December 8, 2006
When We Are Powerless
Do you remember The Twilight Zone? There was an episode where William Shatner (before he was Captain Kirk on Star Trek) was on a plane. When he looked out of the window he saw a man on the wing. Every time he shouted out that there was a man on the wing, the others would look but wouldn't see anything. Well, this morning during my meditation time I remembered something that happened to me a couple of years before I joined the Friars that reminded me of that episode.
I was driving home from a meeting at City Hall on a clear, calm and comfortable summer evening. I was passing through a quiet residential neighborhood. When I came around the bend, suddenly, there was a man in the road. I was shocked! At first I didn't really believe it. After all, how often do you see a man lying in the middle of the road? But sure enough, there was man in the road. He was lying down in the center of the road with a bicycle by his side.
When I ran over to him, he didn't respond. But for some reason that I can't explain, he didn't look like he was hurt. A few other people who were driving by also stopped. The man in the road continued to lay there looking like he was taking a nap. Because he didn't respond to us, we decided to call for an ambulance. As we were waiting, I tell that we were all surprised. We were surprised that there was a man in the road. But, I think we were even more surprised because he seemed peaceful and happy. I suspect that he was high, very high on drugs and fell off of his bike.
So, this morning during my meditation hour this memory came back to me. I thought that at that moment, the man in the road was powerless. He couldn't (or at least wouldn't) get up or respond. But, he somehow seemed to enjoy his powerlessness. And because of his powerlessness, everyone who happened upon him, wanted to help him. At that moment in his life, no one wanted to hurt him, no one wanted to take anything from him, no one expected anything from him. We all wanted to help him. And we all looked at him with sympathy.
Then I thought, this is how it must be with God. When we are powerless, we have to trust in God and it is then that we really see how good God is to us. How He takes care of everything for us. When we are trapped in the illusion of our own power, we miss the opportunity to experience real Power. If that man hadn't fallen down, we probably would not have even noticed him riding his bike. But because he did fall down and he stayed down, he experienced the compassion and the security of others. Let us pray for the grace to admit the truth of our powerlessness; to admit that all of us, in our own ways, have fallen. Let us pray for the grace to admit that we can not get up on our own, so that we can truly enjoy the everlasting compassion and security that can only come from our loving Father.
Pax et Bonum,
Br. Giuseppe Maria Siniscalchi, CFR
________________________________________________
send us your questions/comments
(you must re-type or copy and paste this address into your email):
franciscanscfr@yahoo.com
e-mail comments |