Today's first reading, Proverbs 21: 1-6, 10-13 and the Gospel, Luke 8: 19-21, both provide us with insights into being one with the will of the Lord. In Proverbs, one who is in harmony with God's will is "[l]ike a stream...in the hand of the Lord; wherever it pleases [God, God] directs it." Note the characteristics of a stream: it is small, flows from a larger source and into a larger source, is inconspicuous, does nothing to attract people to itself. It also refreshes, sustains life, delights those who take time to "play" in it or to sit by its shore. One who is allowing the Lord to direct one's life also is refreshed, delighted, sustained and given the grace to surrender by sitting at the Lord's feet, as one sits by the shore of a stream for refreshment and the renewal of one's spirit. Allowing the Lord to direct one in whatever way the Lord chooses, a person, like John the Baptist, is pleased to have Jesus increase and he/she decrease, serving the needs of others, as a stream serves needs beyond itself. And like Mary, Jesus' Mother, truly is the handmaid of the Lord/the brother of Jesus.
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