Mother Martha's Monday Meditation

After his baptism, Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. Luke 4:1

Every Lent, we go into the wilderness with Jesus. We see Satan tempting Jesus with bread to satisfy his hunger and with worldly power to satisfy his need for recognition and external affirmation. We all can relate to these temptations. For most Americans, we are tempted not with physical hunger, but with filling our inner soul hunger with more food than we need. I'm having a bad day, so Super Size that please! We are also tempted by the perks of the power of modern culture--always being plugged in and on line--as if the world couldn't go on without us. We are all tempted by the latest fad. If it's not the new brand or model of tennis or basketball shoes, it's the latest upgrade to our favorite technology. Who is longing for that Blackberry or the new Apple phone coming June 2007 (Hello)? If we just get that new job or promotion, we will finally feel at peace. Satan knows that these temptations are very real for us humans. But Satan reserves the real temptation zinger for last. He defies Jesus to prove he is immortal--that he can outlast even death. The third temptation trumps the first two--although hunger and pride are easy distraction for our number one human fear--we are mortal. We will die.

As Episcopalians, our liturgy and church year make sure that we don't forget that number one fear. On Ash Wednesday, we hear the words "You are dust, and to dust you shall return." This is an essential reminder for all of us. For it is so very easy for each of us to convince ourselves that we can go on forever--no matter what we do. On Ash Wednesday, I told the following story found in Allegany Magazine ( Feb/March, p. 78) by Carla Zimmerly about marbles:

A few weeks ago, I was shuffling toward the basement with a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and the morning paper in the other. I turned the dial up into the phone portion of the band on my ham radio in order to listen to a Saturday morning swap meet. Along the way, I came across an older sounding chap, with a tremendous signal and golden voice. He was telling whomever it was he was talking to about a "thousand marbles." I was intrigued and stopped to listen to what he had to say.

"Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you're busy with your job. I am sure they pay you well but it's a shame you have to be away from home and your family so much. Hard to believe a young fellow should have to work 60 to 70 hours a week to make ends meet. Too bad you missed your daughter's dance recital."

He continued, "Let me tell you something, Tom, something that has helped me keep a good perspectives on my own priorities." And that is when he began to explain his theory of a "thousand marbles."

"You see, one day I sat down and did a little arithmetic. The average person lives about 75 years. I know, some people live more and some live less but on average, folks live about 75 years. Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3,900 which is the number of Saturdays that the average person has in a lifetime...Now stick with me, Tom. It took me until I was 55 to think about this in any detail. And by that time, I had lived over 2800 Saturdays and I got to thinking that if I lived to be 75, I only had about a thousand of them left to enjoy. So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble they had. I ended up having to visit three toy stores to round up 1000 marbles. I took them home and put them inside of a large, clear plastic container and put them right where I could see them everyday.

"Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out of the container and thrown it away. I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused more on the really important things in life. There is nothing like watching your time here on earth run out to help you get your priorities straight."

Lent is like a jar of 40 marbles--once we hear again those words on Ash Wednesday--that we are dust and to dust we shall return--we are called to spend our Lenten days looking to get our priorities straight. As Christians, that includes asking if we are living a life following Jesus. Or are we following someone or something else?

Text: Luke 4:1-13

Pondering: How are you tempted? Where do you avoid your own mortality? What could be your equivalent of a 1000 marbles?
See Past Meditations

In Christ,

The Rev. Martha N. Macgill
Memorial Episcopal Church

email: news@memorialepiscopal.org
phone: 410-669-0220

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