REPAIRING THE WORLD

REPAIRING THE WORLD

There is a wry, old saying, “If you want to make God laugh, make plans.”

People repeat it because of its bearing on their lives, but usually don’t give thought to the picture it draws of God.  The impression is of a God who is playing games with our fates and nothing could be further from the truth.  God, who patiently declared his love for us time after time, finally came Himself to give us the absolute proof of it by living beside us, suffering with us, and ultimately dying on our behalf. 

There is another very old Hebrew phrase: Tikkun Olam, which translates Repair the World. What that means is that acts of kindness or selflessness make the world a better place.  To me it means that no act of that kind can be too small and that no one can predict how the act will repair the world, but be assured that it would.

My son David passed away on New Year’s Eve. David started out as enlisted Army to prepare him for West Point. He graduated from the Academy in 1983 and served our country through the Gulf War and was at the Pentagon on 9/11.  Among his assignments was teaching and he was Teacher of the Year for the Army.  When his defense contracting was over he had nearly a year of prayer and questioning his future to decide what to do next.  He decided out of the blue to apply to teach children in the Catholic Schools of Arlington Diocese. He began by teaching math to the middle school children of Holy Family Parish.  This was not his field.  In fact, when approached to take the post, he asked, “Is this the one with all the numbers?”  David wasn’t just about teaching math; he was dedicated to preparing his students for life beyond the middle school, combining life lessons with long division.  The next year, St. Anne’s school approached him to teach science in their middle school program.  This, too, was not his field, but teacher that he was he went to work.  He began by explaining to his students that science is not just a subject in school, but part of everything, and that God is the ultimate scientist.  His mysteries are there for us to discover to help the world. 

His students described him as ‘cranky but hilarious”. But what struck me most was that everyone used the word ‘kind’ when describing him. His fellow officers, the staffs of both schools and all the students used that word to describe him.  In his own way, he was helping repair the world. 

We constantly hear one another say, “Why did God do that? –or- Why didn’t God do that?” Always falling back on that image of God as the Supreme Meddler when in fact what we should always ask is ‘Why didn’t I do that? –Or- Why did I do that?” 

The Tikkun Olam is ageless.  God has instilled this in us. It’s our fault if we ignore or neglect it. This is our world. All the people in it are related to us and what happens between us is our own doing.  God provided the guidelines but we, like the middle school class, are responsible for our own actions. 

Blessings,

Carol Lemelin OPA