A well-to-do family built a huge home next to the Amish community in Indiana. The Amish were standing there looking on in astonishment as the movers were unloading the snow mobiles, jet skis and the Jacuzzi.
Out of neighborliness, an Amish man stepped forward and said to the new neighbor moving in: “Look, if you ever have trouble with these, I’ll be glad to help you out.”
“Oh,” said the new neighbor, “Thank you. Do you really know how to fix these things?” “No,” said the Amish neighbor, “but we can teach you how to live without them.” Talk about people seeing some of the things in life in two completely different ways!
In today’s short Gospel (Mark 1:14-20), Jesus tells us that the Kingdom of God is at hand. We need to listen to these words of Jesus because with all that modern technology offers us, we become distracted and also insulated from the things that really matter in life. No wonder Jesus shouts out so loudly: “Repent, and believe in the gospel.”
During this last year of the pandemic, what are some of the things that YOU have learned to live without? What are some of the things that YOU have discovered you really did not need to have in your life?
DEAR GOD, IF I CAN’T HAVE WHAT I WANT, CAN YOU PLEASE MAKE ME WANT WHAT I HAVE?
