Eddie Haskell was a sneaky little rat, a two-faced suck-up,
and a tinpot bully. A punk who stirred
up trouble; and we loved him for it.
The brilliance of Eddie — an indelible character in the long
running sitcom “Leave It to Beaver” — lay in the way he differed from virtually
any other child or teen characters on TV: He was a bad kid, with little effort
made to redeem or rehabilitate him.
Ingeniously portrayed by the actor Ken Osmond, who recently
passed at the age of 76. Eddie was as
much a metaphor as a supporting character on a gentle family series. He
embodied the kind of personality that people first encounter on the playground
but then again throughout adulthood: the servile work colleague, the
backstabbing boyfriend, and/or the unctuous politician. Real life has a lot of Eddie Haskells.[1]
Paul has been the heart and soul of the Christian community in
Ephesus for the past three years. Now
they are grief-stricken that he is leaving them, particularly as he extends a
rather dire warning: “I know that after my departure Eddie Haskells will come. I mean, savage wolves will come among you, and they will not spare the flock.” Many times, in the Gospels we hear the
commands, “Be vigilant” and “Stay awake.”
For the Ephesians, this has never been truer as Paul prepares to depart
from them.
Paul leaves the disciples with this prescription for what
they must do next: “[W]e must help the weak, and keep in mind the words of the
Lord Jesus who himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” The disciples, we, must genuinely attend to
the physical needs of those who are weak, those who have less, care for the
poor, the sick, and the disenfranchised.
Not because the Father is watching, but because of the Word we have
received. This is the real challenge, to
give of ourselves, to lift up the weak, and empower them with the love of Jesus
Christ, we first received. It is often easy
to give money to those in need; it is harder to give of ourselves, our time,
our talents, our love and compassion.[2]
Osmond would later repeat his role as Eddie Haskell in a
Disney Channel sequel of his old show, “The New Leave It to Beaver,” where Eddie
had grown up to become a shady contractor, which felt just right. The jerk lives on. So, we too, must “Be vigilant” and “Stay
awake” as we too are the poor and the weak. Our needs may not be as obvious, but all the
same vulnerable to the Eddie Haskell’s of the world, as we share in the humanity
of all God’s children. Our best gift to
others is the gift of ourselves united to Christ Jesus who loves us
unconditionally.
[1] The
Washington Post. “The brilliant, subversive
jerkiness of Eddie Haskell” by Paul Farhi, May 19, 2020.
[2] Weekday
HomilyHelps. Homily Suggestion by Mary Carol Kendzia.
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