On Both Sides of the Blackboard

When I used to teach, no matter what class it was I would always incorporate a lesson I called, “What Makes You Happy?”  It was a neat little lesson and it wasn’t only for the students, in some ways it was directed back towards me and I imagine also towards all of you.  I want to give this lesson to you, but I promise I won’t put you on the spot like I did my students.

The class would begin by me asking, “Who or what is omniscient, omnipresent, eternal, prefect in every respect, etc. etc.?  All their hands would shoot up, since the answer was easy.  One wise guy, answered, “Me.”  All kidding aside, the answer is obviously, “God.”  I would then write God in small letters on the left side of the board and then put a line down the middle of the board leaving God all by Himself on the left side of it.  Here is where I tricked the kids, I would apologize to them and tell them I forgot roll call and would then take attendance.  Once done with that I would continue the lesson.

I then asked, “I want to know what makes you happy?  It can be anything, people, places, things, anything.”  The hands would begin to go up.  Some answers were obvious, some were interesting, and I’ll give you a sample.

1)    Vacation – Don’t we all love that

2)    Girl friend, boy friend

3)    Parents

4)    Siblings

5)    School – would get some chuckles here

6)    Chess

7)    My I pad

8)    My phone

9)    My car – or more accurately put – their parent’s car

10  My friends

11  Sleeping

12  Money – again mostly from their parents, a handful worked

13  Reading

14  Swimming

15  Sports

16  TV

And the list as you can imagine went on and on.  You may be asking, “What was the point of the lesson?”  I would then ask the students take a good close look at that blackboard, I mean really take a good look at it and then tell me what you see.  No hands would go up for a while until some brave soul would say, “Father John, God is small and all by Himself on the left side of the board.”  EXCELLENT observation.

God was small compared to things that made us happy.  No one would ever include God on the right side of the board, the lesson was full proof as they say and you may be thinking, well they were just teenagers, us adults would not answer that way.  Well, I did not do the lesson on you to avoid adult embarrassment.  We too would have left God on the left side of the board.  And thank the Good Lord that He is patient and understanding.  He knows our attachment to things and He sends us reminders, sometimes gentle, other times profoundly, “I am the Lord Your God!”

In today’s Gospel from Mark Jesus reminds us, “The first commandment is this: Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Mark 12)

Everything is about happiness, all of us want it, we seek it, and we crave it.  We go to look for it in people, places, and things when Jesus gives us the answer.  If God is perfect, eternal, all knowing, ever present, then isn’t logical if I want to be happy He would be the first person on my list, since everything on the right side is not perfect.  My friends it is the simple order of importance, God first, everything else second.

Where are you in your life?  Is God small and on the left side of the board or is He big and on both sides of the board?  Happiness in things is fleeting, iphones go bad, vacations end, you can’t sleep forever, and we can’t play sports forever either, but God does not rust, nor end, nor remain asleep, no, God is always there and He wants to be on both sides of the board of our hearts.  Will we make it so?