BE AHEAD OF YOUR CURSOR

 

BE AHEAD OF YOUR CURSOR

The cursor is that little arrow that tells you where you are when you are typing. It is like a sign post, a familiar land mark, giving a sense of security! We like security. We like to know where we are; how things work; where we will find what we need for our health, our children, our old age. It is all understandable, natural and to be expected.

Yet, if we are not wary, it leaves out one aspect which we know is life-giving: surprise. Surprise covers the unexpected, the unplanned, the mysterious. Arthur Rubinstein was one of the greatest musicians of his age. He lived music from the age of two! His talent was extraordinary. In his early years he relied on his genius and felt little need to practice. Later he realised that even he was missing something by not doing the hard work of study and practice.

So he studied and discovered new horizons he had not known. But he said it was not good to practice too much. ‘In every concert I leave a lot to the moment. I must have the unexpected, the unforeseen. I want to risk, to dare. I want to be surprised by what comes out. I want to enjoy it more than the audience. That way the music can bloom anew.’

In Mark, chapter six, Jesus cures a deaf man. Everyone is astonished. But, as we know, it never stops there with the man being able to hear. There is another layer of meaning; hearing in the gospel means ‘being open’ – Mark gives us the Aramaic, Ephphatha – not just to words but to meanings beyond the words. This opening is to what is beyond our control, beyond our cursor. It is the world of surprise, of wonder, of mystery.

Lets remember! We live in a scientific, rational, age. Everything must be understood, controlled, studied until we solve the problem. Again, this is good and shows we are using all our efforts to make sense of our world. In my first days of learning Shona, I tried to engage an old man in conversation. I started, as one does, with the weather and expressed a hope for good rains. I always remember his response, kana Mwari achida. If God wills. I don’t blame the meteorologists for not bringing God into their forecasts. It’s not their job. And anyway, even the most spiritually minded of our scientists would be wary of saying anything about God’s influence on the weather.

But the invitation stands. With all our science, we are called to recognise the mystery of human life. It goes will beyond our science and signposts. The cursor’s job is limited. It doesn’t tell us the full story of where we are; it simply prepares us for wonder, for surprise – if we are open.                                                               8 Sept 2024         Sunday 23 B         Is 35:4-7                Jam 2:1-5      Mk 7:31-37