Nov 23 2024 4 mins 1
In our Gospel this morning, Jesus tells us to take the log out of our own eye before looking at the speck in our neighbor’s eye. We have all sorts of expressions that get at a similar meaning. Focus on yourself. Stay in your own lane. Mind your own business. Keep your side of the street clean…my personal favorite is put on your own oxygen mask before helping others.
What’s amazing about these expressions is you could probably say them to anyone, at any age, anywhere on earth and people would understand what you mean. These are timeless truths and make common sense, yet personally I fail at following them all the time.
One of the great paradoxes of human nature is that we can think about ourselves all the time and still have the energy to obsess over other people. This is especially true when we obsess over the faults of other people – their mistakes, their shortcomings, their annoying habits, and so on. We can talk at length about how other people are driving us crazy, yet when it comes to opening up about our own soul, that takes work.
Every year on this day, when we celebrate Saint Clement of Rome, I take some time to pray with the image of Saint Clemont’s cross. The cross named after him is shaped like an anchor, it is also known as mariner’s cross. Saint Clement was supposedly martyred by having an anchor tied to him and then thrown overboard. I think with his style of cross, Saint Clement got the last laugh on his murderers.
I find great comfort in praying with this image of an anchor. I try to imagine my own heart being an anchor of forgiveness and compassion. I try to imagine with an anchor like that, could I be still and let God do God’s work on other people without my input? Could I simply focus on my own boat and allow the winds to drive others where they may?
Of course this does not mean we will not bump up against other people. The lives of saints did not exist in a vacuum and neither do we. Like it or not, we all live together. Our lives are are a day-to-day balancing act between focusing on our own selves and working on our relationships with others. If we sway too far to either side, we are in danger of drowning in ourselves or drowning in the lives of others.
Above all else, anchor yourself in God. Keep God as the refrain in all your relationships. Let the Holy Spirit guide you in all that you do.
