The apostles gathered together with Jesus and reported all they had done and taught. He said to them, "Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while." People were coming and going in great numbers, and they had no opportunity even to eat. 

"How the time passed away, all the trouble that we gave. Has it all gone to waste? All the promises we made one by one, they vanish just the same. Of all the things I still remember, summer’s never looked the same; the years go by and time just seems to fly, but the memories remain. In the middle of September we’d still play out in the rain. Nothing to lose but everything to gain, reflecting now on how things could have been--it was worth it in the end. Now it all seems so clear, there’s nothing left to fear, so we made our way by finding what was real. We knew we had to leave this town, but we never knew when and we never knew how."           

When does the most education take place? Educational psychologists spend time on the question because it will help prepare students better for learning. Whether the foundation for learning is accomplished within the first two years or the first twenty-five years of life, most agree that people can learn only if they gain a fundamental understanding of what is really happening in life, or as Daughtry sings "by finding what was real."

The man in the song "September" had memories—memories of a summer, memories of losing and gaining, memories of what could have been, memories of doing things that were finally worth it, memories of why they left the town and why they came back. Whether those memories were good or bad, they were over, and the thing about them now is that they could be a source of learning. What can be learned, he says, was that he and his friend made their way in life by discovering what was real.

It seems that the apostles who Jesus chose gradually learned what was really happening in their lives. As they worked in the towns and villages around Galilee, they no doubt often came to Jesus and told him what they had done and how their teaching was going. Because we know what finally happened, we know that they learned about who Jesus was, what he wanted, and why he wanted it. In a word, they discovered what was real. They learned what was really important as they taught others, thus maturing to be the leaders of the Christian movement.

We are called to "find what is real" as we grow. It consists of discovering what is most important as we go about our day-to-day lives. It is not only doing the best that we can to live out the lives that we are given. It is learning concepts like gratitude to others, that others are just as significant as we are, that life can be better if we choose a guide like Jesus, and the like. We must learn to think beyond the facts of our present and past, to discover what is real, and when we do, we are well on the road to maturity.

PRAYER

Good and gracious God, you want us to mature early on in life so that we will have a better understanding of what our lives should be in the future. Help us learn the lessons of your Son, and give us the grace to adopt them for our lives. Be with us, we pray. 

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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