Don't get too close

Last week I received an email telling me our General Superior wanted to schedule a phone call with me. My first thought was "am I in trouble?" or, "what is she going to want me to do?" Of course I wasn't in trouble, thankfully, and the call was just about clarifying something else. Today I read that there's an old African proverb that says "It's not good to be too near to a chief." I immediately thought of being called by my Superior.

I read further a reflection on today's readings, in the context of the call experienced in Isaiah and in Luke: "It is not good to be too near to God. God wants too much. God knows too much. God is too single-minded. It is not good to touch God. It is too dangerous. Your are going to lose your life, you are going to lose your life."

We all know the risk of getting too close, when we finally let go, and say "yes" and our lives are changed forever. It can be a yes to a call, as the one Jesus issued to Peter and James and John. It can be a yes to love, or to friendship, or to a cause. When we give our hearts and our lives, we are changed forever.

To what or who have you given your heart and your life?