“Leading Strings of Love”

From the desk of Fr. Ignatius Waters, cp

Sunday, 12th February 2017

Saturday at home long ago was the day for the garden, the day my Dad would cut the grass, trim the hedges and do the weeding. And when my brother and I were small, we wanted to be doing what the father was doing.  Later we weren’t that keen at all! But when small, we were only getting in the way of the work but do you know what he sometimes did? He tied strings to the handles of the wheelbarrow and I held on to one handle and my brother to the other and we were delighted. We were taking part in the work; we were involved and we were delighted! Fr. Karl, a Belgian Passionist, who died recently, drew this picture on a huge blackboard in Nairobi just after I told this story in a homily.

It was many years before I saw this as a powerful image of our great creator God, who involves us in the work of creation, who shares his creative energies with us. Needless to say, all the power is coming from him but he graciously involves us. The great Thomas Aquinas says that in any making or creating, we are participating in the creative energy of God; it is one of the times we are most like God. And it’s also one of the times we’re most happy. It can be making bread or making music or making furniture or making stories – and of course the greatest making of all is what we call procreating – bringing a child into the world and great too is the work of helping to make that life meaningful, the work of teaching and educating.  How great too when we feel we are doing what we were born for; when we feel in our element!

The strings are turned in this lovely text from the prophet Hosea: When Israel was a child I loved him…..I led them with reins of kindness, with leading strings of love. I was like someone who lifts an infant close against his cheek; stooping down to him, I gave him his food. (11)