Dear
Friends,
Jesus often
tells us a great deal in the space of a few lines. In Mark 3, he says "No one
can make his way into a strong man’s house and steal from him unless he has
bound the strong man first.” Who are the
strong man and the thief? One commentator suggests that the strong man is any
oppressive institution, civic or religious, that prevents individuals or
communities from living with dignity – their human rights respected. The thief
is the group or individual or movement that says no to the strong man, and
finds ways to bind the strong man so that the people can go free.
When our
service personnel go to far distant lands to bind the strong man, the intent is
that that the people held in ideological bondage can be free. It is not easy
and it doesn’t always work. The true gift is in the effort that our military
make, sometimes even sacrificing their own lives.
This week,
Americans honor with respect and thanks, the men and women who have served in the
military. We call them veterans, a word that means experienced in service.
Honor flights have become symbolic of the thanks of a nation, and a model for
young children to learn and grow into in their civic lives. Early in their
service, today’s veterans had bound
themselves to protect and defend our nation.
The generous
binding of veterans makes me think about all the ways we bind ourselves or are
bound to someone, something, some cause, some value. Here’s the stretch from Veterans’ Day into our own lives, for veterans remind us to
be faithful to those realities to which we are bound: wives and husbands, priests and
members of religious orders, professionals in the face of the duties of their office,
members of reform groups and resistance groups. Other groups, making their way
to a goal bind themselves to each other, for example, mountain climbers are
tethered to people above and below them. Pre-school children, shepherded by vigilant teachers,
are bound together as they walk down the street.
Being bound
is often but not always a good thing. Being bound to a destructive idea or
practice can lead to our diminishment. Sometimes, we bind others by not
forgiving them the wrongs – real or imagined- they have done. We freeze them
into a moment of time when they did something mean or stupid or compromising
and we’ve never let them forget it or grow beyond it. Sometimes we bind
ourselves by not forgiving ourselves.
Binding and
loosening from bonds are part of the stuff of human life . In themselves, veterans
are to be honored. Thinking of their service leads us to think of the many bindings
and loosenings of our own lives. An additional cause for offering veterans
thanks this week!
~Sister Joan Sobala
