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September 8, 2019: Let Go/Monkey's hand in Pumpkin

This is a true story. A group of people in Africa had a problem with monkeys. They took a pumpkin [show a pumpkin] and cleaned it out. Filled it with peanuts. Sealed the top back on. Then cut a tiny hole in the pumkin which was just big enough for a monkey to squeeze its hand into it [Demonstrate with my hands]. Once the monkey had a fist full of peanuts, it couldn’t get its hand out of the coconut. All it would have to do is to let go of the coconuts and it would be free, but it never did. Monkeys were caught and released in a non-berry part of the jungle.

 

Many of us feel trapped, trapped in a boring job, trapped in a bad relationship, trapped in an awful addiction. Or we think that we can’t live without this item . . . this phone, this toy, this TV or computer. And Jesus is trying to wake us up, in the gospel, by telling us that nothing should come between us and God. Not a person, not a thing. .

 

And then he goes onto to use images of planning a building. It takes lots of work, planning, preparation. You see, we don’t simply fall into “right living,” it must be planned out. Most of the people who are healthy or happy, didn’t just stumble into it. It took lots of daily planning and focus, even lots of little letting goes.

 

I have often said, that for me to be happy on any given day, I need three things: good sleep, good exercise and good prayer. But those don’t just happen, I need to plan them out. Make time for them. I don’t just stumble upon them.

 

That is true for anyone who is successful at nearly anything . . . sports, business, relationships. Goodness doesn’t simply appear out of nowhere. No. It takes many hours of planning and practice. And even adhere to small boundaries so as to gain big rewards.

 

It’s the same with faith. One doesn’t simple wake up one morning and have a deep faith. No. It takes practice and work.   Like checking in with God. Like going to Reconciliation and addressing some of those nasty habits. Like showing up to church, not just once in a while, but on a regular basis. It takes time to get good at faith and trust in God. But we can always do it, we can always improve upon it.

 

Growth needs two things . . . planning and boundaries. With both we are closer to what Jesus means when he says to “carry the cross.” With both there are things that we need to let go of, things we need to focus on, little changes that we can make that set us up . . . to trust the good things will happen.

 

Those of you have successfully lost weight and kept it off, know this. There is no magic diet, but it takes daily adjustments, regular boundary setting so as to achieve long lasting goals.

 

Those of you in healthy relationships know this. There is no magic confession or soul-revealing story that automatically creates a healthy connection. No, it is daily humiliations, honest feedback and not pretending that lead people to fall deeper in love.

 

For you to become better, to become as God intends you to become, it is a daily dose of surrendering, or planning ahead. Each time you surrender, each time you trust the dying. Each time you set a boundary you can go deeper in the experience.

 

Jesus talks about “carrying the cross.” This accepting the limits of life and accepting that it takes work for good things to happen. Life is hard. But when we carry the cross and put in our time, we are opening ourselves to trust God and trust that our story doesn’t end on the cross . . . but ends with resurrection.

 

You decide not to push yourself to the front of the line & something much better happens in the back of the line.

You let go of your anger, and you find that you start feeling much happier.

You surrender your need to control your partner, and finally the relationship blossoms.

 

The greats saints were those who learned to let go, to trust doing the “right” small things (like carrying a cross) and not sure how things would work out . . . but they always did.

 

Father Richard Rohr writes, “Things change and grow by dying to their present state, but each time it is a risk. We always wonder, “Will it work this time?” To be alive means to surrender to this inevitable risk.

All of us have to eventually learn to let go of something smaller so that something bigger can happen. But that’s not just with religion—it is with all of life. It is the way reality works.”

 

So if you have plans for growth . . . maybe it is not so much what you start doing, but growth happens from what you stop doing.  

 

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