to be is to do

The "redlines" arrived on my desk unannounced and unwelcome. There weren't many, but the imperatives staring me down demanded in no uncertain terms to "Make the following changes." To say the least, I was a bit indignant. My "superior" sense of design, color, and proportion was being challenged by what I selfishly deemed to be unjust, coming from uncritical reason. These changes were not for the better, I scoffed, but arbitrary and imprudent. After fuming over a hurt ego for a spit, reluctantly I deferred. But only just so.

Recanting my stubborn refusal to change, I sifted through the pages and began to accommodate my superior's requests. At some I shook my head in disbelief, vowing that I could never affront my masterpiece with such embarrassment, but eventually found the resolve to make good. Others, however, I assented to quickly but proudly failed to perform. In the first scenario I started out wrongly but corrected my action, and the latter had good intentions but no follow through. It was a deja vu rendering of today's gospel parable. In both instances, words and actions did not align. The protagonist said one thing yet did another.

It isn't what you say you are going to do that's important, it's what you do*. And this is the point of Jesus' obvious story: Results matter; Intentions, well, not so much. He condemns the religious elite for starting out on the righteous path but ending up perversely distorting their objective. They mean to follow god but instead get sidetracked with innuendo and intrigue. More concerned with dead legal formalities than the life behind their words, the authorities proclaim: Do what I say not what I do. The unacceptable (the tax collectors and prostitutes), on the other hand, may have begun their journey in the wrong, Jesus infers, but finish strong by following the good. Their actions speaking louder than their words.

Who we are is shown by what we do. We inhabit the divine as the divine is in us and we must share the spirit to make it come alive. The self-emptying, humble, and loving Christ is born in our works. His adversaries speak only to confuse and disable. Our intimate nature seeks our involvement not just our words. We are called to follow through on our promises. Are we ready to say yes - yes to our obligations, yes to the right choices, yes to the god we intimately know and who knows us, yes to live the life of Christ?

love, always,

pia

* Of course the end doesn't justify the means. There is more than doing the right thing. What's not addressed, and arguably more important, is how we do what we do.