Recently, I have been participating as a parent guide at the school robotics club with my 3rd grade daughter and some of her classmates.  At the first meeting, the six industrious, determined, independent, and experienced Lego-building children spent the majority of the time on their own agendas.  Two were growing a bit impatient over taking turns while they practiced with the remote control moving around the robot vehicle.  Three others had started tinkering with little plastic pieces and building potential attachments to the basic vehicle without knowing which attachments they would actually need to build.  Another one started opening small plastic packages of pieces, eager to explore what he found in the large bin full of building supplies.  

Despite reminders, these six young and inexperienced third graders struggled with the important components, or the main areas of focus for the robotics club, of identifying a problem that they would like to solve, brainstorming and listening to each other, and working collaboratively together to solve the problem(s) or hurdle.  

Though they likely needed a little more direction and maturity, they were not acting too differently compared to adults who sometimes (often times) prioritize their own agenda.  I know I am guilty of that!  

One of the parent leaders assured me the team dynamics would get better and they would resist their unconscious preferences to work alone.  Sure enough, as time went on, they resisted the temptation to jump in and work on their own ideas alone.  It was a new way of operating.  They began taking turns talking and listening, asked questions and affirmed each other’s ideas, which in turn invited deeper collaboration and a more successful robotics creation to accomplish the robotics tasks at hand.  I would guess that they also felt affirmed and valued in this true group collaboration rather than the fleeting satisfaction of creating something on their own (that may have ultimately been inadequate).

How often do we chose our own way, without paying attention to the sometimes subtle voice of the Spirit in our hearts?  Decisively persevering with our own desires and priorities without care for another’s well-being or what is good for everyone?  How often have we ignored or brushed off the Spirit acting and moving in our hearts, and in our experiences?  

I have been reflecting on these innocent third graders and the beginning of our Lenten season.  I have hope that these students, in upcoming meetings, will continue to come together to listen and pay attention to each other’s ideas, to the spirit, (or Spirit), moving in their group members and the process of collaboratively building an effective robot.  We often set out with our own priorities and agendas, the way the Ninevites did prior to the process of repenting in our first reading.   Thanks to Jonah’s convincing prophetic voice, they changed their hearts and sought to live in way that involved relying on God and adjusting their selfish agendas.

Jesus, in the Gospel, cautions us against looking for false signs that might lead us in towards wrong directions or in pursuit of something other than closeness and companionship with him.  God’s hope and care for us is evident in the persistence and encouragement of Jonah (and giving him another chance) and even more so, now, in the person of Jesus. God and Jesus are constantly working in our lives and among our experiences, breaking into our lives.  Pursuing our own agenda may lead to increased convenience, a stronger reputation, or fuel for an unhealthy habit.  Or we may just be guilty of being unaware of the ways God is trying to speak to us.

Maybe this Lent we can ask God for awareness of Christ’s presence and the Holy Spirit’s urging, in our daily lives.  Maybe we can slow down and seek to listen a bit more closely to God’s voice in our hearts, in our experiences, urging us out of our selfish ways.  Maybe it means recommitting to a Lenten practice we attempted last week; maybe it means just carving out some silence to listen and reflect on our day with God, through the Ignatian Examen prayer. 

Like the Ninevites , there is great potential for us to listen for God’s voice and change our hearts to be more in sync with God’s hopes for us.  Changing our hearts might likely lead us out of our selfish agendas like the third grade robotics club participants.  And, like the third graders who learned to collaborate more with those around them, listening to God’s voice may invite us to prioritize our neighbors, or even (and especially) those on the margins. That will likely lead us to care for and lift each other up, an urging that so often comes from God. 

Wishing us all continued and deepening closeness to Christ these Lenten days.