on the camel's back

Ezekiel 28:1-10; Psalm It is I who deal deatha nd give life; Matthew 19:22-30

Here is a quote from G.K. Chesterton on the necessity of humility...

"Hence it became evident that if a man would make his world large, he must always be making himself small. Even the haughty visions, the tall cities, and the toppling pinnacles are the creations of humility. Giants that tread down forest like grass are the creations of humility. Towers that vanish upwards above the loneliest star are the creations of humility. For towers are not tall unless we look up at them; and giants are not giants unless they are larger than we. All this gigantesque imagination, which is, perhaps, the mightiest of the pleasures of man, is at bottom entirely humble. It is impossible without humility to enjoy anything-even pride."


Jesus in the gospel reminds us that it is "easier for a a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God."

The rich are those whose world has become small, for everything is at there finger tips for the taking, and thus they have become bigger than life. It is this largness in their own estimation that in fact destroys them in the end. They have forgotten what it means to be small, to be amazed at the grandeur of life. They have been swept away by their own means of achievment and thus have have forgotten what it means to be dependent, to simply put, to look up.

Jesus invites us to become small, to be amazed by the wonder of it all. He invites us to never imagine ourselves bigger than life but to realize that life is really that large. He wants us to tremble at the vastness of the sea, the height of the mountains, the strangeness of the desert; he wants us to tremble at the beating of our hearts, the warmth of another's touch, the beauty of our psyche, the agility in our toes and the dexterity in our fingers; he wants us to look into a mirror and be in awe of such a gift that comes from another, that which we are never responsible for creating but only responsible for accepting as a gift from another.

Only then can we truly give it away. "For every one who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for the sake of my name will receive..."

Smallness is necessary for us to realize just how big it all is; it is necessary so that we can begin to truly understand the words of the responsorial psalm, "It is I who deal death and give life."

In our smallness we can recognize the largness of God who loves us into existence, sustains us in life, and seeks to bring us home.

It is smallness that enables us to ride on the camel's back through the needle's eye into the Kingdom of God, not slouched in fear but riding erect with our heads held high, looking upward all the while..