Just live, you have nothing to prove
Second Friday in Advent: December 14, 2018
Isaiah 48: 17-19; Matthew 11: 16-19
Living the Reign here and now is just living one's life! The world insists on proving yourself to everyone around and that is where all frustrations arise. Most of our happiness is short lived because much of it depends on whether or not others accept me, whether they affirm me or not, recognise me or not, appreciate me or not! Even if not dancing to the tunes of the others, we are most of the time conditioned by what the others say, what the others feel and how the others judge me. At times this goes to the extent that I forget to live my life, I live someone else's opinions and prejudices!We are given with a great gift, that is our life. And every one of us has come into this world with a purpose, however small or big you judge them to be. The Lord however has always a new insight into the entire journey. The more we consider people's opinion as leading criteria or directions to decision making, we cease to live our life.
The Lord bares the foolishness of this way of life as he says in the first reading today - that the Lord himself has taught us how to live and how not to. If we follow the precepts of the Lord, we would live an upright life and we would not need to cringe at anyone's feet! As the Word instructs today: the vindication shall be from none other than the Lord! All that we need to do is, as St. Paul would suggest in 2 Thes 3:12, just go on quietly doing your work and earning your living.
This is one of the hardly found Reign value among the so called people of the Reign...whether Christians or not, we are unduly conditioned by the opinions and judgments of the others. Would we dare grow out of it and begin to think only of living upright, knowing well that we have nothing to prove? All that we need to do is live in the presence of the Lord and when we do that we live the Reign already here and now!