Call to Go Beyond What We See and Listen

Fr. Ronald Melcum Vaughan

It is said that Sir Isaac Newton was sitting under an apple tree and saw an apple falling. The falling apple made him wonder as to why apples fall to the ground and do not go upward. His deep thinking and search in answer to this question led him to discover the law of gravity. Apples had been falling from treed ever since they had been on the trees and we know that Sir Isaac Newton was not the first one to notice it. Hundreds or thousands of people may have seen this. Some may have just noticed; some may have given a deeper look too, but at the end it was Newton who grappled with the mystery of falling apple and unravelled it.

What Isaac Newton did to science or physics, Abraham, our father in faith did to Faith; what Sir Newton is to ‘Physics’ Father Abraham is to ‘Faith/religion/ Christianity’. Both of them are immortal in their own sphere because they had the courage, conviction and persistence to ‘go BEYOND what they saw and heard’.

Abraham listened to the call of God, who told him, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. So Abram went, as the LORD had told him...” (Genesis 12:1-4). In fact it is a very strange way of inviting someone to do a job. God does not give Abram a specific road map, details of a journey, destination, incentives etc. just a bold command and a mystifying promise. Abram shows calibre and inner strength of his character to give a try to his vocation. He leaves his relatives, friends, ancestral house, familiarity and security of the place, emotional attachment etc. behind and goes to a land that God promised HE would give him.

I firmly believe that God not only called Abram but also innumerable saints and holy people down the centuries. And HE has never stopped calling people. In fact HE keeps calling all of us; however, most of us do not give it a try. To follow God’s Call is not an easy job either. Look at Abram; he had to leave behind everything, he had to face the uncertainty of life all the time; he was old; constantly subjected to the hardships of life; yet he remained steadfast in his response to the call of God. For Abram knew that what he began audaciously will be concluded astonishingly; just as God had promised. Abram had the courage to break the league of stereotype life. He went on to believe what he heard.

Someone said, “Life is an examination, in which most of the people fail because they copy. While copying they fail to realise that each of them have a different set of question paper.” The quotation is quite applicable to the stereotype pattern of ours. We know the scripture, attend Eucharistic celebrations, and recite prayers etc. but the faith in Jesus, his call for conversion, his Words and his promises do not truly convert us. Resurrection of Jesus does not electrify us to come out of the ignominy of life. To translate the teaching of Jesus into action in our lives demands courage, conviction and persistence Abram had showed when he decided to follow the Lord.

Lives of saints and holy people clearly demarcate our hypocrisy or shallowness of faith. We are somehow not able to break the human barrier of emotion and understanding. The philosophy of this world teaches us only one thing, “go ahead and be successful and rich”. To follow Jesus also means to leave behind my ambitions and my learning; to empty myself of all that I have thought to be useful and lean on to what HE says. At times it may not be a comprehensive picture but we need to follow the model of Abraham’s response to God’s Call; we need to only hang on to the eternal promise he has made, “I am with you always...” (Matthew 28:20) Elizabeth Barrett Browning aptly sums up saying, “Earth's crammed with heaven, And every common bush afire with God, But only he who sees takes off his shoes; The rest sit round and pluck blackberries.” Our vocation is to take our shoes off.