Wednesday, 13 November 2013

Finding my own sycamore

I meant to write about this about like 2 Sundays ago, after the sermon about Zacheus was read in the church. I proclaimed the second reading (6:30am) and that is always a cool experience for me. So in the sermon the priest asked us to find our own sycamore trees, just like the one Zach found just to see the face of Jesus. Your own tree could be the church you attend, the sacraments, our virgin mother, charity work, what ever it is that leads you to find the face of Jesus is your own sycamore tree. It dawned on me how much Zach or how hard it must have been for him to climb that tree. When we hear Zachus climbed a tree we often take it at face value. Okay a guy climbed a tree, so what? But thinking deeper it occurred to me how stupid the act must have been, he was the chief tax collector and a wealthy man(so in other words a big guy, i'll liken him to our present day politicians). He was short in statue, so am presuming like all the other short guys I know he had an ego the size of a water melon, and still he did this thing that seems so stupid and degrading, climbing a tree. As a safety professional,"winks" I can not but tell you that his act was also very unsafe, there were so many hazards, what if the branch gave way(falling hazard), he had no harness or any other safety equipment(no PPE), what if he slipped(slip hazard), what if there were ants on the tree? He still went ahead and did this very unsafe act, he climbed a tree. What if Jesus passed another way or what if Jesus did not even looking up sef, I mean there were people all around him he could have easily passed by without looking up and thus his mission would have been in vain, but still he took the risk and he climbed the tree. Who knows how long he had to wait on the tree before Jesus passed hanging from a branch patiently waiting(it was definitely an uncomfortable wait), he didn't know how long it would take(my presumptions oh) still he did the silly thing and he climbed the tree. My lesson from this verse, a story I had heard all my life, year in year out, had never been so profound as it was today for me. It was clear that to seek the face of Jesus, you had to do that thing which was not very cool, maybe leave a hangout for evening mass, or spend longer hours in church, i also think it would most likely be different for everyone. we would have to darn all the consequences and do that thing which we feel is right, we would have to be patient, we would have to also be creative, we would have to know that shame did not have any part to play in this game. Go all out, find your own sycamore tree and climb it. Maybe Zach did not have to wait that long on his own, maybe we might have to. So exercise patience whilst on the tree. Am sure that Jesus would pass and Jesus would look up. The rewards were big for Zach, Jesus was his guest, that is big, the son of God in ordinary me's house, in my heart, that is big.The reward would definitely be big for us too. A tot occurred to me how about all the others who did not have to climb the tree after all there were those on the ground with Jesus, yeah that's true, and maybe he did touch all their life's and healed them, but it was only Zach that got the pleasure of having the Lord in his home. So big rewards for big risks I found my own tree, the catholic church is my own tree. Its actually quite an attractive tree as it is strong and sturdy, and has branches, strong branches all leading to the face of Jesus. The branches are not only the different parishes but also the sacraments, our mother, the saints, the holy Eucharist,it is hard to understand for those who do not know what all these things mean,but the beauty and peace the forgiveness of sins, its absolutly amazing. I have nothing against any other denomination(except the criminal ones) but i think this is just a richer bouquet, the other Christians hold on to the bible that's all they have, i feel sad for them sometimes cause they do not know what they are missing.