Driving to the parish this last week, I was listening to a talk radio program where they were discussing the pedestrian crossing lights on the crosswalks in Boston. Now I do not consider myself a stupid person but I just learned that they do not work. By this, I mean they are all on an automated timer, so even though we press the buttons and wait for the light to change, they are all on a timed cycle controlled by a computer somewhere in the sky. Our button pressing is just an exercise in futility.

For years, decades in fact, I have been pressing these buttons expecting to influence them, i.e., make the crossing happen, yet most of them are placebos: there to placate me into being a good citizen. Apparently 30% of elevators are also programmed accordingly, so the next time it takes forever for the elevator door to close, don’t be surprised.

So, we are doing something which has the appearance of being compliant with the law, that is, not jaywalking into the intersection. We wait patiently for our reward for doing what is expected of us, and then respond to the call to walk when it comes … to walk now. As I am listening to this program, I stop at a red light in Winchester, and witness a cyclist do exactly what is being described on the radio, as if God needs to give me an example of how this works in real time. I am still somewhat amazed at my own gullibility, but now I see a young girl with her bike doing the same. I wonder if she knows. No … she doesn’t.

Perhaps some of my own behaviors are also like this Boston crossing. Have I already made the decision about how I want to have someone react to me, or treat me, and want everyone to do the same? This is the essence of respect, something which we earn and are not given automatically. When someone finds us doing the same thing, expecting respect but not doing anything to deserve it , does it have the same effect? Do we have our own “fake crossings” in our life where we ask others to wait for us, be courteous or patient?

I guess I do.

Now how do I change them without admitting I have been trying to fool others for years?

 

An Unnecessary Gate

 

Have you ever had that feeling for someone, or a group which was so strong you felt like family? Even more so; you are interconnected in some way words cannot possibly express. The ebb and flow of life which places us in each other’s path sometimes creates strange bedfellows. You enter a new place with expectations and hopes, or perhaps even trepidation, and then you see how it all pans out.

I have just finished my three years of academics at Catholic University, traveling with eight other souls on my journey. Everyone, well most everyone, was nervous to begin. Am I capable of this level of study or rigor? Am I going to look stupid? Am I going to fail? All questions we have, in the end, to put at the back of our minds and trust in God. A God who brought us to this place together.

From that first day of web based introductions I tried to situate their ministries. Open air Masses in Nigeria, the rector at the Seminary, the pilgrim leader bringing a flock to Israel, the catechist struggling to communicate the love of God through a fog of media misinformation. These now, are all my friends on this journey of a lifetime. A journey seeking the truth, which remains, as always, a pillar upon which we all can rest.

What are those moments in your life? Let us rest a moment on the pillar of interconnected love. And bask in His grace.

The Stub

 

Visible on the path,

The tree stub of my presence remains,

Like a mile marker on a journey,

When once they sheltered under my branches,

And now they walk by,

Wondering why this vestige has not been removed.

 

Not knowing what sort of tree grew here.

 

© 2017 Michael J. Cunningham