Monday of
the 3rd Week of Advent
December 15, 2014 8:30am
This morning I am taken with the
figure of Balaam in the first reading.
Balaam is regarded as a holy man
in Moab, an area east of the Jordan River.
The Israelites are encamped in
Moab, on their way to the Promised Land.
The Moabites are afraid that the
Israelites will attack them.
So they ask Balaam to utter a
curse against the Israelites.
They believe that if he utters a
curse, the Israelites will be defeated in battle.
Balaam speaks but instead of a
curse, he speaks of the goodness of Israel.
He too, like his fellow Moabites,
must have been afraid of the Israelites.
And he was also probably afraid
of what his own Moabites would do to him if he did not curse their enemies.
But, instead of bowing to fear
and becoming negative and destructive, Balaam remains tuned to God and speaks
in positive terms.
I see Balaam as one who lifts up
the good, even in the presence of evil.
What comes across in the passage
is that he is tuned to the Lord.
He says it so beautifully: “I hear what God says, I know what the Most
High knows, and I see what the Almighty sees.”
He knows that the best way to
further the presence and way of the Lord is to lift up where the Lord is
already present and exalt and enhance that, not to negatively harp on evil.
We can take a lesson from Balaam.
I think Balaam is a good example
for our society and our Church and maybe for all of us today.
Maybe it is a human tendency to
dwell on darkness or evil.
I wonder if this tendency itself
is part of the darkness.
Balaam reminds us that we need to
look at the light and lift up the good.
It is far better and far more
effective to lift up the presence of God where we see it and highlight what is
good and build on that!
Maybe that for some reason is more
difficult to do, but it is what I believe we are to do.
This is, I believe, is how the kingdom will really
come
