Among the great questions of life in
modern America, When will it get here?
is right up there with Are we there yet?.
My 11-year-old niece quickly already
had a list of things she wanted when she received the Amazon gift card I sent for
her birthday. She immediately ordered
earrings, an egg cooker, and a book (the last meeting my own stipulated criterion
for the use of the gift). My sister
informed me that the morning after she placed her order, she began to pace, check
the windows, and stalk the UPS man, asking often, When will it get here?
This comes to mind because I just
checked the web to learn the progress of several packages that I had
ordered. Yes, I am one of those people
who orders even the simplest of household goods online. Shampoo, socks, and vitamin pills all come in
brown boxes; kitchen tools and catechetical books alike arrive at the door,
often eagerly anticipated.
Just like any American kid who could
sleep until noon any day of the year except Christmas, once I have ordered
something, I can’t wait until it gets here.
So the Track your package
option is my favorite on numerous websites.
Arrived at facility; departed
facility; arrived at facility; out for delivery. Oh Boy!
Even the US Postal Service finally has brought its system up to speed
with updates at every step, which is a big improvement over before, when they only
let you know that the package had been mailed, and not much else until it had
been delivered.
So, just now as I checked the progress
of another package (right after I checked on the progress of the impending
winter storm), I wondered to myself: What
if we could track everything that we have coming? How interested would we be? What if
we could track what we have coming from God?
We know that God is a God of mercy,
eager to sustain and help us. So looking
for that grace and sustenance to come would be most rewarding. But we also know that God is a God of
justice, and as such will not alter the basic content of our own choices and
actions, but will allow their consequences to reverberate into eternity unless
we actively seek his remediation.
So if we could log on and check our
account and see what grace, mercy, and peace were coming our way, we might have
fortitude and perseverance no matter what difficulties we faced. On the other hand, if we could see the
scheduled deliveries of the results of our every selfish action. I think that, too, might have a salutary
effect on our dispositions as well as our actions.
But if we had access to an accurate
answer to the question, When will it get
here, we might just be inclined
to postpone doing anything to revise our orders, so to speak – to change our
actions better to conform to the eventual results and delivery we desire. Maybe that is why Jesus explicitly declined
to reveal the day of delivery.
When it comes to everything that God
has in store for us, it is important that we remember, You know not the day, nor the hour.
So the question about which we should be busying ourselves is not When will it get here? but What will we have coming?
Monsignor Smith
