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[After
Jesus' death,] when it was evening, there came a rich man from
Arimathea named Joseph, who was himself a disciple of Jesus. He
went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus; then Pilate ordered it
to be handed over. Taking the body, Joseph wrapped it in clean
linen and laid it in his new tomb that he had hewn in the rock.
Then he rolled a huge stone across the entrance to the tomb and
departed.
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Daughtry’s song
"It's Not Over" is a song that sings of a specific pattern of behavior. The pattern is one in which the man
in the relationship has not done very well in his past dealings with
his
girlfriend, and so she leaves—"You’ve taken away
everything,” he sings, “and I can’t
deal with that." And so he does what he
should, singing, "Well, I’ll try to do it right this time around. Let’s start over. It’s
not over. You’re the only one. My life with you means everything, so I won’t
give up that easily. Can we make this
something
good?" The "something good" might be described
this way: he must
determine what his particular problem is, and then change. In
the song he seems to do it, but only time
will tell, because the pattern will repeat itself, and then he and she
will see
whether he will do things that are, as he describes it, "right, this
time around."
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The
thought of "doing things right this time around" is not only a
thought reserved to making amends in a romantic love situation as in
Daughtry's song. It is also a statement of purpose made in order
to change some things in a person's life. Take, for example, the
person known in the Scriptures as Joseph of Arimathea. We know
that he was a wealthy man and had some influence in the Hebrew
religious leadership since according to the Scriptures, he was a member
of the Sanhedrin. Studying his action of courageously requesting
the body of Jesus when he would surely be ridiculed by his fellow
Hebrew leaders and then placing it in his own tomb, one can sense that
he wanted to make Jesus part of his own family. It was an
action of service, saying, in effect, that he was changing his life, so
that "this time around" in his life, he would do things
right.
In our lives, we tend to establish routines that are the same, day in and day out. We don’t like to disturb those routines, and if we have put into those routines something negative, something wrong, we tend to keep doing the same thing, and therefore make the same mistake. Too much alcoholic drinking, for example, or smoking or drug use or sexually active premarital sexual patterns are mistakes, but once into the habit, it is very difficult to break it. But unless we break the pattern, and determine to do things right "this time around," our lives will be permanently fixed in the negative. Chris Daughtry is singing about romantic love in his song, but it can be an inspiration to all of us to look at the future of our lives. We can look at our past, and if we see something that should change, perhaps we will make the resolution to make things right "this time around." |
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THOUGHT
What are
the mistakes that you have made in the past? What are the solutions for
the future?
PRAYERGood
and gracious God, you choose good examples for us to follow in our
lives. We continually see people who want to convert themselves
to something better than they are. Give us your grace to look at
our lives, to determine what we should change, and the courage to
change. Be with us, we pray.
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©2007 Capuchin
Province of Mid-America
Fr. Mike Scully is a member of the Capuchin Province of Mid-America |