Cloister thoughts...

Henry Morgan, a comedian and radio entertainer in George Burns and Jack Benny’s day, could never refrain from the fast quip. He had been sponsored by Schick Injector Razor for several years. Since entertainers not only did their shows but also advertised their sponsoring products, he often found himself using the slogan of the Schick Injector Razor, “Click, click, push, push,” to indicate the ease of replacing the blade.

On one radio show, he was doing the commercial, lauding the excellence of Schick. Carried away by his own fast wit, he found himself saying, “All you have to do with this remarkable razor is click, click, push, push …. OUCH!” The very next day, sales began to plummet and, by week’s end, Schick withdrew as the show’s sponsor.

How many times have we wished to withdraw the hastily spoken word? How many times have we wished we were given a second chance in what we said or the expression we used or the action we did?

In Luke’s gospel, the writer shares the parable of the fig tree. In the barren, rocky ground of Galilee, whatever grew – whether apple trees or fig trees – could not be allowed simply to take from the soil. Anything that grew there had to provide something in return. There is more than a lesson in patience here. We are the fig trees. If we are useless, if we do not give as well as get, then we are inviting disaster.

Over and over, Jesus stressed the need to serve. His words were, “I have come, not to be served but to serve.” Truth still remains: It is more blessed to give than to receive. Sharing with others is essential to our happiness and peace. Possessiveness and self-centeredness result in our withering spiritually, psychologically, even intellectually. Humans who are created in the image of God, who is love, reach their full stature only when they give themselves in love.

Where is our hope in accomplishing this reformation? We come to this last week of January – surely, we have had innumerable “second chances.” At the very point when we lose hope in our own power to change and lose hope in the power of others to change us, then we become malleable in the hands of God. God can and will change us. Like a loving parent who watches a little son or daughter struggle again and again to accomplish some task, God waits for us to recognize the divine power that can bring us to new life.

We are to be builders of the kingdom, not mere receivers of what others have produced. We are inspired to leave something behind us in this world, not just leftovers. For those of us who are parents, we may leave children imbued with the same spirit of self-sacrificing service that they experience in our example. Some may leave acts of kindness that make the way easier for others to follow. Those who can only suffer may leave the example of pain bravely born in trusting surrender.

Abraham Lincoln said, “Die when I may, I want it said of me that I plucked a weed and

planted a flower whenever I thought a flower would grow.” We, too, are to plant those flowers – deeds done, not for ourselves only, but for others; responsibilities borne for those who will come after us. Every day of our lives is a second chance given us by the owner of the vineyard, the Lord of heaven and earth.

Do not miss the opportunity that is ours this very day to become all that God has called us to be – for others – so that we are more and more for God. Seize the second chances of living.