OXYGEN

08 Mar

The Jeweller’s Greed

One Friday evening, a young Jew, who was a travelling salesman arrived at a small Jewish community that enjoyed a reputation for its hospitality. To his utter disappointment, every family had been assigned by the synagogue to take in a poor person for the sabbath.

“Do you mean to tell me,” said the young man plaintively to an elder, “that there is no one her who can give me a place to sleep and something to eat?”

“If you must know,” said the elder, “there is one place, in fact. Mr Samuel Best has not been assigned anyone as yet. He is the wealthiest man in town, a jeweller, and the worst miser. And, it is almost sure he will not welcome a stranger to his home.”

“Tell me where he lives,” said the salesman. “I’ll find a way with him.”

In a short while, the salesman arrived at the jeweller’s house. He knocked boldly on the door. A servant came out and offered him a coin.

“I’ve not come begging,” declared the salesman loftily. “I have to see Mr Samuel Best on some business.”

The servant quickly ushered him in. “What can I do for you?” asked the rich man politely.

“Mr Best, what would you offer me for a flawless diamond as big as an egg?”

“It’s hard to tell offhand,” replied the jeweller with a studied casualness, though his eyes were bulging with greed. “Why don’t we do this. You can relax here for the Sabbath, and then we’ll talk business.”

“I hate to impose on you, but since you insist…”

During his stay the salesman received royal treatment. At the end of the sabbath the jeweller broached the subject that had been uppermost in his mind.

“Now, let’s see the diamond.”

“Diamond? What diamond?” asked the salesman innocently, as he rose to leave the premises.

“You said you had a diamond as big as an egg,” snapped the jeweller, his face now blushing with a sudden realization.

“My dear fellow, I said no such thing!” the salesman reminded him. “All I asked was how much you would be willing to offer if I had one. Is it wrong to ask an academic question?”

- What thoughts, feelings, occurred to you while you went through the story?
- What do you think is the ‘moral’ of the story?

- taken from “Persons Are Gifts”, by Hedwig Lewis, SJ
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Jeremiah 11:18-20

The Lord revealed it to me; I was warned. O Lord, that was when you opened my eyes to their scheming. I for my part was like a trustful lamb being led to the slaughter-house, not knowing the schemes they were plotting against me, ‘Let us destroy the tree in its strength, let us cut him off from the land of the living, so that his name may be quickly forgotten!’

But you, the Lord of Hosts, who pronounce a just sentence,
who probe the loins and heart,
let me see the vengeance you will take on them,
for I have committed my cause to you.
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John 7:40-52

Several people who had been listening said, ‘Surely he must be the prophet’, and some said, ‘He is the Christ’, but others said, ‘Would the Christ be from Galilee? Does not scripture say that the Christ must be descended from David and come from the town of Bethlehem?’ So the people could not agree about him. Some would have liked to arrest him, but no one actually laid hands on him.

The police went back to the chief priests and Pharisees who said to them, ‘Why haven’t you brought him?’ The police replied, ‘There has never been anybody who has spoken like him’. ‘So’ the Pharisees answered ‘you have been led astray as well? Have any of the authorities believed in him? Any of the Pharisees? This rabble knows nothing about the Law – they are damned.’ One of them, Nicodemus – the same man who had come to Jesus earlier – said to them, ‘But surely the Law does not allow us to pass judgement on a man without giving him a hearing and discovering what he is about?’ To this they answered, ‘Are you a Galilean too? Go into the matter, and see for yourself: prophets do not come out of Galilee.’
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You, Lord of hosts, who pronounce a just sentence, who probe the loins and the heart.

Do you know where your loins are? I’m sure you do. It is not uncommon for us to find that our loins and our hearts (actually referring to the mind) disagree with one another. You have surely come across situations where your loins want to do something, but your heart (mind) tells you otherwise. Which do you follow?

In today’s gospel reading, we see that the people could not come to an agreement about Jesus. Some of them believed that He was the Christ, while others disagreed. Even the Pharisees themselves could not come to an agreement about the matter of arresting Jesus. When we look deeper into the matter, we see that in both cases, the reason why the people could not come to an agreement was because they were too one-sided. One group argued strongly for one position, while another group argued just as strongly in another position.

God has given us both emotional intelligence as well as logical intelligence, and He expects us to use them both when faced with dilemmas. The Lord probes both the loins and the heart, not just one of them. We are therefore called to make full use of both when making decisions – to listen to what our emotions or intuition is telling us, and to what our minds are telling us, and from there, to make a decision.

(Today’s reflection by Daniel Tay)
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Prayer: Dear Lord, help us to remember that You gave us both emotions and intelligence, so that we might be able to come to an agreement on the decisions we have to make. Amen.

Thanksgiving: For those who discern with mind and body.

Upcoming Readings:
Sun, 09 Mar – Ezekiel 37:12-14; Romans 8:8-11; John 11:1-45; Fifth Sunday of Lent
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