I love to write late at night when the house is quiet. Often, I pushed deadlines to the wee hours. It drives my husband crazy when I have a big writing assignment due. My best thoughts come at the 11th hour as the saying goes. Here I am tonight, collecting thoughts about our son that have been taking up rent in my brain for years.
A few years ago, my son’s best friend’s brother died. The deceased was just two years his elder; all the boys went to school and church together. My son was the first person his friend called after he found his brother. That carries weight. It changes a person, I would think. Our son was wise beyond his years, thoughtful and compassionate beyond what I would expect any young teen to be.
We do not speak of it often. There is much said in the unsaid. But I know; and he knows I know. I have had a hard time forming the words of how overwhelmed I am; how honored I am that our son is that friend. And yet, it carries so much responsibility.
Eye of a Needle
Today’s Gospel is familiar to us. “It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of God.” My whole life, I have attributed this to material wealth. After recent events in my son’s life, I wonder if God has a broader meaning?
Could this apply to physical “wealth?” To intellectual “wealth?” Any kind of “wealth” that one takes for granted or uses against others?! I do not know.
The last line of the reading gives me confidence, though, for all those who are misunderstood or mistreated. “The first shall be last and the last shall be first.” God is not calculating GPA’s, our goals scored in games, or our service hours. He is looking at our hearts. He is calculating how well we loved the friend in need when his brother died.
