As I read today’s verses, I was reminded of a time many years ago when I was learning to play golf. A good friend, a novice golfer, offered to teach me. I hit a few shots, and my friend told me, “Stop bending your elbow.” I wasn’t even aware I was bending my elbow, but I now concentrated on not bending it. However, now that I was thinking about my elbow, it became harder not to bend it. “You’re getting worse,” my friend told me. I finally got better with the elbow, but in the process I started doing something wrong with my shoulder. So, as I tried not to do the thing with my shoulder while still trying not to bend my elbow, I started doing something wrong with my hips or my knees, or something. My friend, trying to be helpful, kept pointing out what I was doing wrong. After a while, I could swing the club without doing the wrong things with my elbow, shoulder, hips and knees, but it was awkward, uncomfortable, not very effective, and not attractive to watch. It was clear that just because I was avoiding the wrong things did not mean that I was doing the right things.
One day soon after, I was “playing” a round of golf with another friend. He took one look at my swing and asked, “What are you doing?!” I explained what I was doing to keep from bending my elbow, etc., etc. He laughed, instructed me to forget about NOT doing things, and instead gave me positive suggestions. “Keep your eyes on the ball” replaced “don’t look up,” and so on. He also demonstrated a proper swing so I had something to emulate. Soon, with my focus no longer on what-not-to-do, my swing was more comfortable, I played better, and golf became fun.
In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus castigates the religious elite for emphasizing lesser commandments at the expense of the greatest commandments: to love God and neighbor. He chastises the rigid legalism of the scholars who “impose on people burdens hard to carry” – quite likely their strict rules – that made faith awkward, uncomfortable, ineffective and unattractive. Compare this to Matthew 11:28-30, where Jesus lightens our burdens and invites us to take his yoke so we can learn from him to love and trust God, and to extend God’s love to all, even our enemies and even ourselves.
Paul, as a young Pharisee before his conversion, would have been familiar with the rigid legalism that burdened individuals and their communities. So, after warning the Galatians about the sinful nature of works of the flesh, he quickly turns attention to the fruit of the Spirit. That is what we should desire. When we give ourselves over to the Spirit working in our lives, the burden of resisting the wrong things will be lessened as our self-control increases; and we and those we encounter will experience love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, and gentleness.
Loving God, keep us from the worldly temptations of the flesh and continue to work in us so that we become the people you want us to be, so that we individually and as a community bring your love to those we encounter. Holy Spirit, let your love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control flourish in us and flow through us to reach others.
David Crawford
I was Creighton’s University Archivist from January 2007 to April 2021, although as a faculty spouse I had been a part of the Creighton community since 1995. As University Archivist, I was responsible for archival, rare books and special collections, as well as for a Heritage Edition of The Saint John’s Bible on loan to Creighton. I left Creighton to assist others with historical, archival, cultural and various artistic projects.
I have been married to my wife, Sue, since 1990. We have two sons, one a graduate of Fordham and the other a graduate of University of Nebraska-Lincoln. I enjoy birdwatching, playing soccer, music and comedy.
The online Daily Reflections have been an important part of my faith journey for several years. I am excited and humbled by the opportunity to write these devotions.
