Luke's gospel presents the life of Jesus as a long procession towards the city of Jerusalem. Jesus knew where he was going in life, according to Luke. Jerusalem was his destiny. Yet he was not so obsessed with the idea as to be blind to other places. On his way he found time for the people of the little towns and villages along the road.He had a clear sense of purpose. But that purpose had none of the anxiety of compulsion. Jesus could not be described as a driven man, or a workaholic. He lived in great freedom and gave primacy to whatever person he was addressing at that particular moment.
Jesus spoke of salvation as trying to enter by a narrow door. The image of the narrow door indicates the need for a clear sense of purpose and the disciplined commitment of moving towards it. It suggests taking responsibility for the direction of one's life rather that drifting along with the prevailing current or wind. It is hardly a compliment to be called narrow-minded, for it suggests the tunnel vision of the bigot who cannot see anything good beyond the scope of his own prejudices. Yet, in one sense, if we are to be effective or to achieve anything, it is essential to operate out of a narrow vision. We must focus in on our primary objective and consciously eliminate all other distractions. Like the good marksman, we must close one eye totally and narrow the vision of the other.
We live in an age that greatly favours broad-mindedness. But this is also an age when people are finding it very difficult to make a total commitment of life to any person or any cause. In England during the week the ten-yearly Report on Population, Censuses and Surveys was issued. The typical divorcing couple in 1993 would have been married ten years. 58% of all divorcing couples would have had children under 16 years. One in three marriages ended in divorce. We are open to such a wide variety of experiences and choices that the prevailing temptation is to want to keep all our options open. The trouble of total commitment is the pain of closing the door on other options.
So, the weakness of broad-mindedness comes from the wastage of energy which is scattered in too many directions. Dissipation is the inevitable result of the lack of clear purpose and definite commitment.
It is more than a mere coincidence that some hallmarks of this broad-minded age are boredom and depression. It has much to do with the absence of commitment to a clear purpose in life.Energy is plentiful where there is purpose. You see light in the eye and a bounce in the step of those who know where they are going.Yet too rigid a commitment breeds a joyless religion. And a joyless religion is the hallmark of bigotry, which knows much more about hatred than love.
The way of Jesus is the model. He firmly set his face towards Jerusalem. Yet he was sufficiently relaxed on the way to have time for all the other towns and villages. He feasted far more than he fasted, according to St. Luke. The fact that he was heading for a narrow door didn't prevent him from enjoying the odd good meal. Broad minded and narrow-minded people have a lot to learn from him.
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