Sunday Reflection: 14th Sunday OT - Sometimes We Need a Top on the Shoulder

Sometimes We Need a Tap on the Shoulder

Ezekiel 2:2-5; Psalm 123:1,2,3,4; 2 Corinthians 12:7-10; Mark 6:1-6

Years ago, I worked with a second generation millwright. His father had been a millwright at the same plant.  

A millwright keeps the plant running smooth. He knows the machines; when they need maintenance, adjustment, or just a swift kick. The smallest sound the machine makes talks to him.

Over the years, the number of plants and employees continued to grow. Engineers and professionals were hired to maximize production and profit. I was the safety manager.

One day, I found the managers and engineers walking a dangerous path on the conveyor that fed the wood press; and, it was on. If someone fell, they could be pulled into the machine and killed.

I said, “Stop!” 

They said, “No! This was adjusting the machine. If it didn’t run correctly, the company could lose millions of dollars a day. If I didn’t like it, leave."  

The millwright tapped my shoulder, “I can fix it.”  

I said, “The engineers can’t fix it, how can you?”  

He simply said, “My job is fixing these machines. My father fixed these machines and taught me how. His best advice was read the operator’s instruction manual. They’re too smart to do that. The instructions explain that to fix this problem requires only adjustments at the control panel.”

He continued, “They think they’re smart; but, they haven’t read the instructions.”

For safety, I brought this to management’s attention. The response, “He’s a millwright. What does he know?”  I convinced them to read the instruction manual. The millwright’s wisdom fixed the machine.

We can be too smart for the truth. God called His people “hard headed and rebellious.”

We say, “Where did He get this wisdom?”

Not me, I’ll never ask that!!  

How many completely follow the instructions: love all our neighbors; never lie, covet, steal; honor our parents; love God with all we are? Or, do we make up our own rules - confession, anyone?

This is life! In it, we walk a path that can be dangerous. Our country and the world are led by people who walk this same path. Forgetting the instruction manual, we make up the rules to allow us on chosen path.

We stray from Jesus’ words. We ignore the path and argue with the guidance given to us by the Church. We forget the authority given to Peter and the apostles; through these comes the authority given the Church.

To justify straying from Christ and His Church, we can find reasons and justify them. We say its freedom, equality, and justice; but, these are found in our human thoughts and weaknesses. We forget true freedom, equality, and justice that God teaches through Christ and the Church.

There are no new paths. The way the path is presented and how we perceive is what’s new. We get excited and forget the instruction manual.

Where did He get that wisdom? Is He not the carpenter, the son of Mary?  Yes and He is the Word of God, the instruction manual. We profess that we believe in him. We come to the Eucharist to be one with Him.  

“A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and among his own kin and in his own house.” Many will walk out the door of His house and return to their life and walk a different path.

In this country, we are blessed with freedom to read the instruction manual. We need to read it; the experts need to read it. The instructions will help keep us safe.

It is in our weakness that we are strong.  Our everyday little things bring God to the world: our prayers, our words and actions, the sacraments. When we see things not exactly running right, maybe we need to be like the millwright. Tap someone on the shoulder and say “I’ve read the instructions, let me tell you about them.”