Being carried

From the desk of Fr. Ignatius Waters, cp

Sunday, 28th May 2017

Today Jesus is “carried up to heaven” (Luke 24: 52.)  And where he has gone we hope to be carried too. But what is it about ‘being carried’ that touches such deep and powerful emotions within us? Is it that coming into life we were carried for nine long months in our mother’s womb? Or have we memories of hearing that someone ‘had to be carried home’? Or do we dread the day we will no longer be independent or mobile and have to be carried?

I remember, as a child, being carried on the bar of my father’s bicycle, how often I don’t know but I know it left indelible impressions that I carry to this day. I remember being surrounded by his warmth and energy; I remember feeling so safe and secure and, strange though it may seem, I remember an awareness of the extra effort and energy needed to carry me, small though I was!

Much later in life I read how Pope John XX111, when carried into St. Peter’s on the Sedia Gestatoria, was moved to remember how he was once carried on his father’s shoulders at some religious ceremony in his childhood and this led him to say, “The secret of everything is to allow the Lord to carry us and to carry the Lord to others.”

‘To be carried’ sounds easy and attractive; you don’t have to do anything – just allow yourself to be carried! But it’s not one bit easy; it takes great trust; it’s like lying back on the ocean and trusting you won’t drown! It means trusting you’ll be carried to a good place. Even as a child on the bar of the bike, part of me wanted to be doing the cycling myself instead of being carried! And I think we were definitely trained and educated more in giving than in receiving. For many of us, it is far easier to carry than to be carried. It is far easier to carry the Lord to others than to allow ourselves to be carried by the Lord or anyone!    

Just now I am more conscious of all this than ever before because during my recent break in beautiful Dingle, I had an unexpected and unwanted break! I tripped and fell on a hard concrete footpath and damaged my right elbow and shoulder with the result I couldn’t do so many ordinary things like driving, tying my laces or cutting a piece of bread! I have to do everything with my left hand so slowly and patiently. I have to allow myself to be helped. And while everyone is so helpful and kind, I don’t want to be too dependent or put burdens on people already burdened enough. Neither do I want to be too independent. It’s so difficult to get a happy balance between these two, isn’t it? I love, and I’m sure we all love, the image of the Good Shepherd carrying the lost sheep home on his shoulders. At the same time, we don’t want to be lost or need to be carried just yet, do we? But maybe we’re just too inclined to fancy ourselves in the Jesus role and the ‘carrying’ role and fail to see that, in so many ways, we’re just as lost and needy as those we want to carry.

It’s good to carry, of course it is; it’s good to serve, of course it is; but equally it’s good and necessary to be able to graciously receive the help we need as we encourage one another on our pilgrim path. Oh, and be sure to watch that path!