[1]Once a farmer had an old mule. One day the mule fell into the farmers well.
The farmer liked the mule, but decided that neither the mule nor the well was worth the trouble of saving. Instead, he called his neighbors together, told them what had happened, and asked them to help haul dirt to bury the old mule in the well and put him out of his misery.
Initially the old mule was frightened! But as the farmer and his neighbors continued shoveling and the dirt hitting his back, a thought struck him. It suddenly dawned on him that every time a shovel load of dirt landed on his back, he would shake it off and step up!
This he did, blow after blow. "Shake it off and step up..., Shake it off and step up..., Shake it of and step up!" he repeated to encourage himself.
No matter how painful the blows, or how distressing the situation seemed, the old mule fought panic and just kept right on SHAKING IT OFF AND STEPPING UP!
It wasn't long before the old mule, battered and exhausted, stepped triumphantly over the wall of the well! What seemed like it would bury him, actually helped him... all because of the manner in which he handled his adversity.I couldn't help thinking of Moses when I read this story. Here's a guy who had already been through a lot in Egypt. First, he was a prince, then he discovered his real identity and found himself set off to the desert to die. As what seemed his lowest point he finds a home, a love, and a steady job. Life is good, until that burning bush started talking to him. This nameless God says, I want you to return to Egypt to free his people from pharaoh.
Change can feel like falling into a well. What makes it more challenging for Moses is the people, even after witnessing the hand of God destroy their enemies, they begin to grumble against Moses. We're thirsty, a shovel full on the back. Why did you ever make us leave Egypt? Another shovel full on the back. Was it just to have us die here…with our children and livestock? Yet another shovel full on the back. Can you feel his anguish and concern, his feeling like he is being buried alive, as the cries out to the Lord?
Paul tells us, in our reading from Romans, that “hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” (Rom 5:5)
Life is full of challenges and change. All of us experience change in our lives. Change is the one constant in our lives. There are changes that we look forward to, that feeds our feelings of hope Paul talks about, and change that we fear, challenging any feeling of hope. One thing is for sure, things will not stay the same no matter how much we would like them too. When a life change occurs, we have two choices in how to respond. We can despair the change has come and assume the worst, or we can look with excitement at the new possibilities the change presents.[3]
Moses may have experienced anxiety with his life changes, yet he lifts his voice to God for direction. Paul, after getting knocked from his high horse, literally, learned to embrace his life change and became a passionate witness of a hope that does not disappoint. The woman at the well, inquisitively engages Jesus who be revealing his identity, change her communal status from outcast to a believable witness of hope.
For the Catechumen and those seeking full communion with the Church, at the Easter Vigil, it is any exciting time! Discovering the Messiah, like the woman at the well, their hearts on fire to witness to the joy and hope of the promises of an all loving and merciful God. For them and all of us that profess faith in the risen savior, there is a cost to this discipleship. Know this, to live the Good News will bring change, an interior and exterior change, change that can feel like shovel load after shovel load of dirt being thrown on our backs, even to the point of distress and a willingness to consider a return to Egypt, a return to the way we use to be.
Can we be real for a moment? Speaking for myself, I often find it quite easy to talk to others about their life changes. To encourage them in the opportunities that lie before them, even if it is a traumatic change, such as a serious illness, a major family move, or even a death of a family member or close friend. However, when the change is mine, if feels like I've fallen into a well, with every step in the process of change is like the shovel full of dirt beating me down. My first reaction is much like the Nation of Israel, despite all the blessings God has showered on me, I grumble. Yep, even though I made the choice, I grumble. It's not until I abandon myself to God's will that I am able to see the hope Paul witnesses too, that I am able to shake it off and step up.
It's all about how we face lives challenges and changes. If we face our problems and respond to them positively, refusing to give in to panic, bitterness, or self-pity we will be able to shake it off and step up, triumphantly.
Change can feel like falling into a well. What makes it more challenging for Moses is the people, even after witnessing the hand of God destroy their enemies, they begin to grumble against Moses. We're thirsty, a shovel full on the back. Why did you ever make us leave Egypt? Another shovel full on the back. Was it just to have us die here…with our children and livestock? Yet another shovel full on the back. Can you feel his anguish and concern, his feeling like he is being buried alive, as the cries out to the Lord?
Paul tells us, in our reading from Romans, that “hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” (Rom 5:5)
Life is full of challenges and change. All of us experience change in our lives. Change is the one constant in our lives. There are changes that we look forward to, that feeds our feelings of hope Paul talks about, and change that we fear, challenging any feeling of hope. One thing is for sure, things will not stay the same no matter how much we would like them too. When a life change occurs, we have two choices in how to respond. We can despair the change has come and assume the worst, or we can look with excitement at the new possibilities the change presents.[3]
Moses may have experienced anxiety with his life changes, yet he lifts his voice to God for direction. Paul, after getting knocked from his high horse, literally, learned to embrace his life change and became a passionate witness of a hope that does not disappoint. The woman at the well, inquisitively engages Jesus who be revealing his identity, change her communal status from outcast to a believable witness of hope.
For the Catechumen and those seeking full communion with the Church, at the Easter Vigil, it is any exciting time! Discovering the Messiah, like the woman at the well, their hearts on fire to witness to the joy and hope of the promises of an all loving and merciful God. For them and all of us that profess faith in the risen savior, there is a cost to this discipleship. Know this, to live the Good News will bring change, an interior and exterior change, change that can feel like shovel load after shovel load of dirt being thrown on our backs, even to the point of distress and a willingness to consider a return to Egypt, a return to the way we use to be.
Can we be real for a moment? Speaking for myself, I often find it quite easy to talk to others about their life changes. To encourage them in the opportunities that lie before them, even if it is a traumatic change, such as a serious illness, a major family move, or even a death of a family member or close friend. However, when the change is mine, if feels like I've fallen into a well, with every step in the process of change is like the shovel full of dirt beating me down. My first reaction is much like the Nation of Israel, despite all the blessings God has showered on me, I grumble. Yep, even though I made the choice, I grumble. It's not until I abandon myself to God's will that I am able to see the hope Paul witnesses too, that I am able to shake it off and step up.
It's all about how we face lives challenges and changes. If we face our problems and respond to them positively, refusing to give in to panic, bitterness, or self-pity we will be able to shake it off and step up, triumphantly.
[1] New
American Bible, Saint Joseph Edition.
© 1986. Scriptures: Exodus 17:3-7; Romans
5:1-2; 5-8; John 4:5-42.
[2] http://www.facebook.com/pg/IdeasForLife2016/videos/?ref=page internal "The farmer and the mule"
[3]
Source: Poetry about Change. http://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poems/life/change/
© 2006 - 2017.
