12th
Sunday in Ordinary Time
Cycle C
June 23, 2013 4:00pm,
5:30pm, 7:30am
Saint
Margaret Parish, Bel Air
The Laws of Checkers
One day
some young Jewish students were supposed to be studying the Torah.
As you
know, the Torah is the core religious law in the Hebrew Scriptures. Well, instead of studying, these students are
playing a game of checkers and unexpectedly, the rabbi walks into the study hall.
The
rabbi surprisingly just smiles and tells them not to be ashamed. He even says that they can always be studying
the law, wherever they find it, even in a game of checkers.
The
rabbi then goes on to tell the students the three laws or rules of
checkers. First, you must make only one
move at a time.
Second,
you must only move forward, not backward.
And third, when you reach the last row, then you may move in either
direction, forward or backward.
At
first, these students just stare at the rabbi, but eventually they realize that
the rules of checkers are really spiritual rules for life. Today Jesus offers us some rules and these parallel
the three rules of checkers.
Rule 1: One Move at a Time
Rule 1
in checkers says that we are to make only one move at a time.
Jesus
wants us to live with mindfulness, with an awareness of the here and now. And in that sense, he wants us to make only
one move at a time.
Jesus
doesn’t want us pulled in so many directions that we are not focused on what we
are doing or the person we are with right now.
This is one reason why he asks his disciples, “Who do you say that I am?”
Jesus
is interested in our individual experience of him. He wants us to live with a sense of God and
an awareness of him.
Jesus
wants us to do whatever we are doing right now with an awareness of who he is
and of what God is calling us to be. He
wants us, in this way, to live with mindfulness and make only one move at a
time.
Rule 2: Move Only Forward
Rule 2 in checkers says that we are to move forward, not
backward.
Jesus calls us to move forward in the sense of making sure
that everything we do leads us to God.
This is what he means when he calls us to “take up our cross and
follow him.”
“Taking up our cross” means that we make choices that
are consistent with Jesus’ teaching. As
you know, a cross is made up of two pieces of wood that intersect with one
another.
The cross stands for a crossroads and it means that we can
go one way or the other. It is a symbol
of decision.
So we might decide not to talk negatively about someone
who has offended us but instead to pray about the situation or talk through our
feelings directly with that person. This
is an example of deciding to move forward and grow closer to God.
Rule 3: Last/First Row
Finally,
Rule 3 in checkers says that when we reach the last row, we can move in either
direction, forward or backward.
It is
amazing how many of Jesus’ sayings speak of going to the last row. For example, “Deny yourself. Whoever lose their life for my sake will save
it. The last will be first.”
Jesus
is saying that giving of ourselves for him will sometimes make us last. This is why the last row is the most
important.
This
might simply mean that we spend some time with a neighbor who is grieving the
loss of her husband. Or it might mean that we volunteer some of our time to
teach religion to the children here at the parish.
The
result of doing these things is that we end up experiencing more and more of
that fulfillment or fullness of life that Jesus promises. It is like getting to the last row in
checkers where we will be free and fully alive.
Conclusion
So, the rules of the simple game of checkers help us to
appreciate some of Jesus’ rules on discipleship.
