Sunday of the Second Week of Advent Dec. 10

Sunday of the Second Week of Advent
December 10th, 2006
"The rough ways made smooth"
Luke 3:6

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Do we make the rough ways in our lives truly smooth or do we just smooth over the rough ways? In other words, do we honestly come before God with our problems and give him full permission to heal and make us whole or do we not deal with what is truly going on and just try to smooth things over without divine help?



Growing up there was a ditty we used to chant, “Ring around the rosy. Pocket full of posies. Ashes, ashes, all fall down!” There is a dark meaning to this rather cheery tune and game. It is about the Black Death of the fourteenth century. The sign of this horrible disease was a black ring rash around a red spot. Hence, “Ring around the rosy.” People would carry flowers that would act as a fragrance to fight against the terrible stench of death and decaying bodies and so we have the line, ‘”Pocket full of posies.” “Ashes, ashes, all fall down” refers to that fact that the Black Death wiped out one-fourth of the population of Europe. It was a horrible time as every family had a death. “Ring around the Rosy” was a chant and game that was used to smooth over by covering up the roughness of the Black Death.



But Christianity is about facing the rough ways, feeling them, and inviting God into them to give us healing and wholeness. In direct opposition to the intent of “Ring around the Rosy”, Christianity is not about smoothing things over by covering them up. No, it is about total exposure and honesty with all that is rough in our lives. We know that we have to suffer and die before we go to heaven. The ideal we should push each other towards is to come before the Lord and say, “Here is all my roughness. Please make is smooth.”



There is an interesting physiological fact about our tear ducts. Crying helps to cleanse them and we can actually see better after we have cried than before. This analogy can be applied to our relationship with God. We can see better after we have cried with him over all the rough ways in our lives. Sisters and brothers, we need to learn how to cry!



Have you made the rough ways truly smooth by inviting the Lord into it all or have you just tried to smooth over the rough ways by covering them up and not dealing with them?



Love is spelled T-I-M-E,

Fr. John