 |
| from cheaptherapy.wordpress.com |
In her book, Open the
Door, a contemporary spiritual writer, Joyce Rupp creatively
explores the many and varied ways through which the image of a door can help us
in our inner journey to our true selves. At first, she invites her readers to
open the door of their hearts in order to discover the still unraveled beauty
and truth within them and even to encounter the Divine Presence within. Later,
she counsels them too to have the courage, at some crucial points in life, to
close the door as a decisive act of leaving behind everything that hinders
their growth towards authenticity and fuller union with God.
There is, indeed, a time to open and a time to close the
door. An open door invites and welcomes; a closed door protects that which is
cherished inside and excludes the unwanted. This gives us insight into the
spiritual rhythm of opening and closing the invisible door of our hearts.
The image of a door is used by Jesus in today’s gospel
reading (Lk 13:22-30). To the question whether only few people will be saved
Jesus responds quite obliquely with the images of a narrow door and a closed
door:
“Strive to enter
through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will
not be strong enough. After the master of the house has arisen and locked the
door, then will you stand outside knocking and saying, ‘Lord, open the door for
us’” (v. 24-25).
Image of a Narrow
Door. The image of the narrow door conveys both opportunity and difficulty.
It invites yet it suggests some degree of struggle. Hence, approaching the
narrow door is not by a leisurely walk as strolling in a park. It demands
resolve and commitment to give one’s best to be able to enter.
The door to salvation is open for all. Everyone is invited
to enter but is reminded of the necessity of striving hard as the passage to
salvation is made difficult by our proclivity to sin. God’s grace and mercy is
offered for all but our blind sinful inclinations may continue to reject this precious
gift; our self-centeredness and foolish pride continues to glorify nothing but
ourselves; our attachment to things, power, and fame may rob us of our freedom
to choose God. Hence, Jesus warns us of this tendency to be complacent and
evokes our free commitment to choose God as our fundamental orientation in our
everyday life.
Image of a Closed
Door. The closed door further conveys a day of definitive reckoning when
those who persisted in their evil deeds will be excluded from the kingdom of
God. “And
there will be wailing and grinding of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God and you yourselves cast out” (v.
28). With the image of a locked door, Jesus delivers his caution with a twist
of irony for those who tend to live with an easy assurance of salvation out of
privilege. Jesus warns that those who have enjoyed proximity to the master,
those who “ate and drank” in his company, will not be acknowledged by the
master after all because of their evil deeds. They will be locked out. While
people from afar, from the east and west, from the north and south, will have
their place at the table in the eschatological banquet.
Salvation, then, is not a matter of privilege given to
chosen elite who enjoyed familiarity and physical proximity to the Lord like
the Jewish people. Salvation is an invitation given to all people, i.e. even to
the gentiles. What it requires is a personal response. The theological question
concerning the number of those who will be saved is not actually important
after all. What matters most is the existential striving and personal commitment
of every person to respond to the invitation through his moral decisions and
actions in life.
The Door of our
Hearts. It is not farfetched, hence, to say that the image of
the narrow or closed door may appropriately represent the door of our hearts. More
often than not, we are the ones making it difficult for God’s love and mercy to
enter our hearts. Many times we shut Him out because we desire other things in
life; we close the door of our hearts because we are afraid to let God take control
of our lives. So exteriorly we try to live as near as possible to God but our
hearts remain distant. We carry the name
of Christ as his baptized disciples and we spend our time in pious devotions
calling him, “Lord, Lord…” but we never care to discern in our hearts his will,
much less, to live it out in loving obedience.
Joyce Rupp asks her readers to open the door of their
hearts. Let us open our hearts to God. We will be surprised how well He fits in,
for His love and mercy is our heart’s ultimate delight. Rupp also reminds of
the necessity of closing the door. Let
us then muster our courage to close the door of our hearts to our
self-centeredness and pride and to all our hurts caused by sin.
No comments:
Post a Comment