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12th
Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C
June 23, 2013
Saint Margaret
Parish, Bel Air
Checker Game and Life
By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato
The Laws of Checkers
One day some young
Jewish students were supposed to be studying the Torah, the core religious law
in the Hebrew Scriptures.
However, instead of having
their noses in their books, the students were playing a game of checkers. Right
in the middle of a game, their rabbi unexpectedly walks into the study hall.
The rabbi looks.
They look back. The rabbi smiles and opens his mouth. Of course they’re not
sure now what to expect.
He tells them there’s
no need to feel ashamed. Rather they
should always be studying the Law, wherever they may find it…yes, even in a
game of checkers.
With that for an
opener, he asks the students if they know the three rules of checkers. A bit dumbfounded over not being reprimanded,
the students remain silent. And so he begins to state the three rules.
First, you must make
only one move at a time. Second, you
must only move forward, not backward.
And third, when you
reach the last row, then you may move in either direction, forward or
backward.
With that, the rabbi
leaves the study hall.
After some
reflection on the rabbi’s words, the young students realize that the rules of
checkers are really spiritual rules for life.
Today, Jesus offers
us rules for being his disciples and these parallel the three rules of
checkers.
Rule 1: One Move at a Time
Rule 1 in checkers
says that we are to make only one move at a time.
In a similar way,
Jesus calls us to live taking one step, one square, one move at a time and to
do so with mindfulness, that is, with an awareness of the moment.
He doesn’t want us
to be distracted by so many things, pulled in so many directions, or leaping
forward that we are not focused on either what we are doing or the person we
are with.
When Jesus asks his
disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” we see that he’s more interested on their
individual experience of him than he is of what others may be saying. He wants
them and wants us to live with an experience of God and a very personal
awareness of him.
Who Jesus is to me
does require focus and awareness at this moment and that can only come from
taking life one step at a time. Yes, keeping it simple, keeping it measured,
keeping it moment by moment will help us respond to his question.
Rule 2: Move Only Forward
Rule 2 in checkers says that we are to only move forward,
not backward.
Similarly, Jesus calls us to move only forward in the sense
of making sure that everything we do contributes to our movement toward God. This is what he means when he calls us to “take
up our cross each day and follow him.”
“Taking up our cross” means that we make
choices that are consistent with Jesus’ teaching and values. The cross itself may be a good symbol to
remind us that its two beams intersecting and thus remind us of a crossroads where
we can go one way or the other.
The cross then is a symbol for making decisions that move
us forward not backward in following the Lord.
So to “move forward” we decide not to talk negatively
about someone who has offended us and instead pray about the situation or talk
through our feelings directly with the individual. Or we seek out counseling
regarding something from the past that limits our interaction with others at
work or at home.
Rule 3: Last/First Row
Finally, Rule 3 in
checkers says that when we reach the last row, we can then move in either
direction, forward or backward.
Just think of how
many of Jesus’ sayings speak of going to the last row. For example, “The last will be first.” “Deny
yourself.” “When attending a banquet, take the lower place.” “Whoever loses his life for my sake will save
it.”
In gospel living, as
in checkers, there’s something special about the last row. In effect, what is
last becomes first. Yes, once you’re last, your checker gets crowned and the
last row has become the first or the most important row.
If we know that
being last has a way of switching to greatness just as it did for Jesus, we may
be more inclined to live as he lived, that is, giving of ourselves for his sake
or for the wellbeing of others.
It might simply mean
that we spend time with a neighbor who is grieving the loss of her husband. Or
it might mean that we volunteer a few hours at the homeless shelter here in
Harford County.
The result of our
doing these things is that we end up experiencing more and more of that
fulfillment or fullness of life that Jesus promises. It is like getting to the last row in
checkers where we will be free for all sorts of movement and become fully
alive.
Conclusion
Yes, the rules of the simple game of checkers help us to
appreciate some of the important rules of discipleship that Jesus gives us
today.
