When John heard in prison of the works of the Messiah, he sent his disciples to [Jesus] with the question, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” Jesus said to them in reply, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf here, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them. And blessed is the one who takes no offense at me.”   

“Staring at a maple leaf, leaning on the mother tree, I said to myself we all lost touch. Your favorite fruit is chocolate covered cherries and seedless watermelon. Nothing from the ground is good enough. Oh chariot, your golden waves are walking down upon this face. Oh chariot, I’m singing out loud to guide me. Give me your strength. You’ll be my vacation away from this place. You know what I want. Holding that cup, it’s pouring over the sides, make me wanna spread my arms and fly.” 

Gavin DeGraw presents an interesting scenario in his song “Chariot.” It is a song about getting away into the country. He begins it by singing, “Staring at a maple leaf, leaning on the mother tree, I said to myself we all lost touch.” We have lost touch in his opinion with the natural things—we look at fruit as chocolate covered cherries and we want watermelons that have no seeds. In fact, nothing from the ground is good enough. And so, he begs his chariot, his vehicle, to allow the golden waves of the sun to walk over his face as he rides that chariot into a promised land, the country, where he’ll spend his vacation and give him the freedom he needs.

One of the unfortunate facts of life is that sometimes we lose touch with what is really important in life. It was true even as Jesus walked this earth. John the Baptist wondered about this man because he did not understand some things that he was doing and saying. In a real sense, he was losing touch with him. And so, he asked his direct question: “Are you the one?” Or in the words of Gavin DeGraw’s song: am I losing touch with what you consider to be important?

Ultimately, the message of Jesus is the one that Jesus told John’s messengers: mercy and compassion in the midst of a very complicated world—that is what is important. If we are to stay in touch with what Jesus wanted, indeed with what is really important, we should be interested in doing pretty much the same.

Gavin DeGraw's wish in his song "Chariot" is to keep in touch with nature, and by extension, with what is really important in life. Jesus tells us the same thing by defining "what is really important" to be the mercy and compassion that he wanted everyone to show.                      

THOUGHT
 
PRAYER

Good and gracious God, your Son kept in touch with what was really important in his world by taking care of people, helping them, directing them, teaching them. Help us keep in touch with what is important by living lives that reach out to others in need. Be with us, we pray.

Questions, comments? Let me know. Email Fr. Mike

©2007 Capuchin Province of Mid-America
Fr. Mike Scully is a member of the Capuchin Province of Mid-America