.
